CLIC Innovation has selected Pöyry to lead its cluster "Energy Storage" for the Åland FLEXe-demo project in Finland. Åland is an archipelago of 6,500 islands with 30,000 inhabitants lying at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. The Åland FLEXe-demo project is one of the largest island trials in the world to switch to 100% renewable energy and it is supported by the Finnish government.
The project comprises six clusters, of which Pöyry has been selected for the Energy Storage Cluster. Pöyry will manage the development of the storage system for Åland with two main aims, namely short-term grid stabilisation and long-term seasonal storage capacity to get the island through the winter on renewable power sources. The challenge is to integrate the storage system into the wider design that will comprise a high content of variable renewables (Wind and PV), biomass, and the envisaged transition to e-mobility of public and private transport, all connected through a smart grid. As well as technical integration, it is essential to re-design the present energy market, in order to make investments, new services and smart operation for flexibility all economically viable.
