Smart Grid Trial in Sweden
November 17, 2009
A joint development project to design and install Europe's first large-scale urban smart electricity grid is underway in Stockholm. The two organizations, Fortum, www.fortum.com, Espoo, Finland, and ABB, www.abb.com, Zurich, Switzerland, will test the concept of a flexible, low-emission power network in the new Stockholm Royal Seaport area.
Fortum and ABB want the project to enhance public awareness of energy efficient housing, local renewable electricity production, smart electricity grid design, energy storage, as well as the need to adjust regulation and create new market prerequisites. During the project, solutions in the field of environmental and system technology will be tested and applied in the new district. It will also serve as a showroom.
Solutions will be developed that: allow excess power generated from renewable energy sources in the district itself (e.g. from rooftop solar panels) to be fed into the power grid; that enable electric vehicles to draw electricity from the grid and feed it back; and that store energy and to provide more flexibility and transparency in the grid.
During the next 10 years Stockholm Royal Seaport will become an ecologically-sustainable district with housing for 10,000 families and 30,000 office spaces. Energy efficient transportation, sustainable energy use, and waste recycling are key environmental focus areas in the planning process. The objective is to decrease the yearly CO2 emissions from today's average of four tons per person to 1.5 tons by 2020. By 2030 the goal is to be free from fossil fuels.