Kunders case-stories 03.07.2021

Solar power and enhanced power grid management with Aidon’s smart technology

Lnett, located in Stavanger, has Aidon as the provider of their energy metering system (AMM). The cooperation started in 2014 and after that, near to 160,000 customers of Lnett have an Aidon smart meter installed. Interest in solar energy is growing among Lnett’s customers, which means that there is a need to provide detailed data on the quality of the energy produced by the solar panels, as well as to manage the voltage levels and quality of the entire network. Aidon’s solution provides Lnett with this data.

Norway’s climate target is to reduce emissions by at least 50 per cent and up to 55 per cent by 2030 compared with the 1990 level. To succeed in this, it is important, among other things, to have a good overview of electricity consumption, production and capacity, and to have the means to control these while replacing fossil energy sources with renewable energy. Smart grid technology is key in this.

Lnett has as an aim to increase their expertise in smart grids and use technological solutions to have secure distribution of electricity and achieve cost-effective development and operation of the power grid. AMM provides Lnett with information from the distribution grid, helping them to achieve these goals. Via the smart meters, customers of Lnett are able to monitor and manage their energy usage.

The popularity of solar panels is rapidly increasing as a source of renewable energy. In Lnett’s grid there are hundreds of households which are using solar power to produce energy. When the production of energy is higher than one’s own demand, the customers can sell the surplus energy to the grid operator. In that case, the Aidon meter measures how much energy is put to the grid, and the customer gets compensation for the produced energy.

Solar power, though, comes with some challenges: The electric grid is a dynamic system, and the output of a solar panel is always fluctuating. This might cause power quality problems on the grid if the quality of the power was not monitored all the time. The smart meters bring help to this challenge by providing detailed data of the quality of energy produced by the solar panels, and the status of the complete grid. So the customers of Lnett have the possibility to produce solar power themselves.