Vattenfall, Schneider-Electric, Echelon: Smart Grid Gotland – Electricity network for the future
One of the smartest electricity network in the world is currently under development on the island of Gotland in Sweden by the local energy company GEAB, together with Vattenfall, ABB, Energimyndigheten, Svenska Kraftnät, Schneider Electric and KTH. By using modern technology, large quantities of renewable energy sources can be integrated in the grid. This is being done with improved cost efficiency and preserved quality compared to conventional grid technology.
As a customer buying the electricity you can monitor your energy usage 24 hours a day and adjust your consumption to the current price of electricity. You can for example set your heater to automatically switch on when there is good access to cheap renewable electricity and switch off when the electricity price goes up.
Smart Grid Gotland and Gotland Energy installs photovoltaic plant on the island of Gotland
On the 11th of October the Smart Grid Gotland photovoltaic installation will undergo the final inspection. The complex consists of three one phase installations, each of 3.2 kW and one three phase installation of 2 * 22.5 kW. The one phase installations will symbolize a house top installation while the three phase installation will symbolize the roof of a barn.
The plant is connected to GEAB's electricity grid and the purpose of the installation is to investigate and verify how the system affects the power quality in the rural grid but also how the plant affects the smart meters methods to identify different states in the grid. In addition to this the smart meters possibilities to identify power quality problems caused by the solar plant will be investigated. The installation is temporary and will be used for research purposes. At the end of the project, the installation will be dismantled.