Leading company project Green Electrification 2035 turns the 5G network into a grid platform

The objective of the five-year Green Electrification 2035 project is to develop new integrated technology platforms for optimal electricity generation and use.Business Finland’s leading company project combines 5G technology and data management with power grid technologies and new electrical engineering solutions.

With its high reliability and low latency, the 5G network offers new opportunities for power grid security and automation. 5G technology enables, for example, quicker spotting of faults in the power grid and their automatic separation from the rest of the grid. 

‘Finland has good starting points for doing research, because we have strong companies specialising in both power grid and 5G technologies. Aalto, on the other hand, is a world-class university with know-how and understanding to conduct research in both fields,’ says Research Programme Manager Petri Hovila from ABB.

In the future, the importance of power grids will continue to grow as electricity will be used for replacing other forms of energy. The integration of energy systems, such as electricity and heating, will increase, when, for example, the heat generated by hydrogen produced for the purpose of storing electrical energy is recovered and used in district heating networks. 5G technologies will enable system management and reliable communication between the increasing amount of remotely monitored devices used in the systems.

Concrete test platforms

Aalto and ABB have already collaborated in several research consortia between universities and industry, including the projects Wireless for Verticals and 5G VIIMA, to which Aalto brought profound 5G and data security expertise. In the Green Electrification 2035 project, the aim is to bring and make available to Aalto University students and researchers devices that will enable the search for genuine research questions.

‘In the collaboration with the university, it is important for us to have access to concrete test conditions in systems where the power grid and its measurement and protective devices have been integrated into the same system with the 5G network. We want to promote the access of students and researchers to industrial technologies', Hovila says.

‘Close long-term co-operation with the university promotes the creation and development of innovations. Over time, this will shorten the development path to productisation.’

Text: Marjukka Puolakka

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