Later this year long term testing will commence to demonstrate that this technology is ready for real world application and achieve cost savings in future offshore HVDC converter stations and switchyards.
The benefit of using this technology over the conventional air insulated technology is the 90% reduction in volume, realizing cost-savings in applications where space comes at a premium such as offshore or in urban environments. This is the first time that such equipment is tested in an independent commercial laboratory.
Also as part of PROMOTioN, Super Grid Institute (France) investigates the performance of different environmentally friendly insulating gases, and the Technical University of Delft (Netherlands) is developing a monitoring and diagnostics system for this technology.