The long road to CO₂-neutral power supply
We have begun to turn away from CO₂-intense energy sources, but it will take a long time until we are finally able to offer CO₂-neutral solutions. What we mainly need today are knowledge and data about the deployed products and their environmental impact throughout the entire life cycle. We also require innovative products that help make the supply with power more sustainable. It is important to ensure the transparency and clarity of environmental activities. All relevant effects have to be recorded, analyzed, and minimized.Sustainable development and corporate responsibility
Company managers are facing complex challenges. They have to ensure the safety of their own staff and of the users of the supplied products. They also have to document the environmental performance of their products and develop sustainability strategies.
Sustainability standards
Companies and politicians are focusing on sustainability based on applicable safety and environmental standards. Compliance with these standards is a top priority for Siemens at all times. To achieve the perfect balance between the three dimensions of people, environment, and business success, Siemens offers eco-transparency through documentation packages for power grid products.
Protecting people and the environment
Siemens’ passion for technologies drives our efforts to set standards and create added value over the long term – for our customers, for society, and for each individual. The environmental documentation provides transparency regarding the reduction of CO₂ emissions, environmentally friendly materials, and the optimized lifespan of products, solutions, and systems from Siemens.
Energy-efficiency in practice
Reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions as well as achieving eco-transparency are current challenges that companies are facing today. Siemens practices eco-transparency in its own locations and uses innovative technologies, solutions, and products. Our customers thus also benefit from our experience with eco-transparency.
With leading-edge technology and convincing sustainability, we want to offer our customers solutions for their operational and regulatory challenges – and EcoTransparency is the key.Ralf Christian, CEO Siemens Energy Management
More sustainable power grids
A sustainable power supply can be achieved by using fewer conventional insulating fluids or employing biodegradable alternatives, for example. Siemens’ comprehensive portfolio of environmentally friendly products, solutions, and systems supports you in these efforts.Minimize SF₆ emissions of gas-insulated switchgear
Replacing old stock with modern, encapsulated switchgear
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) is a reliable insulating and quenching gas and ensures the supply security of electrical systems. It is neither toxic nor flammable and has no carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic (CMR) properties. The greenhouse potential of transformer substations can be significantly reduced by replacing first-generation switchgear with modern high-tech systems.
Compared to standard systems, they reduce the global warming potential (GWP) by reducing gas quantities, shortening welded seams, and lowering leakage rates.
High-voltage direct current transmission systems (HVDC)
Much more efficient than AC overhead lines
The high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission links from Siemens, with a voltage rating of up to 800 kilovolts, maximize efficiency, particularly when transporting power over great distances. Compared to three-phase AC overhead lines, they cut losses by 30 to 50 percent. A direct current overhead line requires a 50 percent narrower transmission corridor than an AC three-phase solution while doubling the transmission capacity.
Power transmission lines
High performance along narrow routes
Existing power grids have to transport increasingly higher capacities. It is often not possible or desirable to transmit electricity with overhead lines in large cities or near infrastructure installations, such as airports. In this case, underground solutions for transmitting power are the best choice. Transmitting energy underground preserves the appearance of the landscape and eliminates eyesores, while substantially reducing the amount of space needed.
Learn more about electricity transmission
Transformer insulation with alternative fluids
Eco-friendly and safe
Synthetic and natural esters are becoming more and more popular as alternative insulating fluids. They are biodegradable, and have a high flash and fire point, which makes them a particularly popular choice in environments with especially strict fire safety requirements. Among Siemens’ most recent innovations involving synthetic ester are three power transformers for the 400 kV level. They are insulated with synthetic ester, and their waste heat is fed into a local heating system.
“Blue” products meet the highest demands
Power supply is going “blue.” By defining new, unusually strict benchmarks, Siemens as the market leader is going far beyond the applicable safety and environmental standards. Blue is thus becoming far more than just an environmental label and is pointing the way toward the ecological future of energy.
Our “blue portfolio” makes it possible to modernize and expand the existing power grids at the highest level of safety and to simultaneously reduce our ecological footprint to an enormous extent without having to compromise on performance and economic feasibility. Our vacuum switching technology and clean air in gas-insulated switchgear make it possible to significantly reduce emissions while greatly increasing the recycling rate – with less maintenance.
Innovative technology for increased sustainability
A full set of documentation
- LCA (life cycle analysis):
Systematic analysis of the environmental impact of products throughout their entire life cycle.
- Product environmental declaration:
Type II environmental product declaration with quantified environmental information to allow the comparison of products or services with the same function.
- Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH):
EU regulation for registering, evaluating, authorizing, and restricting chemicals.
- Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) (if applicable):
The EU directive 2011/65/EU is used to restrict certain hazardous materials in electrical and electronic devices in order to keep them out of electrical scrap.
