25. September 2020
The local communities Senjahopen and Husøy on the island of Senja in Troms county are vulnerable to grid outages and have a great need for strengthening the power grid. Particularly the fish processing industry in the two communities, which is outgrowing the existing electrical infrastructure, will benefit from the project.
Innovative solution and pilot plant
Smart Senja will develop the energy system of the future. Through innovative use of smart control systems, photovoltaic systems and energy storage in batteries, the project will contribute to balancing the grid in an innovative way. The goal is to put in place a satisfactory energy supply. At the same time, the facilities will serve as large-scale pilot facilities for further research and development.
Increased stability in the power supply
Electrical energy storage is one of the solutions the project is working with. In early 2019 Enova granted NOK 38.7 million in support of the project. Each of the battery plants will be of significant sizes compared to the other plants in mainland Norway.
– The battery systems enable rapid realisation of improved supply locally. They will provide the necessary support for the stability and operation of the distribution network. In the event of a power failure, the system will supply vulnerable parts of the local community , explains Sverre Skalleberg Gjerde, Project Manager at Multiconsult.
Security of supply in the future
Society’s demand for a secure energy supply is increasing. Gjerde believes that the project will provide important experiences for how to find optimal solutions for network development in combination with new technologies, and thus ensure future security of energy supplies in vulnerable local communities.
In the project, Multiconsult delivers power system analyzes and dimensioning calculations related to the preliminary project. In addition, Multiconsult is contributing to the design of supporting documents for the acquisition of energy storage with the use of batteries. The work is carried out in close collaboration with Troms Kraft Nett, which is very satisfied with the collaboration.
– Multiconsult has made good and important contributions along the way, and I think we have collaborated well in the project, says Troms Kraft Nett’s Project Manager, Julien Moisan.