HD Hyundai Electric readies environmentally friendly high-voltage circuit breaker for export

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice. HD Hyundai Electric said Sunday it has successfully completed final qualification testing of an environmentally friendly high-voltage circuit breaker slated for export to Sweden. The sulfur hexafluoride-free breaker, the first of its kind developed domestically, eliminates the use of sulfur hexafluoride, or SF₆, a fluorinated greenhouse gas long favored in high-voltage equipment for its superior insulation and interruption performance. Despite these advantages, sulfur hexafluoride has come under intensifying regulatory scrutiny due to its global warming potential, measured by how much heat a gas traps in the atmosphere. For SF₆, that figure is roughly 23,500 times that of carbon dioxide. The European Union, which revised its regulations in 2024, is tightening restrictions on fluorinated gases in stages. Beginning in 2032, the use of sulfur hexafluoride in high-voltage circuit breakers above 145 kilovolt (kV) will be fully banned, a shift expected to accelerate demand for SF₆-free alternatives in power equipment markets. HD Hyundai Electric has already completed development of sulfur hexafluoride-free models at 72.5 kV, 145 kV and 170 kV, and aims to finalize its full product lineup by 2028. The company is also targeting completion of a 420 kV model, a lineup with the strongest demand potential in Europe, within the first half of this year.