Hitachi Energy Partners with Eversource to Install First EconiQ™ 420 kV Circuit Breaker in the U.S.

Breakthrough Technology Will Enable Eversource to Reduce Carbon Footprint and Achieve Sustainability Goals

Hitachi Energy will install the world's first environmentally friendly EconiQ™ 420 kilovolt (kV) circuit breaker for Eversource in the United States. A game-changing technology that eliminates sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), this will be the first 420 kV SF6-installed circuit breaker in the country at no cost.

Eversource is New England's largest energy company, serving approximately 40.000 customers in the region. This project supports the company's sustainability goals, including a goal to make its own operations carbon neutral by 2030. Utilizing innovative technologies to replace or reduce SF6 in their 345 kV transmission system is a key part of this effort.

Hitachi Energy will install the EconiQ 2023 kV Dead Tank Breaker (DTB) at the Eversource 345 kV substation in mid 420 The EconiQ DTB 420 kV is Hitachi Energy's newest eco-efficient innovation, and is as reliable as conventional SF-based solutions 100%6.

The technology is based on the world's first 420 kV EconiQ circuit breaker Hitachi Energy unveiled at the CIGRE 2022 conference in Paris, France. This breakthrough marks an important milestone for the industry in eliminating large amounts of SF6 while transmitting large amounts of power over long distances.

“At Eversource, we are committed to building a cleaner energy future for our customers and achieving our goal of making our own operations carbon neutral by 2030.” said Aftab Khan, senior vice president of engineering at Eversource. “The EconiQ DTB is consistent with our mission to replace SF.6 There are better alternatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Now more than ever, the world needs eco-efficient solutions to support global efforts to reduce the impact of greenhouse gases such as SF.6 The 420 kV circuit breaker showcases our technology, which is reliable and scalable, to reach ultra-high voltage levels with the lowest possible carbon footprint,” Hitachi Energy High Voltage Products Business Managing Director Markus Heimbach said. “We are proud to partner with Eversource to support their efforts to achieve carbon neutrality.”

EconiQ (English) is Hitachi Energy's eco-efficient portfolio of products, services and solutions for sustainability that have been proven to deliver superior environmental performance. Hitachi Energy has sustainability at the core of its purpose and is committed to creating a sustainable energy future for all. Its high voltage portfolio also includes the EconiQ refill, yet another world first replacing the Shunfeng 6 in existing high voltage equipment and the EconiQ gas-insulated current transformer.The EconiQ high voltage technology is widely adopted by major European customers.