Scaling the Peaks of Sustainability
Customer Company Size
Mid-size Company
Region
- Europe
Country
- France
Product
- EcoStruxure for Electricity Companies
- SF6-free medium voltage technology
- Shunt Vacuum Interruption technology
Tech Stack
- IoT
- Sensors
- Data Analytics
Implementation Scale
- Pilot projects
Impact Metrics
- Environmental Impact Reduction
- Productivity Improvements
- Cost Savings
Technology Category
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing
Applicable Industries
- Utilities
Applicable Functions
- Maintenance
- Discrete Manufacturing
Use Cases
- Predictive Maintenance
- Process Control & Optimization
- Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services
- System Integration
- Testing & Certification
About The Customer
GreenAlp is the electric distribution network operator in Grenoble, France. It serves more than 120,000 customers, a majority of which are residential, as well as some electro-intensive industrial customers. The city, which sits at the base of the French Alps, is well established as a center for innovative research and technology, and one of GreenAlp’s main customers is CEA (Grenoble Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), a large research facility. Much like its customers, GreenAlp is committed to being green and innovative. GreenAlp is a mid-size electrical company and does not have the capacity for its own research center, but relies on local actors and advancements in the industry.
The Challenge
GreenAlp, the electric distribution network operator in Grenoble, France, serves over 120,000 customers, including residential and electro-intensive industrial customers. The company is committed to being green and innovative, but as a mid-size electrical company, it does not have the capacity for its own research center. It relies on local actors and advancements in the industry. GreenAlp has 6 main electrical substations of 225,000 volts or 63,000 volts which transform into 20,000 volts and especially 750 MV/LV substations. These MV/LV substations have aging equipment that constantly needs renewing. One of GreenAlp’s aims for this project is to learn how it can renew its existing switchgear in the future. Service continuity has been one of GreenAlp’s main challenges. It needs real-time knowledge of the network, which can be challenging.
The Solution
GreenAlp has chosen to be the first French user of Schneider Electric’s new SF6-free medium voltage technology. The new SF6-free green and digital switchgear technology eliminates the need for SF6, a greenhouse gas, that has long been used in electrical equipment. Instead, the switchgear uses only pure air insulation and Shunt Vacuum Interruption technology. It does this while providing the same network quality and reliability without harming the environment. GreenAlp is testing SF6-free switchgear in a new building located in an econeighborhood of Grenoble that is in the midst of redevelopment. The network operator’s requirements were straightforward: it sought to reduce its ecological footprint by testing a product that has no greenhouse gas impact while still using switchgear that corresponds with installed network equipment.
Operational Impact
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