IN Brief:
- Daikin will add German C4-FN production for Hitachi Energy’s EconiQ high-voltage equipment from 2027.
- The material is used in alternative insulating mixtures as utilities reduce reliance on conventional SF6 switchgear.
- EU restrictions reach additional high-voltage switchgear classes from 2028 and 2032, increasing demand for alternative equipment and supporting supply chains.
Hitachi Energy has agreed a long-term strategic supply relationship with Daikin Industries for C4-FN, a specialist gas component used in insulating mixtures for the company’s SF6-free EconiQ high-voltage switchgear.
Daikin Chemical Europe will supply the material through Daikin Refrigerants Frankfurt, with new production capacity in Germany due to become available in 2027. The agreement gives Hitachi Energy an additional European source for a material used in its high-voltage equipment portfolio, complementing existing qualified supply in Asia.
C4-FN is used as part of an alternative insulating-gas mixture intended to replace sulphur hexafluoride in high-voltage switchgear. SF6 has long been used because of its dielectric strength and switching performance, allowing compact gas-insulated equipment to operate reliably at high voltages. Its environmental drawback is substantial: Hitachi Energy cites a global warming potential 24,300 times that of carbon dioxide.
The company says its C4-FN-based EconiQ portfolio can reduce carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions by 99% compared with conventional SF6-insulated equipment while retaining equivalent technical performance, reliability, and compactness. More than 4,000 EconiQ orders have been placed across 40 countries, increasing the importance of a supply base able to support deployments beyond demonstration projects.
The Frankfurt arrangement is therefore a supply decision as well as an equipment-development story. High-voltage manufacturers need qualified insulating media in predictable volumes, and a critical gas component cannot be treated as an interchangeable commodity. Purity, mixture control, compatibility with seals and materials, dielectric behaviour, manufacturing processes, filling procedures, and service practices all have to remain within the validated design of the switchgear.
Adding production in Europe reduces dependence on a single region and can shorten the physical supply chain serving European manufacturing and project demand. It also gives Hitachi Energy another qualified route for a material whose availability will become more important as utilities replace conventional SF6 equipment across more voltage classes.
EU Regulation 2024/573 has turned that transition into a procurement timetable. From January 2026, restrictions apply to medium-voltage switchgear up to and including 24kV. From January 2028, the prohibition reaches high-voltage switchgear above 52kV and up to and including 145kV, subject to the regulation’s defined technical conditions and derogations, while equipment above 145kV is covered from January 2032.
Further restrictions apply to servicing. From January 2035, SF6 used for maintenance or servicing of electrical switchgear must generally be reclaimed or recycled, again subject to specified exceptions. Utilities therefore face a long transition period in which conventional SF6 assets, newer alternative-gas equipment, and other low-impact switchgear technologies will coexist on the same networks.
That mixed fleet affects more than initial procurement. Operators need gas-handling procedures, trained service personnel, recovery equipment, spare materials, leak management, and maintenance documentation suited to different generations of switchgear. Manufacturers, meanwhile, have to support assets through commissioning, maintenance, component replacement, and eventual decommissioning.
The transition is already visible in repeatable network procurement. SSEN Transmission has begun ordering modular substations through frameworks that include Hitachi Energy’s EconiQ equipment, placing SF6-free technology into standard connection infrastructure rather than limiting it to isolated pilot schemes.
Serial deployment changes the scale of the upstream requirement. A handful of demonstration bays can be supported through closely managed material supply, but thousands of pieces of switchgear across multiple markets require chemical production, cylinder logistics, factory capacity, filling systems, commissioning capability, and long-term service arrangements that can operate consistently.
The regulatory dates also interact with rapid growth in grid investment. European utilities are expanding substations and connections to accommodate renewable generation, storage, industrial electrification, and new demand, while simultaneously changing the type of switchgear that can be placed into service. Equipment availability becomes more difficult when capacity growth and technology transition happen at the same time.
Hitachi Energy’s agreement with Daikin addresses one of the less visible constraints behind that transition. The switchgear itself attracts most of the attention, but its performance depends on a specialised material supply chain that has to scale with manufacturing output and remain available for service requirements long after installation.
Frankfurt production is due to become available in 2027, a year before the EU’s 52kV-to-145kV restriction takes effect. That timing gives Hitachi Energy additional regional supply ahead of a regulatory step likely to push more high-voltage procurement towards alternatives to conventional SF6 technology.
The value of the agreement will become clearer as those restrictions reach higher voltage classes. If SF6-free switchgear becomes a standard specification across a larger share of transmission and distribution projects, reliable C4-FN production will be part of the industrial infrastructure required to manufacture, commission, and maintain that equipment at scale.
