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High voltage takes center stage

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in this season of Hitachi
Energy's Power Pulse podcast.

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We promise to bring you great content
from the brightest minds in the business.

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We'll discuss challenges, opportunities,
and all the hot topics

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any high voltage enthusiast

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or anyone interested in sustainability,
for that matter, is sure to enjoy.

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This episode of the podcast
is dedicated to all asset managers,

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a group of professionals
who want to know in detail

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about our equipment
and the specificities of our designs.

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To tell them about it,
we invited Martin Apfl along.

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Martin is the Marketing and Sales Manager
for service and GCB businesses.

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He is very used to responding
to questions around safety,

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reliability,
availability, resilience and more.

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Martin is a mechatronics engineer
with a master's in General Management.

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Even though we're dedicating this episode
to asset managers,

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we'll make sure Martin uses language
we can all understand.

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Welcome back to Power Pulse.

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I'm your host, Sam Dash, and today
I'm speaking with Martin Apfl,

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the Global Product Marketing and Sales
Manager.

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Hi, Martin. Hi.

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Thanks for having me. You're welcome.
Thanks for being here.

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So, Martin,
one of the most interesting things

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I've read about you
is outside of your work, you've had quite

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a significant visit
to a monastery, of all places, in Greece.

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Can you tell me a bit
about that experience?

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Yes, I would love to.

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I mean, it's a super interesting place,
and my feeling is not many people know

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about this.

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I mean, it's a place
or it's a republic called Athos.

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Yeah, I had never heard of it.

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It's in Greece.

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It's on the Peloponnese peninsula,

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and they seem to be an own state,
actually,

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which gets them very often in conflict
with the European Union, because it's

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20 monasteries on a peninsula
and that, it's

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called the Republic of Athos,
and they don't even allow women there.

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So there only males there,
only male animals, by the way.

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So they don't even allow
female animals there.

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I don't even know how that works.

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And it's a huge contradiction
with the European Union.

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But that's a different story.
That's what we talk about here.

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But, what my father and two brothers
and I did as we visited that place.

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And Athos grants you visa actually.

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You cannot just go there. Oh, wow. Cannot
just travel there.

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You need a visa.

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And then we took a boat trip

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to that place, and then we stayed
in two of those monasteries.

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They don't have running water.
They don't have electricity there.

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They devote themselves
fully to prayer and work.

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And you get the chance as a visitor
to witness that for a couple of days.

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And that puts you really back to Earth.

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Is there an element of that experience
that you have carried with you

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since doing that?

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Well, I would love to have carried more.

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You know, I mean, we all have a busy life,
and I try to remember

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the times in Athos
and the mindset that I observed.

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You know, the monks,

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they have different view on life,
as probably I have and you have maybe.

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But I try to bring back
sometimes the slowness into my daily life

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and to refocus, to re understand
what's really important in life.

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It was cool to have a glimpse
into that world.

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Yeah, I can imagine
it really gives you perspective.

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Yes, exactly.

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It's connections.

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It's family, friends, connections you make
at home, but also in your workplace.

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That's what matters in the end.

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And I need it every day
in my daily life, in my work life.

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So speaking of work
life, let's get more into your work life.

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Over the season we've heard a lot
about how the grid came to be.

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Yes. We know it's

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getting old and desperately
needs to be serviced and updated, etc.

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but who are the customers who come to you
for help with their aging grid?

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And what type of thing do they say to you?

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Our customer base in Hitachi Energy
or in the high voltage business

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usually it's a utility
or it's a power generation company.

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It could be even also
an industry customer.

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And what we've seen in the last years
is really the huge surge

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in grid rehabilitations.

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So customers renewing,
refurbishing their existing grid.

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It's a huge boom.

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And it can be explained because, I mean,
especially in post-industrial countries

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like Europe, the US,
they built their infrastructure already.

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All of this infrastructure gets old

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and customers are asking themselves
or asset managers,

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our customers are asking themselves, okay,
now what to do with this infrastructure?

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Do I need to replace it?
Do I need to refurbish it?

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Do I need to retrofit it?

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And it's even true for emerging economies

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in the Middle East,
for example, or in Asia.

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I mean, they had a big boom
in infrastructure build up and it's

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actually continuing till the very day,

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but still also those assets, substation
transformers, everything you have

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there needs to be serviced
and refurbished.

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And that's
what customers come to us every day

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and ask for options and want to
understand, okay, what options do I have?

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What possibilities do I have?

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So for those of us listening to this
without the visual

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necessarily that you have,
what does an old grid look like?

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How would you describe an old grid
to those of us outside the industry?

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You can imagine,
I mean, usually our products that we put

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into the market or assets as we call it,
they have usually a lifetime

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of, let's say 40 years.

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Yeah, it can be a switchgear,
it can be a transformer.

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And we have so many cases
where customers are calling us,

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sending us plate, a technical rating plate
of that asset of their product.

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And then we see it's 60 years
old, it's 70 years old.

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And then– oh wow.

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And then we’re like, wow, it still runs.

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It's still working, yea.

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But still customers have to question,

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okay, what to do with it
because it feels scary.

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It's already 60-70 years old.

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My breaker my switchgear.

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So Hitachi Energy what options do I have?

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Is it the kind of thing
where you sort of –

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this is maybe not the right example –
but if you meet someone for the first time

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and they tell you their age
and you think, wow,

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this person looks so much younger

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than what they say their age is, you know,
if they say they're 60 years old,

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but you think, wow,
you look like you're 50 or 45,

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is it a similar thing with that equipment
where these customers

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or clients are saying this data,
this information says that our equipment

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is 60 years old, but it's still operating
like it's 20 years old or something.

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What you have to understand is that also
depends a lot on the circumstances.

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I mean, we have our assets usually
in a switchgear yard, in a substation,

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usually close to the steel doors,
and then you leave it there for 40 years.

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You just come in for service.

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But many of our assets and switchgears,
transformers,

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they are in harsh conditions .
See here in offshore.

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I mean, you have corrosive air, right?
You have salty air.

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The water is salty and those assets
are in much more exposure.

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So it depends a bit.

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So you see issues of corrosion, rust,
salt buildup

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things like that on the equipment.

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Yeah, exactly.

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I mean, to make that analogy
you wanted to make

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is I mean, an office person

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who never gets hands dirty,

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maybe differently exposed to a person
who is everyday out.

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Out in the field, farming or something
Yeah, exactly.

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So our products have
similar characteristics.

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Is it safe to say that you deal
with asset managers on a daily basis?

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And what type of work
would you be collaborating on with them?

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Yeah, actually
I just met asset managers yesterday.

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Oh yeah.

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Yes I did, and we had a long discussions
about challenges and

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what was interesting to see is, I mean,
that we have the same challenges actually.

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I mean, our customers, our asset managers,
and we do.

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And one common denominator was lack
of resources or in other words, people.

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I explained before that we see
a huge demand in grid refurbishments.

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You need people who do that. Yeah. Right.

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And so is it hard to find the people
who do the.

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Extremely hard to find those people.

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I mean, it's struggle our customers have,

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but it's also struggle that we have
and think it can be explained too,

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because many people want to get
a university education right.

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Many people aim for office position, but
those parts of the demography are missing

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field service positions, and customers in
the industries need to think about.

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We need to change the job profile
of a field service engineer

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because it was different in the past,
because in the past, you know, field

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service engineer traveled, for example,
to naming a country now to Algeria

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to build up the infrastructure there,
stay there for three, 4 or 5, six months.

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You know, building up the infrastructure,
earning a little money, of course,

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and then go back home.

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But this with the generation
currently - generation Z -

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they have a different meaning to life.
They don't want this anymore.

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They want to be home in the evening.

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And I can't blame them. Same for myself.
I have three kids.

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I don't want to be out for six months
installing a switchgear.

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I also want to be home every night,
so companies

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need to rethink that job profile.

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That's one thing.

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What we also realized is we always think
about digitalization and digital.

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Yeah. And here is one good example
where we can use it.

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Because in the past we used to send a guy
from here to Colombia

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because in Colombia there is a problem
with one of our products.

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Sure. Yeah.

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But is that really necessary?

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Because with the technology that we have
today, you can do remote assistance,

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you can help people
using the technology that we have.

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So you don't need to send a guy.

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So it's good for the environment, right.

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Because no need to send a person
around the globe.

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Yeah. Right.

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And the person is at home
with the family in the evening.

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So that's one of the challenges

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that we as a switchgear manufacturer,
but also our customers have in common.

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Yeah.

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And how is becoming more digital

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creating opportunities for you,
but also creating challenges?

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What we always say:
‘we're not doing digital

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for the sake of digital.’
That's not worth it.

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I mean, we want to use it as a tool
to help

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also artificial intelligence, I mean,
we don't do AI just to chat with ChatGPT.

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I mean, we want to have a purpose.
We want to have a meaning.

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And that's why when we look
at digitalization and Hitachi Energy,

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we always ask ourselves,
okay, what is really the purpose?

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Why are we doing this?

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And there's one
example is a remote monitoring

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– not to send a person
or to deploy him or her to site.

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Right.

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Or if we monitor our assets
and what we can do is real

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life monitor the state of our switchgears
or transformers, for example.

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Why are we doing this?

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Not just for fun, no,
because we can prevent failures.

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We can predict failures.
That's why we are doing it.

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And so are there challenges
within that system?

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Are there instances where it's
more difficult to do a certain job

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digitally than it was in the past,
when you would send someone to the site

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in person?

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Yeah. One aspect is also health
and safety.

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For example,
if you do a remote monitoring,

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there are certain technologies
how to do it.

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Sometimes, you know,
you can do it with a mobile phone

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or with some fancy glasses
you can put on your helmet.

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Yeah.

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But you also need to take the health
and safety aspect into consideration.

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I mean, if you need to work on a site
holding a phone and then, you know,

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you– Yeah, right.

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You talk to the headquarters.

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I mean, it's also not–

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So you're not looking to do

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a blanket replacement
of everything into a digital sphere.

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You're trying to be quite targeted
about what can be better

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digitally and what still requires
something in person.

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Is that right?

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That's exactly the point.
We can't replace a field service engineer.

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They are the heart, the core
and the DNA of our service organization.

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We always say it's a people's business
and digital will never replace that.

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Probably.

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It will be an enabler, a catalyst,
but it will not replace people.

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So tell me, what are the most common
requests you receive from asset managers?

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Yes. Asset managers have always targets
and their targets usually is,

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I mean they want to run their assets as
safe as possible, as reliable as possible.

235
00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,760
And they need to look also after
affordability and resilience.

236
00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:39,000
I mean, this is usually the mantra
every asset manager has.

237
00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,880
And one common request is, I mean,
they find themselves in a situation.

238
00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:44,480
I mean, they manage a fleet of different

239
00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,200
assets, right, with different ages
and different demands and needs.

240
00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:52,000
And the good thing is
we have not the one only solution.

241
00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:53,400
We have a set of solutions.

242
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,920
One thing is,
I mean, we can retrofit assets.

243
00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,240
If you want examples:
So you are an asset manager.

244
00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:00,840
You are sitting on a switchgear
that is 30 years old. Right.

245
00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:02,640
And you ask yourself, okay, what to do.

246
00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:04,000
And there are several options.

247
00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,240
I mean, one obvious option is replace
that thing with a new one.

248
00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:08,360
Okay.

249
00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,160
But we as Hitachi Energy,
we also have other options

250
00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,800
like we can refurbish your equipment
and retrofit your equipment.

251
00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,840
Basically meaning taking out components
which are prone to failure and replace it

252
00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:20,360
with state of the art new components.

253
00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:24,360
And then this gives you peace and quiet
for the next 15, 20 years.

254
00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:28,120
And the beautiful thing about retrofitting
is also because here comes

255
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:29,560
the sustainability aspect.

256
00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:31,880
This every switchgear, every asset

257
00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,640
that you don't have to replace contributes
to sustainability

258
00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:39,720
because a new switchgear means new copper,
new steel, new aluminum.

259
00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:40,040
Right.

260
00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,000
And if you keep your asset in place

261
00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,680
but refurbish it or retrofit it
you think about the sustainability aspect.

262
00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:46,000
Yeah.

263
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:50,520
You're not putting more energy out
to produce new raw materials, etc..

264
00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:52,280
Exactly, exactly.

265
00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:56,080
This is, by the way, how many legislations
are written in that spirit.

266
00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,200
And so before you replace
an entire switchgear,

267
00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,720
look for solutions to keep the assets
in place and to extend the lifetime.

268
00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,680
So that is a big topic in the industry -
extending lifetime.

269
00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:09,840
And so as part of your job,
helping those asset managers

270
00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,560
really interrogate what can be done
in terms of that retrofitting?

271
00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:14,440
Yes, exactly.

272
00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:16,560
Because there is not just one solution.

273
00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:19,840
So, asset manager comes to us asking okay,
what to do.

274
00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:21,280
And then we come with one answer.

275
00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,040
I mean usually we come
with a set of options.

276
00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,520
Yeah.
So I said one thing is the replacement.

277
00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,520
But when it comes to retrofitting
there are different degrees

278
00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:31,160
of retrofitting. Yeah.

279
00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,320
So you can exchange the circuit breaker
or you only exchange

280
00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:35,520
the operating mechanism.

281
00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:37,800
So basically certain
parts of the switchgear

282
00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:42,480
and it depends on product lifecycle
depends on availability of parts.

283
00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:44,480
Depends on budget of course.

284
00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,480
So it's always a bit of a assessment
case by case.

285
00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:48,680
And that's what we do.

286
00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:51,720
We speak with asset managers
and define the right strategy

287
00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,560
for the asset
and the fleet that they are running.

288
00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:58,360
So do you find yourself frequently
in the position of needing to meet

289
00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:03,360
with asset managers and convince them
of the benefits of retrofitting

290
00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,200
and recycling and doing that,
as opposed to buying a whole new system?

291
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:07,920
Exactly.

292
00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,240
I think that's one of the unique positions
that we have as a company,

293
00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,520
is that wide range of retrofit portfolio,

294
00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,960
because many other OEMs will probably tell
you replace your assets,

295
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,920
but it's expensive and sustainability
aspect is also not really followed.

296
00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:23,480
Right.

297
00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:25,240
So we have this wide portfolio.

298
00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:27,280
And I think that really sets us apart.

299
00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,320
So we could offer many different options.

300
00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,880
So let's pretend, for instance,
that I'm an asset manager coming to you

301
00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,880
and I am sort of on the fence
about whether to upgrade or replace

302
00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:38,600
my current equipment. Yeah.

303
00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,200
What would you say to me?

304
00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,760
We assess the situation
so we look how old is your switchgear,

305
00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,160
how many switchings it has seen.

306
00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:50,160
And one question is also how many short
circuit switchings it has seen.

307
00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,720
It becomes a bit technical now
but this gives a hard time.

308
00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:54,840
This gives stress to assets. Yeah.

309
00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,280
Then we look at the conditions
switchgear is placed.

310
00:13:58,280 --> 00:13:59,520
I mean I've talked about this before.

311
00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,280
Is it on an offshore platform
or is it nice cozy and warm and,

312
00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:05,600
and air conditioned switchyard.

313
00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:07,400
So what I'm hearing is and again
correct me

314
00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:11,160
if I'm wrong, as you really want to
discuss with your asset managers the data.

315
00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,400
You want to know what the data says about
what the situation

316
00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:17,880
is, what the context is for,
where the equipment is located,

317
00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,280
but also what kind of state it is in
and what the numbers show.

318
00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:23,840
Correct. And then we come with options.

319
00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,200
I mean, we have different options
with retrofit.

320
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,360
The question is also always do
you do retrofit on all of your assets

321
00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,200
or only the most stressed ones. Yeah.

322
00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:34,800
So let's be honest, the affordability

323
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,880
aspect always comes into play
as well at the end of the day.

324
00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,160
And then we think about all the strategic
spare parts.

325
00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,920
It's also quite important thing
because if you do a retrofit

326
00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,960
you replace certain parts,
but then you have the old parts

327
00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:47,160
and you don't throw them away.

328
00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:47,520
Yeah, right.

329
00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:48,960
You keep them in the warehouse,

330
00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,760
you could reuse them in case something
happens to your existing installations.

331
00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,960
Are there any issues with retrofitting
only some of the equipment

332
00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:58,440
as opposed to all of it?

333
00:14:58,440 --> 00:14:59,160
Well, yes and no.

334
00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:01,080
I mean, in the end,
it's a budget question.

335
00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,040
We, as Hitachi Energy
always propose to do a full retrofit

336
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:05,840
then you're on the safe side.

337
00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,080
But let's be honest, in many cases
the budget plays a very big role. Yes.

338
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,520
And then you do a partial retrofitting.
For example.

339
00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:13,280
You have ten GIS bays.

340
00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,800
Then you say, okay,
so which are the most stressed ones.

341
00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,920
So bay number two,
five and six for example.

342
00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,040
And then you do a retrofit on two,
five and six.

343
00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,680
But this gives you additional spare parts
than for the other one.

344
00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:25,440
So there is an advantage to it as well.

345
00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,960
It's not necessarily a bad thing
if you only replace part of the fleet.

346
00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:29,840
Exactly. Yeah.

347
00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:33,120
And again
it all boils down to flexibility.

348
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,080
And we can be super flexible.

349
00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,560
I mean we have many different retrofit
options in place.

350
00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:40,080
And again
I think that sets us really apart.

351
00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,520
We as Hitachi Energy, we try to stay
abreast with those requirements.

352
00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,800
One aspect that came on top of
this is sustainability.

353
00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,360
My personal feeling was the last year
it was a bit of a buzzword.

354
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:51,960
Yeah.

355
00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:56,280
But now what you see all across the world
is a change in legislation, right?

356
00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,200
So we want to get to net-zero.

357
00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:00,840
We want to limit the global
warming to 1.5%.

358
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,280
So many governments

359
00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:06,120
across the globe are committing
to certain laws and regulations,

360
00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:10,040
and it doesn't stop short of transmission
and distribution of our industry.

361
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:10,920
We welcome that.

362
00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:12,000
We think that's good

363
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:16,440
and we help our customers to fulfill their
targets, their sustainability targets.

364
00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:16,720
Right.

365
00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,800
And speaking about sustainability,
we've heard a little bit about SF6

366
00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,960
and recycling SF6 in previous episodes.

367
00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,960
Can you explain the nitty gritty
of how this works in layman's terms?

368
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,120
Yeah, SF6, I mean, basically
there are two ways in simple terms

369
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,880
how to recycle it, how to make it fit
and bring it back to industry

370
00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,200
grade standards.
I mean, one thing is cleaning it.

371
00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,480
You filter it
and then there's a second technology.

372
00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:41,920
It's called cryogenics.

373
00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:44,520
It's a cool word, right? Yeah,
it sounds fantastic.

374
00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:45,960
Explain that for our audience.

375
00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:50,040
What do you usually do is in cryogenics,
you deep freeze the SF6

376
00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:51,480
and then you spin it.

377
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,520
You know, you centrifuge it,
and then you can filter out

378
00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:56,720
the different phases
that are inside the gas.

379
00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,560
So basically all of the contaminations

380
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:00,920
you can filter out
if you deep freeze the gas.

381
00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:05,520
And then you bring it back to 99.999%
cleanliness.

382
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,320
And is this a process
that Hitachi Energy does,

383
00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,400
or is this something that is common
across the industry?

384
00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:15,800
Yeah, that is a super hot topic actually,
because I mean, in the past, again,

385
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:16,880
personal opinion is

386
00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,320
if you have contaminated gas,
it was sent back to the manufacturer

387
00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,320
and then they burned it
and you just got a new one

388
00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:27,400
or you just bought new virgin
SF6 gas with those new legislations

389
00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,960
that are now kicking in across the globe,
especially Europe, North America,

390
00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:32,320
that is not allowed anymore.

391
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,680
And you need to find ways to recycle gas.

392
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,040
So it's becoming more and more relevant
that topic.

393
00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:40,280
And we as Hitachi Energy,
we are looking into this technology,

394
00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,680
how to develop it, how to make
an interesting offering to our customers.

395
00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,040
And so the idea being
that you want to offer your customers

396
00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,840
a service where they can more
easily recycle that SF6 gas.

397
00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:52,440
Exactly. Why is it relevant?

398
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:56,120
Very concrete example: There
is this European Union F-gas regulation.

399
00:17:56,120 --> 00:18:01,080
And from 2035 onwards, our customers
are only allowed to use recycled SF6.

400
00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:03,200
So not Virgin SF6 anymore.

401
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,600
So they find themselves in a position okay
where to get recycled SF6 from

402
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,960
and we as Hitachi Energy,
we want to provide that solution

403
00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,280
and we can already do it today,
but we need to scale up also.

404
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,960
Speaking of recycling SF6
and moving on from it,

405
00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:21,000
have you got any cool new offerings
coming up that you could share in terms

406
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,760
of where sustainability is
headed? Cool is a nice word

407
00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:26,040
because– That's

408
00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,880
exactly the sort of the purpose of–
We want to cool the planet, right?

409
00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,560
Or we want to limit the warming, right?
Yeah. Yes.

410
00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:33,800
I mean, we have one offering

411
00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:37,560
which is super interesting because,
I mean, the industry is talking a lot

412
00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:41,040
about alternative gas technologies,
so other than SF6.

413
00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:43,720
And there are many solutions
out on the market.

414
00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:45,360
And we also participate in this.

415
00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:47,000
But there's one hot question:

416
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,960
what about the SF6
that is already in our switchgears?

417
00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:51,400
Right. What to do about that.

418
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:55,080
And what we have developed is a solution
to replace that SF6.

419
00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,640
But take it out and refill the acid
with an alternative gas technology.

420
00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,720
It works the same way as it did before.

421
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:03,240
It's basically a gas swap.

422
00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,000
And that's beautiful because one thing is
putting a switchgear new into the market.

423
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:07,400
Right.

424
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:08,120
But the other thing is

425
00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:11,240
what to do with the SF6
that is already in the installed base.

426
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:12,840
And we have a solution that works

427
00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,120
and we will expand it
to all ranges of the portfolio.

428
00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:18,200
So right now we have it 420 kV.

429
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:20,680
So that's the transmission level
as we call it.

430
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,920
But we want to run it to a much much wider
portfolio.

431
00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:25,040
Yeah.

432
00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,040
Can you talk us through a real life
example

433
00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,080
when you worked with a customer
to replace SF6?

434
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,320
Or even better, is there a time
when a customer came to you with a request

435
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:38,400
and you ended up providing them
with a service that made their offering

436
00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:40,040
even more sustainable?

437
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:40,760
Yes, yes.

438
00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:42,920
I mean, I talked a little bit
about legislation.

439
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:43,160
Yeah.

440
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,160
But legislation gives you the framework.

441
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,640
But many of our customers go beyond that.

442
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,120
So they are saying,
okay, legislation is one thing,

443
00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:54,240
but we have our own target,
our own sustainability targets.

444
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,920
And what comes to my mind is immediately
is a National Grid in the United Kingdom.

445
00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:03,480
So by 2030,
they want to get rid of 50% of their SF6.

446
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,160
And by 2050
they want to have eliminated it.

447
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:07,080
And how to do that?

448
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,000
Now, exactly, this EconiQ
retrofil solution that I have explained,

449
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,240
you know, taking out the SF6, replace it
with an alternative gas solution

450
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,480
fits in perfectly to fulfill that target

451
00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,120
of reducing SF6 by 50% by 2030.

452
00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:21,480
Yeah.

453
00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,720
Just to repeat what you just said,
so that our listeners can really grasp

454
00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:29,720
the solution that you're talking about,
is replacing a SF6 with EconiQ.

455
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:30,840
Is that right? Correct.

456
00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:31,440
Yeah, exactly.

457
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,320
I mean, our solution that runs on EconiQ
umbrella, our EconiQ brand name.

458
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:35,720
Yeah.

459
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:40,640
And what we do is, you know,
we replace SF6 with C4FN gas mixture. Yes.

460
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,120
Which is much more friendly
to the environment.

461
00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:46,640
And so you gave us as an example,
the National Grid in the United Kingdom.

462
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,760
Do you find that
there are many other countries

463
00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:53,200
that are following suit
that are saying by the year 2030,

464
00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,720
we need to reduce our SF6 reliance
by this much?

465
00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:01,600
Yes, yes, it's super exciting times
right now to be in this industry

466
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,280
because the power industry I'm
in, I'm in a companies for 17 years.

467
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:07,960
It was a conservative industry.
I mean, let's be honest.

468
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,040
But what's happening right
now, it's remarkable.

469
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,160
It never happened before
because legislation is changing.

470
00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,680
You know, the focus on sustainability
is growing so much.

471
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:21,240
So the EU was a bit of a lighthouse,
you know, coming with the new regulation.

472
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:22,000
Yeah.

473
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,640
The UK is following
Switzerland, states in the US

474
00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:30,440
you know also ban SF6
looking after alternative technologies.

475
00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:31,920
The Middle East will come for sure.

476
00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:35,040
I mean there's a lot of SF6 there
and a lot of infrastructure.

477
00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,800
And they will also change to green
technologies and that is unprecedented.

478
00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:41,000
So it sort of seems like
from what you're saying

479
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,320
and again, correct me if I'm wrong, that
all these different industries

480
00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:49,280
and governments are feeding off each other
and pushing each other to really push

481
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:53,520
for progress, to move things forward
to a higher standard.

482
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:54,200
Exactly.

483
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,920
In a way, government bodies set the tone,
they set the direction.

484
00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:01,400
But what we appreciate and observe is,
I mean, many companies go beyond that

485
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,200
and really want to contribute
and get rid of SF6

486
00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,360
and look into alternative technologies.

487
00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:10,440
And we really, really appreciate it
and again, this never happened

488
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:14,160
in the industry before and it's actually
quite exciting to be part of that.

489
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:16,440
Thanks so much for joining us
today, Martin.

490
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:17,040
Thanks.

491
00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,920
You filled in for us
what asset managers are looking for

492
00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:21,240
from high voltage engineers.

493
00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:24,360
And you've provided more clarity
around high voltage equipment.

494
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,120
Also, some of the specific design
processes involved in that.

495
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,480
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of
Power Pulse.

496
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:32,280
Until next time.

497
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:34,560
And that's it for today.

498
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:36,960
We'll be back soon
with some more great content.

499
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,160
But before you go,
remember to give us a follow

500
00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:40,720
so you don't miss an episode.

501
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,080
Thanks for tuning in. See you soon!

502
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,960
This episode was brought to you by Hitachi
Energy.

503
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,800
Created
and introduced by Bárbara Freitas-Daniels.

504
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,360
Content
and scriptwriting by Cassandra Inay.

505
00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:53,720
Guest speaker Martin Apfl.

506
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:55,320
Hosted by Sam Dash.

507
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:57,320
Produced and edited by Creative Chimps.