Innovation

Knowledge and Experience

Over the past 50 years, the engineering team at SBI has received international recognition, as experts in designing LV, MV and HV solutions.

This allows us to develop and conduct technical evaluations using the latest technology and simulation programs:

• Identifying cable factors that affect UHV product design
• Researching on new materials
• Exploring new designs
• Offering customized solutions (lighter crown protections, anti-vibration busbar devices, live disconnection, etc.)
• CAD/CAM designs.
• Simulations (thermal, mechanical, electric Field, etc.)
• Laboratory tests
• Vibration studies

SBI CONNECTORS S.A.U. has been a leader in the design and manufacturing of High-Voltage equipment for more than 50 years. It is a company of the French Group Sicame, a global player in the electrical sector with more than 55 subsidiaries worldwide. SBI is keenly aware of the importance of researching new technologies and continues to invest in R&D in the sector to optimize the transport of energy and improve efficiency.

With this mission, SBI began its collaboration with the innovation & development center MCIA in the HV & UHV field. These centers, unrivaled in Europe, allow any test and/or simulation to be conducted on HV and UHV products.

The research center is located in the city of Terrassa (Barcelona), with a gross floor area of 2,700m2, on a plot owned by the UPC.

SBI CONNECTORS S.A.U. & The MCIA center (Motion Control & Industrial Applications) collaborate in the creation of the High & Ultra High-Voltage Research and Development Center. It is a unique center in Europe because of its characteristics, equipment and facilities.

The equipment hosted in the research center has been acquired by SBI and funded by the CDTI (Technological Industrial Development Center), including:

• 1 Ultra High-Voltage 1,400kV DC generator in a tower with a height of over 13m and a weight of 14 tons. The only one of its kind in Europe
• 1 10kA Transform
• 1 400-liter saline corrosion chamber
• 2 Tensile Banks (one of them weighing 20 tons and measuring 13 meters, and the other weighing 5 tons).

OTHER EQUIPMENT

• 1 High-accuracy resistance measurement unit
• 1 1 KA AC Heating Transformer
• 1 2.5 KA AC Heating Transformer
• 1 130 kV AC Transformer
• 1 120 kV DC Transformer, positive polarity
• 1 120 kV DC Transformer, negative polarity

The state-of-the-art center provides the SBI R&D team with the opportunity to constantly expand its knowledge by conducting several types of tests and simulations, with the aim of offering its customers the most efficient and innovative solutions.

In addition, SBI collaborates with the MCIA center and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, funding several theses to ensure continuous research in HV system applications.

SBI carries out workshops and trainings with customers and collaborators, with the aim of improving product performance, as well as of ensuring reliability and facilitating its application.

The exchange of knowledge and experiences between manufacturers, designers, installers and end users is essential to continue making progress in innovation, productivity, reliability and sustainability.

SBI wants to continue in its role as the pioneer in each of these aspects and therefore regularly organizes different types of workshops and trainings.