Clean air switchgear for a net zero future | CIGRE 2026

CIGRE Session: From innovation to impact with clean air switchgear for a net zero future

Bringing F-gas-free switching to the transmission level

The transition to more sustainable transmission infrastructure requires technologies that combine a lower environmental impact with reliable grid performance. In this CIGRE session, Siemens Energy explores how clean air insulation and vacuum switching are enabling F-gas-free solutions at the 420 kV transmission level.

The session introduces the latest development of the Blue portfolio and explains why the transition to F-gas-free transmission technology is no longer only a future ambition.

What you will learn

How F-gas-free switching is being extended to 420 kV transmission applications
How the Blue portfolio combines sustainability, reliability, and performance
What the introduction of 420 kV AIS and GIS means for transmission networks
How grid operators can approach the transition to more sustainable switchgear

Dr. Mark Kuschel

Mark Kuschel was born in 1969 and studied electrical engineering at the Technical University of Berlin where he obtained his diploma in 1994 and his doctorate in 1999 in the field of diagnostics for thermoplastic-insulated medium-voltage cables. In 1996, he was awarded the Herbert Kind Prize of the ETG in VDE, with which he carried out a research project in the USA lasting several months. After his doctorate, he worked as a development engineer at the Pirelli cable factory in Berlin. Since mid-2001, he has held various global technical and management positions in the high-voltage products and gas-insulated switchgear divisions of Siemens and Siemens Energy in Berlin and Erlangen.

Employees wearing safety vests in front of a gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) installation from the Siemens Energy Blue Portfolio..

BKK employee standing next to Siemens Energy SF6-free gas-insulated switchgear at the Koengen substation in Bergen, Norway.