Smart grid and energy community pilot in Mussalo, Kotka
Replacing use of peat and fossil fuels with renewable and nuclear energy requires massive extension of wind and solar power systems. Improving energy efficiency and electrifying operations in all industries is also required. Managing the electricity transmission and distribution network, the utilization of energy reserves and the production of synthetic electric fuels require intelligent control of the whole. The project aims to verify the benefits of the concept of the industrial energy community. Influencing the legislation is also needed as it so far recognizes only energy communities inside the property.
“The Mussalo area is a unique enviroment for piloting renewable power and energy storage.”
Energy community in Mussalo
The project is a group project with LUT University. LUT has the main role in this project. Xamk’s role in the sub-project focuses on the development work of the resilience of the industrial energy community. The project will connect a significant amount of time-varying renewable energy, electricity storages, electric charging stations, onshore electricity and hydrogen production using electricity.
The goal is to develop comprehensive and intelligent management of various functions and to evaluate the emission reduction and regional economic development potential of the actions taken. The goal of the project is to produce information in such a way that similar multi-property energy communities could be implemented elsewhere in the future.
There will be long term benefits with the resilience planning of the trial platform and versatile benefits can be achieved.
With the resilience planning of the experimental platform benefits such as better security, financial benefits and environmental protection can be achieved. The conditions for developing the industrial energy community have improved. Operational reliability in fault situations has improved and the risk of costs caused by power outages has decreased. On the other hand, the geopolitical situation increases the risk of various disruptions. The preparedness of operators in the area and the readiness to act during abnormal situations increases the overall safety of the energy community and the area.
The main goals of the project
- Analyzing the planned energy community from the power supply contingency planning point of view
- Applying the developed operating model and taking into account the special features of the industrial energy community
- Development of the operating model using collected data
- Implementing the operating model for stakeholders/energy community
Why Mussalo?
The Mussalo port area has all the necessary elements to pilot a smart electricity grid and an industrial energy community: wind and solar energy production, electric work machines and plans for production of biogas and electric fuels. The area is also preparing itself for different electricity solutions, which will contribute to a significant increase in electricity demand.
A flagship project that utilizes renewable energy
A significant amount of time-varying renewable energy, electric storage, electric charging stations, onshore electricity and electrolytic hydrogen production will be connected to the project. The development of a smart electricity network and its comprehensive management using digital tools can be considered a novelty value.