Launches Clean Air Ring Main Unit, Taking the Lead in Responding to EU's New Environmental Regulations and Leading Industry Upgrade

LINDEMANN-REGNER Group, a global leader in energy equipment and solutions, officially launched a new generation of clean air ring main unit products to the public. Fully responding to the EU’s latest environmental regulations, the product provides an optimal solution with environmental friendliness, reliability, and technical leadership in response to the new regulation that will fully ban the use of SF6 ring main units with voltage levels of 24KV and below from January 1, 2026. Meanwhile, relying on the layout of diversified environmentally friendly gas insulation technologies, it further consolidates the Group’s global leading position in the medium-voltage power distribution equipment field.

EU’s New Regulation Drives Industry Transformation, Environmentally Friendly Ring Main Units Become Market Demand

As the core insulating medium of traditional ring main units, SF6 (sulfur hexafluoride) has long dominated the medium-voltage power distribution equipment market due to its excellent insulation and arc-extinguishing performance. However, SF6 is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential (GWP) as high as 23,900 and an atmospheric lifetime of 3,200 years, causing serious and long-lasting impacts on the climate and environment.

To strengthen the control of greenhouse gas emissions, the EU has officially introduced a new regulation, clearly prohibiting the sale and use of SF6 ring main units with voltage levels of 24KV and below in the EU market from January 1, 2026. This policy sets a strict environmental threshold for the global medium-voltage power distribution equipment industry and spurs an urgent market demand for environmentally friendly alternative products.

„The implementation of the EU’s new regulation marks the era of ‚rigid environmental constraints‘ for the medium-voltage power distribution equipment industry. Whoever can take the lead in launching alternative products that meet the standards and have excellent performance will seize the market opportunity,“ said the R&D Director of LINDEMANN-REGNER Group. Based on the forward-looking judgment of the EU’s environmental policy trends, the Group launched a special R&D project for environmentally friendly ring main units as early as 3 years ago. The clean air ring main unit launched this time is the core result of the precise matching of technical accumulation and market demand.

Highlighted Core Technical Features, Leading the Technical Direction of Environmentally Friendly Ring Main Units

The newly launched clean air ring main unit has achieved a dual leap in environmental performance and operational reliability through a number of breakthrough technological innovations, demonstrating significant industry leadership.

First, it innovatively adopts natural clean air as the core insulating medium. The medium is a mixture of natural gases such as nitrogen and oxygen in a specific ratio, with a GWP value of 0, completely free of greenhouse gases such as SF6. It has no environmental emission risks throughout the entire product life cycle, fundamentally solving the environmental pain points of traditional products. At the same time, by optimizing the cabinet sealing structure and gas circulation system design, the insulation stability of clean air is greatly improved. Even in extreme environments ranging from -40℃ to +55℃, it can maintain excellent insulation performance, adapting to the usage needs of different climatic regions.

Second, it is equipped with an independently developed high-efficiency arc-extinguishing system, breaking through the bottleneck of clean air arc-extinguishing efficiency. By adopting a multi-break arc-extinguishing structure and magnetic field optimization design, the arc-extinguishing time is shortened to less than 10 milliseconds, and the arc-extinguishing performance is improved by 15% compared with traditional SF6 ring main units. It can effectively cope with various short-circuit faults in the power distribution system, ensuring the safe operation of the power grid.

Third, it achieves dual advantages of long service life and low operation and maintenance. The cabinet body adopts high-strength aluminum alloy material and anti-corrosion coating technology, extending the service life to more than 30 years, an increase of 50% compared with traditional products. At the same time, thanks to the stability of the clean air medium and the reliability of the sealing structure, the equipment realizes a „maintenance-free“ design. The operation and maintenance cycle is extended from 1-2 years for traditional products to 10 years, significantly reducing the user’s operation and maintenance costs and workload.

Fourth, it integrates an intelligent monitoring and early warning system. Through built-in multi-dimensional sensors, it real-time monitors key parameters such as cabinet air pressure, temperature, and insulation performance. Relying on the Group’s independently developed cloud platform, it realizes remote data transmission and analysis, which can early warn potential faults, provide digital support for the entire life cycle management of equipment, and improve the intelligence level of power grid operation and maintenance.

Full Compliance + Multiple Choices, Building an Environmental Protection Solution Matrix

It is worth noting that the clean air ring main unit launched this time has passed the EU CE certification and the authoritative testing of TÜV Rheinland. All indicators fully comply with the EU’s new environmental regulations to be implemented in 2026 and relevant technical standards, and can be directly sold in the EU market, providing European customers with a „ready-to-use“ environmental protection alternative solution.

On the basis of the leading position of a single product, LINDEMANN-REGNER has further built a diversified matrix of environmentally friendly gas insulation technologies. In addition to clean air insulation technology, the Group has simultaneously launched ring main unit solutions based on various environmentally friendly gases such as dry air and nitrogen. It can provide customers around the world with customized environmentally friendly power distribution equipment solutions according to the voltage level, climatic conditions, operation and maintenance needs of different regions, covering all voltage levels of 24KV and below, and adapting to multi-scenario applications such as industry, commerce, and municipal administration.

Erich Jiang, CTO of LINDEMANN-REGNER Group, said: „The launch of the clean air ring main unit is not only a specific practice of the Group in responding to the EU’s new environmental regulations but also a reflection of our responsibility to lead the green transformation of the medium-voltage power distribution equipment industry. In the future, we will continue to increase investment in environmental protection technology R&D, and help global customers achieve their ‚carbon neutrality‘ goals and promote the sustainable development of the energy industry with a richer product matrix and higher quality services.“

It is understood that the clean air ring main unit has currently received the first batch of orders from European countries such as Germany, France, and Italy, and mass delivery is expected in the second half of 2025. Meanwhile, the Group’s adapted versions for emerging markets such as China and Southeast Asia are also under R&D, and global market promotion is planned to start in 2026.