The utility company had a stated ambition to become a data-driven organisation. Therefore, they chose to also equip 8,600 transformer stations with intelligent meters, namely Kamstrup's OMNIPOWER® CT meters. Data from the many substations has been crucial to getting a detailed insight into the electricity grid so Agder Energi Nett today can make better choices based on real knowledge and expand the grid exactly according to the capacity needed while achieving significant savings.
The Norwegian business community runs on electricity
In Denmark, heat pumps in private homes and a growing number of electric cars place new demands on utility companies' infrastructure, but in Norway, the picture is somewhat different. Here, not only households but also large parts of the business community are in the process of being electrified.
"The largest energy consumers will be agriculture, heavy industry and production companies," says Per-Oddvar Osland, Head of Department, Analysis Department at AEN and elaborates:
"Here in Agder, we have everything from data centres to fish farming on land, and a large new factory is being built to produce car batteries. These are all companies that have a large power consumption."
The electrification of the private car fleet is already well ahead, public transport will also be electric, and in the slightly longer term, it is expected that heavy traffic and construction work will be based on electricity. This is why Agder Energi Nett estimates that electricity consumption will triple or quadruple over the next 10 years.
From gut feeling to data-driven organisation
When NVE decided to demand the installation of intelligent meters at all Norwegian consumers, Agder Energi Nett chose to go even further and also install intelligent meters in the transformer stations.
"When we chose to invest more, it has to do with the fact that we have an ambition to become a data-driven organisation. That means we want to base our decisions on real data and not on assessments or gut feelings that we had to do earlier, "says Per-Oddvar Osland and adds:
"We've got an overview of voltage measurement and current measurement, and it gives us completely new possibilities. We have examples where we thought the network was congested but using the meters, we could see it was not as bad as we thought. That way, we have avoided investments that we would otherwise have expected. It has saved us quite a lot of money."
Another advantage is the ability to locate unmeasured consumption, which is often due to installations that have not been carried out correctly by consumers. In some cases, there may also be deliberate theft of electricity. Agder Energi Nett has already saved hundreds of thousands of EUR in losses by finding unmeasured consumption.
Kamstrup is the leading supplier in the Norwegian market
Agder Energi Nett places many demands on their partners, such as financial soundness, business ethics, professional organisation and operation, and, of course, an assessment of quality and price. In the overall evaluation, Kamstrup was the best offer for a 'long-term partner' for data collection of the customers in Agder.
In addition to the partnership with Agder Energi Nett, Kamstrup has entered into partnerships with several other Norwegian electricity companies, including Smart Hub Northwest, Dalane Energy and AMS North. This not only emphasises Kamstrup's position as Scandinavia's leading supplier of intelligent metering solutions but has also helped give Kamstrup a deep insight into the Norwegian market so that we today are the preferred partner for electricity companies that demand optimal integration between electricity, water and heat supply and existing metering systems.
Ground faults and fallen wires
In contrast to Denmark, where most power lines are buried in the ground, Norway is forced to have overhead power lines due to the bedrock. This means that accidents with fallen wires can occur.
"Earlier, we were only told when people called in. We could risk someone even trying to move a 22kW line away from the road, which is life-threatening. Thanks to the meters at the transformer stations, we now get an alarm immediately so that we can respond quickly," says Per-Oddvar Osland.
Ground faults are another Norwegian ' speciality' due to how the electricity grid is arranged, where they do not have protection against ground faults, as known elsewhere. With the new meters, Agder Energi Nett can clearly see where the fault lies.
"With the intelligent meters, we save a lot of work by measuring in the network. In 90-95% of cases, it turns out that the fault lies with the customer, so it also gives us decent savings," emphasises Per-Oddvar Osland.
The business case meets expectations
Because Agder Energi Nett chose to invest more than what was required by the authorities, they have, of course, been very aware of whether the investment has paid off. When assessing the business case, they have therefore chosen to assess the required investment and the voluntary investment separately.
"The first part of the investment that NVE imposed us is running around; we have got the money back," says Per-Oddvar Osland and continues:
"When it comes to the extraordinary investment, it largely meets our expectations for profit. Over the last 5 years, we have saved millions of EUR. In addition, there are many new gains due to access to data, where we can easily and simply do analysis and pull reports. We have become a data-driven and more innovative organisation."
