Branche
Success Story: At a lofty height
Xiria E Switchgear at
1,600 Meters Above Sea Level
Place: Beckenried is situated on the south
Beckenried (Canton bank of Lake Lucerne in the canton
Nidwalden, Switzerland)
of Nidwalden, Switzerland. The
Customer:
municipal utility is responsible for
Gemeindewerk Beckenried
the supply of electricity and water
municipal utility
for the municipal district of
Area: Beckenried as well as the
Power supply
Klewenalp area situated at 1,600
Task description: meters above sea level. The trans-
Replacement of a medium-voltage former station located there was
switchgear on an Alp, difficult to
renewed and equipped with the
access at 1,600 above sea level
new Xiria E medium voltage
Solution: switchgear from Eaton. The
Five panels of the extendable Xiria E
compact design and the SF6-free
switchgear (two load switches,
three circuit-breakers) solution of the extendable switch-
board were key factors in the
Result:
Space-saving medium-voltage
selection process.
power distribution
The core business of the
municipal utility company is the
production, distribution and sale
of electricity. Beckenried offers
a special feature: self-generated
electricity. The Sustli hydro-
electric power station as well as
the Lätten and Lanzig mini
hydropower stations. With an
annual output of around 9.4
Industry
gigawatts per hour, they
produce half of the electricity
required in the municipality from
a clean primary energy source.
SF6-free – environmentally
friendly and durable
“Treating the environment
responsibly has a high priority
in the corporate philosophy of
our utility company,” explains
Peter Feldmann, manager at
the Beckenried municipal utility
company. “That is why only an
SF6 (sulfur hexafluoride)-free
solution could be considered
for replacing the switchgear.”
Xiria E meets these require-
ments exactly: Like all medium-
voltage switchgear from Eaton,
the Xiria E makes absolutely no
use of environmentally harmful
SF6 gas.
Thanks to the use of advanced
vacuum circuit-breakers and
innovative insulation technology,
they are a particularly environ-
mentally-friendly and durable
alternative in the medium volt-
“For us only an
SF6-free solution could
be considered.”
Peter Feldmann,
manager at the Beckenried
municipal utility (CH)
age sector. A positive side
effect: The operating costs are
also reduced, since regular
examinations of the gas pres-
sure and other routine work
become unnecessary as the
switchboard is maintenance-
free.
Compact – and flexible
The Alpstubli transformer
station is situated in the middle
of a hiking and skiing resort. It
supplies all the businesses and
facilities of the Klewenalp tour-
ist and holiday region, such as
the mountain inns and restau-
rants, the holiday chalets and
group hostels, as well as the
ski lifts. The new installation
therefore had to meet some
particular requirements. This
not only involved the challeng-
ing transportation over narrow
mountain paths up to the
remote alpine slope: “The
installation is located in an
underground station that can
only be accessed through a
very narrow entrance.
Compact: Xiria E five-panel switchgear of the Alpstubli transformer station.
The compact design and
flexibility of the switchgear was
therefore one of the most
important criteria in selecting
the system.” With a panel
width of only 500 mm the Xiria
E is one of the most compact
representatives of its class,
requires only a small mounting
footprint and can even be
installed in the most confined
spaces. “Although we had to
extend the power line, the new
switchboard in our station
enabled us to gain space,” says
Peter Feldmann delighted.
Reliable, safe – and
maintenance free
“The station is situated on the
mountain side and is therefore
covered with snow in winter.
Access is therefore difficult in
the truest sense of the word,”
Peter Feldmann explains,
“we therefore placed a great
deal of importance on reliability
and maintenance requirement
when making our decision.”
Both the live primary
components as well as the
drive mechanisms on the Xiria
E are sealed for life, thus
protecting the entire system
from environmental influences
and making it maintenance-
free. The contact wear of the
vacuum circuit-breakers is
negligible and is also certified
maintenance-free for up to
5,000 operating cycles.
Modular – and quickly remote control functionality is
installed installed in a fully separated
low-voltage room.
The Xiria E system has a
An expansion of the snow
modular design. This means
production equipment of the
that any combination and order
skiing resort is planned in the
of panels is possible. The
near future. However, it is still
number of panels that can be
not yet clear what the additional
used in a system is unlimited
requirements the necessary
since several panels can be
pumping stations and snow
interconnected without any
cannons will have: “The fact
problem. They can also be
that additional panels can be
fitted and connected quickly
added to the Xiria E at any time
thus ensuring the rapid
is very useful here.”
commissioning of the
switchgear. Cellpack Power
Systems AG based in Conclusion
Villmergen (Switzerland) thus
“We are very pleased with “For us only an SF6-free
only needed one day to install
the new Xiria E switchgear,” solution could be considered.”
the system. They also spoke
plant manager Peter Feldmann Peter Feldmann, manager at
about how pleased they were
sums up. “Installation and the Beckenried municipal utility
with the project on site. As the
commissioning could be (CH)
cable connection for the Xiria E
completed quickly, the system
is implemented from the front,
is very compact and we are
it was not only possible to save
open for extensions.” The
on building costs but also to
municipal utility will use this
erect the system close to the
experience when conversions
wall of the building. A further
are due in the coming years.
benefit of the system given the
limited space available in this
project.
Xiria E - switchgear Gemeindewerk Beckenried
Easy to integrate - and systems in a modular municipal utility
extendable design for smart grids
The municipal utility has been
The local operator panel of the Xiria E is Eaton‘s new a publicly-owned service
Xiria E is arranged ergonomically medium-voltage switchgear company of the Beckenried
at eye level. However, during for smart grids. The system municipality (Canton of
normal operation the Alpstubli offers an outstanding level of Nidwalden, Switzerland) since
system is remotely operated operational reliability and is 1897. The core business of
from the control center in suitable for applications up the company is the produc-
Beckenried: “The integration in to 24 kV. tion, distribution and sale of
our existing control system was electricity. Around 9.4 GWh
completed without a hitch,” as of electricity are produced
Peter Feldmann confirmed. with its own hydroelectric
Like the protective and control plants.
devices, the equipment for the
Good view: Panorama

Difficult to access: The transformer station is situated underground at Difficult transport: The Xiria E reached the
1,600 m above sea level. It only has a very narrow entrance. Klewenalp above Lake Lucerne.

Safe operation: The isolating gaps are visible Fully meeting requirements: The Xiria E system Benefit: The Xiria E system has a
through the windows on the front. can be extended without any problem with a modular design. This means that
number of different panel types and versions any combination and order of
and extended on both sides. panels is possible.

Eaton Industries Manufacturing GmbH

Eaton Electrical Sector EMEA
Route de la Longeraie 7
1110 Morges, Switzerland
www.eaton.eu/xiria-e

Eaton Industries (Netherlands) B.V.

P.O. Box 23
7550 AA Hengelo
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 74 246 40 10
Fax: +31 74 246 40 25
info.electric@eaton.com
www.eaton.eu/xiria-e Eaton is a registered brand name of
Eaton Corporation.
© 2013 Eaton Corporation
All Rights Reserved All other brand names are the property
December 2013 of the respective owners.