ABB is to work on a joint development project with the Nordic utility Fortum to design and install a large-scale smart grid in a district of the city of Stockholm.
The R&D project will test the concept of a power network in the Stockholm Royal Seaport area as part of a larger initiative to cut emissions in the Swedish capital by two thirds by 2020. It is one of 16 global projects supported by the Clinton Climate Initiative Program, with a focus on sustainable and efficient generation, transmission and distribution of power.
ABB and Fortum will develop a variety of solutions to ensure that excess power generated from renewable-energy sources in the district itself (from sources such as rooftop solar panels) can be fed into the power grid to enable electric vehicles to draw electricity from the grid or feed it back in, to store energy and to provide more flexibility in the distribution grid, helping to lower consumption and emissions.
Stockholm's new district will have 10,000 homes and 30,000 office spaces, and will incorporate an innovation centre to showcase the latest technologies being tested and deployed.
The development is an integral part of Stockholm’s effort to reduce CO2 emissions by 2020 and to eliminate the use of fossil fuels entirely within the Royal Seaport district by 2030. Local power generation and a more flexible and responsive power grid will be instrumental in achieving these ambitious environmental targets. They will also contribute to the national goal of increasing the use of power from renewable energy sources.
Fortum’s operations focus on the Nordic countries, Russia and the Baltic Rim area where it operates and maintains power plants, and generates, distributes and sells electricity and heat. It distributes electricity and heat in Stockholm.
