Schneider Electric > Case Studies > Green MV switchgear advances Renault Group’s goal of a more sustainable future

Green MV switchgear advances Renault Group’s goal of a more sustainable future

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Europe

Country

France

Product

SM AirSeT MV switchgear
EcoStruxure

Tech Stack

IoT
Digital Technology
Cybersecurity

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Environmental Impact Reduction
Productivity Improvements
Digital Expertise

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing
Maintenance

Use Cases

Factory Operations Visibility & Intelligence
Predictive Maintenance

Services

System Integration
Training

About The Customer

Renault Group is a multinational automobile manufacturer and a pioneer in the automotive sector’s circular economy. In 2000, Renault Group began incorporating the circular economy approach into organization-wide activities with the aim of turning the company’s waste into resources. The French automaker is part of the Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance, which has over 150,000 employees and in 2021 produced 2.7 million vehicles at production sites worldwide. The Alliance is aligned with Renault Group’s commitment to sustainability and has the shared mission to make mobility sustainable and accessible to everyone, everywhere in the world.

The Challenge

Renault Group, a multinational automobile manufacturer, is transforming its Flins, France factory into the first European circular economy plant dedicated to mobility. The goal is to achieve a negative CO2 balance at the plant by 2030. However, the company faces challenges such as power reliability and cybersecurity. Any power supply failure can cause a major critical event that can have serious consequences for the site’s activity. An outage can cause safety risks, halt the manufacturing process, which can lead to vehicle damage, cause financial losses due to the vehicle damage, and result in late deliveries to customers. In addition, Renault Group must focus on improving cybersecurity because a cyber breach could be devastating to the Flins factory’s operations.

The Solution

Renault Group chose SM AirSeT MV switchgear as one way to decrease the greenhouse gas inventory in Refactory. The switchgear is an innovative technology that combines Shunt Vacuum Interruption (SVI), pure air insulation, and digital technology for optimal environmental gains and maximum operational efficiency. SM AirSeT is installed in Refactory’s emergency backup network power supply loop, which mainly supplies two industrial buildings and a tertiary building. Besides the environmental benefits of avoiding greenhouse or alternative gases in Refactory’s electrical network, SM AirSeT simplifies the dismantling of its installations and facilitates cost-effective handling. The use of pure air completely removes the need for costly and complex gas recycling at the end of life of the MV equipment and thus lowers the total cost of ownership of the installation.

Operational Impact

Solutions are green and digital, and support the plant’s circular economy targets.
Installation, dismantling, and handling are easier and more cost-efficient, while pure air use eliminates the need for gas recycling altogether.
Digital innovations support remote equipment monitoring and installation management, production monitoring, forecasting, maintenance planning, and remote training on advanced technologies.
Cybersecurity is more robust because protection is integrated into the technical solutions.