The results of a three-year project featuring Norwegian company Heimdall Power and Meteomatics, a St. Gallen-based startup offering weather and climate data to monitor and forecast the real-time capacity of high-voltage power bring hope to the renewable energy sector. With Meteomatics’ data integrated into its technology, Heimdall Power is powering a 30% increase in utilities’ transmission capacity on average.
With the global need for electricity expected to increase twofold by 2030, energy grid companies are looking for ways to meet the growing demand while also lowering costs and emissions. Connecting more renewable sources like solar and wind is a viable approach. This, however, poses a challenge, as it needs more grid capacity to manage the fluctuating renewable output. This can be costly and time-consuming to construct (usually 7-12 years).
Heimdall Power, a fast-growing company founded in 2016, solves this challenge by unlocking the full potential of power lines so companies can get the most out of their existing grid – without having to build additional infrastructure. Heimdall Power offers companies the insights to predict the real-time actual capacity of specific power lines and determine new, safe limits for operating them. Heimdall collaborated with St. Gallen-based startup Meteomatics to provide weather and climate data – one of the strongest factors influencing the capacity of high-voltage power lines – to its technology. Meteomatics is a weather intelligence and technology company that creates precision forecasts of the weather’s impact on businesses anywhere in the world. More than 450 companies rely on Meteomatics for weather data.
Heimdall Power’s sensors are installed on live, high-voltage power lines and measure the temperature, current and angle of the power line in real-time. The sensor data is collected and processed by its software platform, where it is analysed and paired with Meteomatics’ precision weather and climate data. By seamlessly combining Meteomatics' data with power line data and machine learning, Heimdall Power has developed a unique algorithm that empowers grid companies like Swissgrid, Austrian Power Grid and Tennet to safely enhance their transmission capacity instantly.
Across Europe, Heimdall Power and Meteomatics have driven an increase in the capacity in high-voltage power grids by 30% on average through Heimdall Power’s technology. The two companies will now bring this success stateside and have already started working together with Heimdall Power’s existing U.S. customers.
(Press release/RAN)
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