Schneider Electric announces the new EasyPact MVS T6 series of air circuit breakers for offshore wind power

BEIJING, China, October 21, 2021 – Against the backdrop of the "double carbon" target, a centralized, distributed and complementary energy supply structure has become a general trend. At present, China is accelerating the construction of a new power system with new energy sources such as wind power and photovoltaics as the main body. Among all kinds of new energy power generation technologies, offshore wind power has the characteristics of strong technical leadership, large economic volume and high industrial relevance, and the acceleration period of its development is quietly coming. At the same time, the construction of offshore wind power projects also has important strategic significance for China to promote key common technologies, cutting-edge leading technologies, modern engineering technologies, disruptive technological innovations and cultivate advantageous industries. To this end, the National Energy Administration and local governments have begun to implement the support policies for the grid connection and consumption of offshore wind power.

However, at present, the offshore wind power industry is facing the problem of high construction and construction cost of project facilities. In order to cope with this problem, industry companies generally adopt the method of increasing the power of stand-alone power generation to reduce the cost of offshore wind power projects. Using fewer generator bits to achieve higher power generation power can not only reduce the overall development cost of offshore wind power projects from the source, but also reduce the cost of consumables such as cables and system power losses of offshore wind power projects with the help of the increase of the voltage of a single generator set, helping offshore wind power enterprises to achieve high-efficiency power generation with lower electricity costs. As a result, a large number of new offshore wind power projects have increased the working voltage of the generator set from 690V to 1140V. But higher power and voltage means greater operating current. For offshore wind projects with already demanding operating conditions, this change will pose a great challenge to the safe and stable operation of equipment and facilities.

As a global digital transformation expert in energy management and automation, Schneider Electric has been deeply involved in the new energy industry for many years. To meet the industry demands of the harsh operating environment of offshore wind power and the increase in power and voltage of generator sets, Schneider Electric has developed the new EasyPact MVS T6 series of air circuit breakers for offshore wind power. This series of products has the characteristics of high working voltage, large rated current and strong environmental tolerance: the maximum rated current can reach 6300A, can withstand short-circuit currents up to 75kA, and the corrosion resistance reaches C4 grade. For higher power fans, it also offers a dual-machine parallel solution that ensures current sharing and synchronization. Due to the use of arc transfer technology and multi-layer filter design that integrates a number of invention patents, the series of products has also been greatly improved in arc extinguishing performance. In response to the harsh working environment of offshore wind turbines, this series of products meets a number of high-specification industry standards, and can continue to work under harsh conditions such as salt spray, hydrogen sulfide, mold, condensation and high-frequency vibration swing, escorting the healthy and continuous work of offshore wind power equipment.

The new EasyPact MVS T6 series air circuit breakers for offshore wind power

It is worth mentioning that while the product performance is excellent, Schneider Electric is also able to provide offshore wind power customers with a wide range of pre-sales and after-sales comprehensive services. Schneider Electric has a perfect local R&D, manufacturing, sales, logistics and after-sales system in China, and there are permanent after-sales personnel with overseas qualifications in coastal areas, who can provide industry customers with program verification, product customization development, maintenance and testing services throughout the whole life cycle of offshore wind power applications anytime and anywhere.

Fan Zhang, Vice President of Marketing, Energy Management Low Voltage Business, Schneider Electric, said: "As a leader in the digital transformation of the new energy industry and a participant in the offshore wind industry, Schneider Electric adheres to the core concept that innovation starts with customer needs. With agile market insight and strong R&D capabilities, we are able to respond quickly to changes in market demand – iterating products quickly and providing customers with industry-leading products and solutions that keep them in an advantageous position in the market competition. In the future, Schneider Electric will continue to rely on the first-mover advantage of the integration of professional knowledge and digital applications, and work with partners in various fields to develop more safe, reliable and efficient offshore wind power industry products and solutions, so as to empower the overall efficiency improvement of the offshore wind power industry and china's key technological innovations.