Photo: Helsingin Energia
Helsinki’s Kalasatama to get the world’s
smartest energy system
Helsinki’s Kalasatama harbor area was freed up for
construction when cargo traffic moved to Vuosaari.
The area is firmly connected to the city core. The
Kalasatama quarter, the old Sompasaari harbour, will
see some 1,75 million square meters re-developed with
a total of 1.3 million square metres of homes, offices
and service areas including a huge shopping mall and
skyscrapers. Construction in Kalasatama began in
2011 and will continue until the 2030s, by when it will
be home to 20,000 residents and a working district for
8,000 people.
The world’s smartest energy system is to be built in
the Kalasatama (Fish Harbour) quarter of Helsinki.
Kalasatama smart grid is unique in size and scale
in the world. Kalasatama smart grid is the flagship
research project of energy and environment specialists
Helsinki Energy, Helen Sähköverkko, Fingrid, and
ABB. The consortium is planning in Kalasatama a
smart energy system, which utilizes local solar power,
an infrastructure that supports electric vehicle use,
energy storage facilities, and energy-efficient building
automation.
Kalasatama-area is also connected to Helsinki Energy’s
eco-efficient CHC (combined heating and cooling)
-smart city- solution that combines CHP (combined
heat and power), district heating and district cooling
in the most energy-efficient way in the world.
Flexibility in energy use
In future, with the smart grids, electricity is produced,
consumed, stored and sold even more flexibly than
before. At the same time, consumers will receive
more detailed information about their electricity
consumption. In essence, a smart grid is a method
to balance load and production. It can be used for
preventing consumption peaks while safeguarding a
reliable supply of energy.
In a traditional electiricity network, electricity flow in
one direction, from power plants to end users.
In a smart grid, the electricity and data flows travel in
two directions, in which case the customers can more
effectively utilise their own electricity production, such
as solar power, by selling the surplus production on to
Photo: City of Helsinki media bank/ Adactive Oy / City planning department
others. This means an expansion of the energy market:
a customer who has previously purchased energy is
now also a producer and seller of electricity.
processes the smart grid system can divert loadings
to cheaper periods which will benefit the customers of
energy.
Energy storage is important in terms of the functioning
of the smart grid. Storage is needed for balancing
production and network loads, for reserve power,
and for undisturbed electricity distribution. An energy
storage facility with a capacity corresponding to the
peak output of about 4,000 solar panels is also under
planning in connection with the new substation to be
built in the Kalasatama area.
The management of electricity usage it is intended to
implement a totally new type of mobile technology.
Most of the technologies applied in Kalasatama already
exist, and it is made certain that they work together. The
challenge is going to be how to integrate into one smart
system information and communications technology,
flexibility in demand, energy storage and electric
vehicles. Within the energy sector can be expected
the same sort of phenomenon as that experienced
in data communication following the appearance of
the internet. Alongside data communications has
appeared a significant fragmented production through
Facebook, blogs, YouTube and the whole range of
social media.
As the production levels fluctuate it will not be
necessary to build spare generation capacity and a
heavy duty grid on present lines, and this could save
hundreds of millions of euros. Through automation
Contact details:
Helsingin Energia
Project Director Atte Kallio
atte.kallio@helen.fi
www.helen.fi