Editorial message
The most productive sustainable power projects share one surprising trait: they weren’t built to save the planet. They were built to save money, reduce downtime,...
The most productive sustainable power projects share one surprising trait: they weren’t built to save the planet. They were built to save money, reduce downtime, and generate measurable returns. Environmental benefits followed.
The word “sustainability” often evokes images of solar panels and windmills. But if we have learned anything from changes to the grid over the last decade, it is that without a viable business case, green energy is not sustainable.
This Special Issue on Sustainable Investments examines innovations that meet both criteria. The grid can be both greener and more economically resilient.
Case studies challenge the notion that green technology is a luxury. From blue GIS systems that replace SF6 with Clean Air while cutting lifecycle emissions and maintenance costs, to vegetable-based insulating fluids that offer safer, biodegradable oil alternatives, sustainable innovations are finally meeting the performance and ROI thresholds that matter to planners, asset managers, and regulators alike.
Johnson & Phillips pushed this thinking further by reprogramming existing solar inverters to provide reactive power support, functionally similar to Static VAR Compensators, even during nighttime hours when they are not generating active power. This software upgrade transforms idle assets into grid-support revenue generators, extracting value from sunk-cost investments. Others, like Pfiffner, are designing air-insulated instrument transformers that can be retrofitted into existing SF6 bays, aligning with Europe’s F-Gas phase-out while exercising fiscal discipline.
Digitalization plays a vital role in sustainability. Articles in this issue explore real-time monitoring of switchgear, blockchain based peerto-peer energy settlements, and Big Data strategies for predictive maintenance. All of these are not only environmentally sensible, they reduce downtime, optimize operational outlays, and create new service models.
The energy transition cannot survive on good intentions alone. Technologies that burn cash in the name of virtue simply don’t scale. Every project featured in this issue passes a simple test: to reduce failure rates, boost system availability, or cut operational costs.
We invite you to engage with these voices, learn from their work, and join us in shaping an energy future that is both ecologically and economically sound.
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