2/2012 - Fingrid

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Planning the networkwith the customerThe planning of an electricity network calls for expertise innetwork technology, economic matters and environmental issues.The skills of a clairvoyant would also come in handy, as a networkplanner should see some 20 years ahead.Text by Maarit Kauniskangas | Photographs by Juhani Eskelinen, Helsinki City PlanningDepartment and Futureimagebankplans the transmissionsystem one region at a time,“Fingridbecause a plan encompassingthe whole of Finland would be way toocomprehensive. This work is not carriedout solely at Fingrid, but our customers– local network companies, electricityproduction companies and manufacturingindustries – are also actively involvedin the planning work,” says AnteroReilander, who works as SpecialAdviser in Fingrid’s grid planning.Fingrid’s grid plan consists of 13regional plans. Of these, the plans forLapland, South-Western Finland, Kymenlaakso/SouthKarelia and the Helsinkiarea are currently being updated.About three to five such extensive regionalplans are made each year, whichmeans that the whole of Finland iscovered in about four years. However,the plans are flexible and the planningprocess is continuous, because in manycases there are events in the operatingenvironment compelling modificationsto the plans.Information from customersAntero Reilander says that gridplanning work is much aboutdialogue and about letting ideasevolve.tives of our customer network enterprisesare involved in drawing up theregional plan from the outset,” AnteroReilander says.Fingrid’s planning team also keepscontact with the representatives of electricityproduction companies and localmanufacturing industries. New resi-“We need local information about electricityconsumption, and estimates offuture developments. The representadentialareas, factories, logistics centresetc. add to the need for electricity. It ischallenging to foresee the electricitydemand of manufacturing industries inparticular, because a single productionplant may consume as much electricityas a medium-sized town.“As an example, if an industrial companyis planning to build a new factoryor shut down an existing plant, it wouldbe good for us to know about it so thatwe can take the matter into account innetwork planning. The changes may beswift, but years should be reserved forthe upgrading of the network. On theother hand, the companies themselvesrarely know about these things severalyears in advance. Still, it would be goodto be informed of these cases as early aspossible,” Antero Reilander hopes.Electricity production anticipation,in turn, is complicated by factors suchas uncertainties involved in the constructionof wind power capacity. Thechanges caused by wind power in thetransmission system have been rathermoderate to date, but now there areplans for more than 300 wind farm projects,totalling about 15,000 megawatts.The original target set for wind powerwas only about 2,500 megawatts. However,it is still uncertain how many ofFINGRID 2/2012 | 22
these projects will actually become reality.From ideas to solutionsTransmission system planners use initialinformation acquired by them tosketch various scenarios for the futureprospects in a certain area and explorewhat kinds of impacts these have onthe transmission network. Will there bea need for new high-voltage transmissionlines or substations? How couldwind power capacity be connected tothe system? Does a network companyneed a new transmission line connectionbecause of the expansion of itsown network?The regional plans also take into accountthe management of the ageingof the transmission system. The systemmay contain parts that should be dismantled,repaired, or rebuilt entirely.“We always aim to use the existingnetwork as optimally as possible. Wecannot and should not make preparationsfor every eventuality by overbuildingthe system. It is our goal tofind flexible as well as technically andeconomically correct solutions in atimely fashion. This is so because networkconstruction is very expensive,Electricity productionanticipation iscomplicated by factorssuch as uncertaintiesinvolved in theconstruction of windpower capacity.and the network also has environmentalimpacts,” Antero Reilander says.The planning team works together,but each member also works independently.After joint meetings for creatingideas, it is time to return to the computerto simulate the possible solutions.Antero Reilander says that the work ismuch about dialogue and about lettingideas evolve.The plans are modified on the basisof feedback received during the discussions.A regional plan shaped andhoned in co-operation with the customersis distributed to all parties ina shared event arranged by Fingrid. Ifnecessary, customer-specific confidentialreports address the developmentneeds involved in the network and gridconnections of a particular customer. Ittakes about a year to draw up the regionalplan.“When we can do things for the regionalplans in advance with no hurryand when we have proper discussionswith all stakeholders, the actual implementationof the projects is also mucheasier,” says Antero Reilander.FINGRID 2/2012 | 23
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2/2012 - Fingrid

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