DTEK Kyiv Grids will have stopped using oil circuit breakers completely by 2027

Thermal power generation20 May 2020

DTEK makes a substantial contribution to the transformation of the energy sector and make it more environmentally and human-friendly. This is why the company replaces outdated oil circuit breakers with modern vacuum ones. For instance, DTEK Kyiv Grids has already substituted 65% of oil circuit breakers with environmentally-friendly devices. By 2027, the company intends to completely abandon the use of oil-containing circuit breakers in the capital.

Presently almost 6 thousand of various voltage-level circuit breakers are installed and used at substations and distribution points operated by DTEK Kyiv Grids. Almost 2 thousands of those breakers, or each third breaker, are oil‑based.

‘We have been gradually substituting new vacuum circuit breakers for old oil breakers. We are going to install 170 new devices this year alone. Not one oil circuit breaker has been installed in the capital in the past 5 years. This is our conscious choice. We expect that we will be 100% oil-free in this segment by the end of 2027,’ informed DTEK Kyiv Grids CEO Maris Kunickis.

The core advantage of modern vacuum circuit breakers is their longer service life, cost-efficiency, small size, ease of maintenance and repair, fire and explosion safety. They do not contain any petroleum products or other hazardous substances and are environmentally-friendly.

In contrast, oil circuit breakers contain petroleum which could cause considerable damage to the environment if leaked into soil or water. For instance, one litre of oil is capable of contaminating 500 cubic meters of water.

To recap, DTEK Kyiv Grids will have substituted environmentally-friendly LED bulbs for all mercury containing bulbs that are currently used at the company’s facilities by 2021. This effort will become yet another step towards practical implementation of DTEK’s strategy as a responsible business that cares about the environments and strives to introduce environmentally- and human-friendly technologies.