Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Finland quietly taking lead in implementing smart grid systems

It was announced yesterday that energy management form Landis+Gyr has just been awarded a contract to provide electricity, gas and district heat smart metering for the city of Lappeenranta in South-Eastern Finland.

The agreement with local energy company Lappeenrannan Energiaverkot will see the deployment of Landis+Gyr’s Gridstream solution for multi-energy smart meters, smart metering software and meter reading services.

Landis+Gyr will manage the entire project and work on the rollout with its partners beginning in April next year, which will see 54,000 smart meters installed in households by 2013.

On June 2, 2010 it was announced ABB will work on a joint development project with Helsingin Energia, the public utility Helsinki, and Nokia Siemens Networks to design and install a large-scale smart grid in the Kalasatama district of Helsinki.

The R&D project will test the concept of a flexible, low-emission power network in the district as part of a larger initiative to lift Helsinki's environmental profile with a focus on the sustainable and efficient distribution of power. ABB, Helsingin Energia and Nokia Siemens Networks will develop a variety of solutions based on modern communication, information and energy technologies.

These include solutions to ensure that excess power generated from renewable energy sources in the district itself, for instance from solar panels and wind turbines, can be fed into the power grid; to enable electric vehicles to draw electricity from the grid or feed it back; to store energy; to create easy-to-use services and to provide more flexibility and transparency in the distribution grid, helping to lower consumption and emissions.

The Kalasatama district in the heart of Helsinki will provide living space for 18,000 people and 10,000 work places, and incorporate an innovation center to showcase the latest technologies being tested and deployed.

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