Engineering group ABB is to design and install a test ‘smart grid’ in the central Helsinki district of Kalasatama in co-operation with municipal utility Helsingin Energia and Finnish-German telecoms equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks.
The project will test the concept of a flexible, low-emission power network in the new development of Kalasatama as part of a larger initiative to lift Helsinki’s environmental profile with a focus on the sustainable and efficient distribution of power.
The partners will develop solutions to ensure that excess power generated from renewable energy sources in the district can be fed into the power grid, to enable electric vehicles to draw electricity from the grid or feed it back and to store energy.
The initiative will also provide an ‘innovation centre’ to showcase the latest technologies being tested and deployed Kalasatama.
ABB has recently announced initiatives to develop smart grid solutions in Friedrichshafen, southern Germany, in cooperation with T-Systems, part of German telecoms major Deutsche Telekom AG, and in Stockhom with Nordic utility Fortum for a new residential district in the city.