The Lakiakangas electricity storage is a pioneer in utilising steering and optimisation technology
The electricity storage constructed by Helen in the vicinity of the Lakiakangas 3 wind farm was completed in October 2023. Now that Helen has had a few months to gain experience in the use and benefits of the electricity storage, the storage has started to live up to expectations.
"We now have a few months of experience in multimarket trading, in other words offering the regulation capacity of the electricity storage simultaneously to multiple reserve markets of Fingrid based on financial optimisation," says Kristiina Siilin, Team Lead for Helen's Optimisation Development.
The Lakiakangas electricity storage is reportedly the first electricity storage in Finland with capacity for multimarket trading.
In this context, multimarket trading refers to having the electricity storage support the balance of the electricity system by participating in multiple reserve markets at once. The reserve markets are divided according to their purpose into a frequency stabilising reserve aiming to maintain a constant balance of the electricity system and a frequency restoration system that is needed to restore the frequency to the normal range, among other things.
"Enabling multimarket trading increases the usability of electricity storages in balancing the electricity system and makes them more profitable as investments," says Siilin.
The Lakiakangas electricity storage uses the steering and optimisation platform HelenFlex, developed by Helen. It monitors the frequency of the network, identifies malfunctions in the electricity system and unloads the electricity storages as needed at each point in time.
"The HelenFlex technology has proven to be highly usable. We will be able to use everything we learned from the Lakiakangas electricity storage in Helen's future electricity storage investments as well," says Siilin.
Supporting the balance of the electricity system is important from the perspective of the green transition.
"In the electricity system, the production and consumption must constantly be in balance, and unpredictable, weather-dependent energy production requires more and more flexibility from the electricity system. Electricity storages provide an excellent solution to this, thanks to their speed, adjustability and flexibility," says Siilin.
Helen's Environmental Penny supported the Lakiakangas electricity storage project with half a million euros. The Environmental Penny funds are being used to increase renewable electricity production and new types of energy innovation in Finland.
In addition to the Lakiakangas electricity storage, Helen currently has two electricity storages in RDI use. An electricity storage of similar size as the Lakiakangas electricity storage is also currently under construction at the Lohja solar farm that also received Environmental Penny support. Moreover, Helen has decided to invest in the new 40 MW electricity storage in Nurmijärvi. The Nurmijärvi electricity storage is one of the first large-scale electricity storing systems in Finland.