Gearing up

Gas-insulated switchgear is favoured in the region due to its ability to withstand extreme temperatures and adverse conditions.

LCA provide a wealth of indicators and a starting point for the development of GIS able to operate with the lowest possible output levels of SF6 gas, manufacturers say.

Another example of how renewables are changing switchgear technology is ABB’s SafeWind switchgear. SafeWind is the slimmest medium-voltage switchgear on the market and small enough to fit through the narrow doorway of the turbine tower, says Masri.

“We’ve had to design such solutions to meet the physical requirements of today’s renewables,” he adds.

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Siemens is another company looking to bring smaller designs to the market. “The trend goes towards denser switchgears with even higher ratings and minimized life cycle costs,” says Wolfgang Braun, general manager at Siemens Energy T&D.

“Especially in growing cities, space means money. So we put a lot of effort into the development of space saving designs that offer both a compact footprint for the substation and cost reductions.”

Switchgear monitoring
Utility providers are also looking to have monitoring systems built into the existing power network to simplify maintenance and trouble shooting. Demand for such sophisticated management of networks places additional requirements on switchgear equipment.

The R&D departments of switchgear providers have not been idle. “We’ve built protection and control intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) into our switchgear solutions,” explains Masri.

“By doing so, we have enabled communication between the protection and control IEDs of distribution switchgear with the substation control room. Until just a short time ago, this could only be achieved by adding various different specific components to the normal protection relays.”

Every company is working to push the boundaries. “Surprisingly, switchgear technology has not reached its operational limits and there is still room for technological breakthroughs. We are continuously investing R&D efforts to minimize the circuit breaker energy to break higher and higher currents for example,” says Dussaucy.

As new technologies and concepts start shaping the T&D industry, switchgear providers work out ways to adapt the equipment. “The introduction of power electronics contributed to the revision of the concept of a switchgear, and to open new paths of application.”

High voltage
As consequence of longer distances electricity has to travel though the GCC interconnection grid, and higher load demands stemming from increased consumption, new grids tend to be built to accommodate higher voltage levels.

Utilities benefit from increasing the transmission voltage as it is more cost effective, because infrastructure investments are reduced proportionately to the amount of power transmitted.

Higher voltages are thus another factor that companies providing switchgear to utilities in the GCC have to take into account, says Dussaucy: “Load demand growth, together with the expansion of grids to meet the national development plan of many countries result in higher performance requirements of the switchgear that providers must develop.”

The future is bright
The Middle Eastern market has so far provided companies with plenty of business opportunities, and more than a few challenges.

But what are the projections and plans for the future? Dussaucy believes that Alstom’s newest acquisition will continue strongly under the new banner by expanding into new markets.

“The Middle East last year generated approximately 10 percent of the overall business for Areva T&D. We are planning to re-enhance our presence in several countries among which Iraq remains key for the future.” Masri is similarly ubbeat.

“We’re enjoying the work, even though many companies are facing challenges in terms of manpower due to the increased workload. We believe that for the next ten to fifteen years the energy sector will continually increase investments in power generation, and network expansion and upgrading,” he says.