Enedis and ABB renew framework agreement to accelerate France's transition to an SF6-free grid

Release date: 2025-10-28 18:48:52 Reading volume: 7

Enedis and ABB renew framework agreement to accelerate France’s SF6-free grid transition

Five-year agreement strengthens the long-term partnership between Enedis and ABB
Supports Enedis’ mission-driven commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening grid resilience
Builds on proven collaboration since 2017 to phase out SF6 from France’s electricity distribution network

Enedis, France’s largest distribution system operator (DSO), has renewed its framework agreement with ABB to continue modernizing the country’s electricity networks. The five-year deal, which can be extended to eight years, reflects the strength of the long-standing partnership between the two companies and Enedis’ ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its medium-voltage network infrastructure. The contract was signed and initiated in the third quarter of 2025. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Modern energy solutions – including rooftop solar panels, heat pumps, local energy communities, electric vehicles, and wind and solar energy installations – are driving Europe’s transition away from fossil fuels. These modern energy solutions are at the same time also increasing demand on energy infrastructure, with EU electricity consumption projected to rise by 60% between 2023 and 2030. This acceleration places new pressure on distribution grids, highlighting the need to expand partnerships that will support grid expansion both in scale and technology.

In 2017, much ahead of the regulation*, Enedis committed to phasing out sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), a greenhouse gas over 24,000 times more potent than CO₂, from its medium-voltage (MV) switchgear.

That same year, ABB and Enedis worked together to pioneer SF6-free alternatives. The partnership led to the first installation of air-insulated switchgear, Unisec V500 (a customized variant of Unisec Air) embedding vacuum circuit breakers in 2021. Since then, the technology has been validated and incorporated into Enedis’ wider network to support new solutions with SF6 gas alternatives in grid switchgear.

Hervé Champenois, Chief Technical Officer of Enedis, commented: “This renewed agreement with ABB reflects our shared ambition to reduce environmental impact and support the decarbonization of the grid while modernizing and expanding capacity. By working with partners that share our values, we can make the French electricity system more resilient for the future.”

Under the renewed framework, ABB will continue providing the field-proven SF6-free solution, ensuring the innovation co-developed by both companies can now be deployed at a greater scale to support France’s energy transition.

“This agreement highlights the strong collaboration between Enedis and ABB over the past several years,” said Andrea Estrada Hein, executive Vice President, Switchgear Business Line, Distribution Solutions, ABB. “As electrification accelerates and demand on the grid grows, partnerships like this will be essential to ensure Europe’s energy transition is both reliable and sustainable.”

The companies will continue focusing on improving product environmental performance, embedding eco-design into future modifications, and establishing clear progress plans for reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency. The partners are also introducing a take-back program for retiring SF6-based equipment, helping to accelerate the transition to a circular economy in the grid sector.

SF6 is part of a group of chemicals known as fluorinated gases, or F-gases, which are among the most potent greenhouse gases.

*The European union’s F-gas regulation sets deadlines for phasing out equipment that uses these gases. For medium-voltage switchgear, new units using SF6 will be banned up to 24kV from 2026 and between 24–52kV from 2030, with only recycled gas allowed for servicing after 2035.

ABB is a global technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. By connecting its engineering and digitalization expertise, ABB helps industries run at high performance, while becoming more efficient, productive and sustainable so they outperform. At ABB, we call this ‘Engineered to Outrun’. The company has over 140 years of history and around 110,000 employees worldwide. ABB’s shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ABBN) and Nasdaq Stockholm (ABB).

Enedis is a public service company that manages France’s electricity distribution network, employing 41,000 people. Serving 38.8 million customers, it develops, operates and modernises 1.4 million kilometres of low- and medium-voltage networks (230 and 20,000 volts), as well as managing the associated data. Enedis connects customers to the grid, provides 24/7 outage response, carries out electricity metering (for both production and consumption) and performs all related technical operations. Acting on behalf of local authorities, which own the distribution networks, Enedis is independent from energy suppliers, who are responsible for selling and managing electricity supply contracts. A mission-driven company since June 2023, Enedis' purpose is to “work towards an innovative, efficient, and socially responsible public electricity distribution service, connecting society to the collective challenge of a sustainable world.”

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