For the electricity grid of the future
Falbygdens Energi supplies electricity to around 17,500 customers in the Falköping area and uses new technology to contribute to long-term sustainability. The electricity grid is about 22,600 kilometres long with an unusually high proportion of wind power – and we are continuing to prepare the grid for increased connection of both wind and solar power.
Falbygdens Energi is working actively to make it easier to connect renewable electricity, such as wind and solar power, to the electricity grid. The number of solar panels in the grid continued to increase in 2022. Of the total transmission volume in 2022, 40.9% was local renewable electricity generation consisting of fossil-free CHP, wind, hydro and solar. Falbygdens Energi is an infrastructure company that neither produces nor trades in electricity.
One of our most important jobs is to build, maintain and renew the electricity grid so that all our customers get the electricity they need, with minimum disruption. We are modernising our electricity grid in order to meet the demands of the future in the form of electric vehicles, new technologies and digitalisation. Between 2015 and 2020, we invested SEK 150 million to further enhance the quality of delivery to our customers. And this work continues. Never before has there been a higher level of investment than there is now when it comes to weatherproofing, renewal and preventive maintenance of our electricity grid.
A new generation of electricity meters was installed at customers’ premises during the year. This provides increased support for the integration of renewable electricity generation. It also enables customers to get measurements in close to real time, and makes it easier to troubleshoot the grid.
Digitisation means more power
One challenge at present is that grid connection requests take a long time to process, due to limitations at other grid owners that are beyond our control. New connections of electricity-intensive industry, renewable energy production and electric vehicle chargers can have to wait a long time before being given permission to connect. The electricity grid becomes a de facto bottleneck for the energy transition.
Falbygdens Energi launched a project on digital solutions in 2022 in collaboration with Plexigrid. Digital solutions make connecting to the electricity grid easier and faster. By utilising the existing electricity grid more intelligently and using data from the new generation of electricity meters, which all customers have, we also find out more about the situation in the electricity grid.
Technology is helping users to visualise, simulate and forecast energy flows in electricity grids in greater detail, and this is important given the increasing volumes of wind power, solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps in the electricity grid. The system can also be used to develop better long-term plans to future-proof the electricity grid, so that it can cope with the energy transition and help keep down costs for consumers.
The project, which will continue for eighteen months, is partly funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, as the results and experiences from it are deemed to have good potential to contribute to the transition of the energy system by means of increased flexibility and more efficient utilisation of Swedish electricity grids.
Mer information
Contact
Falbygdens Energi Nät AB
Bangatan 5
SE-521 43 Falköping
+46 515 77 75 00