Beginning in January 2026, the European Union will prohibit the use of sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) in new medium-voltage switchgear up to 24 kilovolts.
For utilities, this is not simply the ban of a gas, but a pivotal moment in how Europe modernizes and strengthens its electrical infrastructure for decades to come.
SF₆ has served the industry well for more than half a century, valued for its reliability, compactness, and outstanding insulating and arc-quenching properties. However, as part of the energy transition, the industry is now moving toward alternatives with a lower global warming potential — a shift that represents both progress and challenge.
Across Europe, utilities face mounting pressures: rising electricity demand, aging assets, and more frequent climate-related stresses testing the limits of older infrastructure. According to the European Commission’s Action Plan for Grids, electricity demand across the EU could rise by around 60 percent before 2030. Meanwhile, nearly 40 percent of distribution lines are already more than four decades old and in need of reinforcement and modernization. Globally, the IEA’s Electricity 2025 report notes that electricity use is increasing by nearly 4 percent per year — the equivalent of adding a Japan-sized power market annually.
As the 2026 deadline approaches, the challenge for utilities is not only technical but strategic. It is about ensuring readiness — from supply chains and installation capabilities to lifecycle support and service expertise.
SF₆-free technologies are advancing rapidly, but availability and standardization across markets are still evolving. The utilities that succeed will be those that plan early, collaborate deeply, and balance near-term reliability with long-term sustainability goals.
That understanding has guided ABB’s work with utilities over the past decade. In France, ABB and Enedis began their collaboration on SF₆-free technology in 2017 — long before any regulation was finalized. Together, we co-developed a fully SF₆-free switchgear tailored to Enedis’s distribution network. Today, Enedis operates one of the most advanced SF₆-free medium-voltage fleets in Europe, showing that these technologies are mature and scalable when built on early collaboration.
This experience also demonstrates the importance of partnership — combining engineering expertise, operational feedback, and joint testing to refine designs over successive installations. The phase-out of SF₆ coincides with a broader transformation in how power systems are planned, operated, and reinforced. Electrification, decentralization, and digitalization are reshaping the grid into a far more dynamic and data-driven ecosystem. In this context, resilience depends on adaptability — of systems, technologies, and partnerships.
Seen through this lens, the SF₆-free transition is not only about replacing one technology with another. It’s about strengthening the foundations of grid resilience and ensuring that the decisions made today impact the grid’s evolution positively.
The countdown to January 2026 is not an end point, but a beginning. The work utilities undertake now — to modernize systems, align partnerships, and build trust across the value chain — will shape how Europe’s power networks withstand the pressures of the future energy landscape.
Author: Andrea Estrada-Hein, VP Business Line Switchgear, ABB Distribution Solutions
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