New energy efficiency requirements for the design of electrical transformers: «EcoDesign Transformers»
Air traffic continues to grow and this is making airports ever larger. To ensure the perfect functioning of all the infrastructure required for airport activity, One of the primary factors is electrical energy. Due to the size of airports and the growing needs within their scope, electrical demand is increasingly important. To reduce costs, airports typically purchase electrical energy at medium voltage, high voltage, or very high voltage depending on their requirements.
The European Union expects to save 16 TWh (Terawatt-hours) per year from 2020 onwards.
For this reason, it is very common nowadays to see airports with Electrical substations and transformer centres for own consumption. Consequently, these electrical infrastructures need to use electrical equipment called “Electrical transformer”.
The European Commission (EC) has published Regulation 548/2014, which supplements Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and Council. Under this directive, newly installed electrical transformers must meet certain Minimum energy efficiency requirements From July 2015. With this measure, the EC hopes to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions.
Specifically, the European executive expects to save 16 TWh (Terawatt-hours) a year from 2020, which would prevent the emission of 3,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.
This regulation affects small, medium and large power transformers used in electrical transmission and distribution networks or for industrial applications.
This Regulation shall not apply to transformers designed and used specifically for applications such as, for example: earthing transformers, measuring instrument transformers, etc.
These requirements have been in force since 1 July 2015 and will become stricter from 1 July 2021, a transition period that the European Commission considers sufficient for manufacturers, electricity companies and industrial users to adapt to these new requirements, which will be «cost-effective and technologically feasible». The EC's objective is to remove the worst-performing models from the market and foster the development of more efficient transformers, while expecting the gradual replacement of those already installed to contribute to savings.
Energy demand continues to grow, and climate change will remain a problem that humankind will have to manage. As airport designers, and given that airports are industrial users of electrical transformers, we engineers are one of the stakeholders involved in this cause, as The transformer is a key element in the setup of airport electrical systems..
The least efficient transformers currently on the European market have significant energy losses, which are dissipated into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. In parallel, to make the most of the power supplied by a traditional transformer, additional equipment is needed in the electrical system to compensate for the energy that is lost.
These losses can be very significant considering that a transformer used under normal conditions typically has an average lifespan of between 20 and 30 years.
The new transformers will not only allow reduce CO2 emissions but alsoreduce costs for users, as it will significantly reduce the need to install auxiliary power factor correction equipment. This EC measure is intended to reduce current emissions from these transformers by around 20%.
