Network Optimization - Customer Collaboration to Save Millions

Any software development, including electricity network optimization, gets to a whole new level when the vendor and the customer work in co-operation. Helen Electricity Network Ltd (Helen) has developed optimization with us – for example, with Eero Saarijärvi in particular – since the beginning of its times.

Serving nearly 380 000 customers in the capital region of Finland, Helen Electricity Network Ltd is Finland’s third-largest electricity distribution company when it comes to the number of customers. Helen's reliability of supply is outstanding also by a global measure; on average, a Helsinki resident experiences a 30-minute outage as rarely as every ten years! Helen also actively involves itself also in the utility software development, including network optimization.

“We have done similar things with Trimble for a long time.”
Osmo Siirto, Helen Electricity Network Ltd

Helen’s journey with optimization started back in 2006 when Markku Hyvärinen, director for Network Development, took part in a government-funded innovation project with Trimble and the Aalto university (Helsinki University of Technology at the time). It was followed by a larger asset management development project at Helen where the optimization was one of the sub-areas. At the same time, the Aalto university was developing the basic algorithm for the optimizer tool by researcher John Millar. Markku reflects: “In the beginning, the algorithm we worked on optimized the network from the scratch, without considering geography or streets. Of course it needs to be based on a map so that the algorithm can find the natural, or doable routes, and Eero’s doctoral dissertation was of crucial importance in this.” Next started the productization phase and requirement specifications, and also Osmo Siirto, director for Distribution Network, got involved in the project.

​When Juhani Lepistö started his Master’s Thesis on the topic, the work took the form of a piloting project. Osmo reflects: “The piloting took the tool leaps forward. After this, it got a lot more concrete elements into it.”

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Interview: How to save 20% in network investments?

“We want lead the way in the field and look for new approaches.”
Osmo Siirto, Helen Electricity Network Ltd

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In the pilot, the idea was to examine the total costs and the reliability index between different reserve levels, by using the optimization prototype provided by Trimble on the actual network. “We could change how the optimization was done just by making a few changes, and it provided us valid data on the different reserve connections, their costs and how they change in the urban environment,” Juhani explains.
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In Juhani’s Master’s Thesis, the first trial resulted in a network with zero reserve connections, due to the high reliability of underground cables in combination with high trench construction costs. This, of course, is against the regulatory limitations as well as the outage time goals set by Helen. “But that was only the first answer the tool gave us,” Osmo explains: “We then entered our preconditions, such as maximum allowed outage times, and the tool came out with an option that fulfills all our requirements”. Juhani continues: “And the tool does, in fact, have the built-in option to always include the reserve connections”.

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Markku Hyvärinen
Director, Network Development at Helen Electricity Network Ltd
Optimization at Helen since 2006.
Master of Science 1988, Doctor of Science 2008 (Electrical Engineering)

Osmo Siirto
Director, Distribution Network at Helen Electricity Network Ltd
Optimization at Helen since 2009.
Master of Science 1990, Doctor of Science 2016 (Power Systems)

Juhani Lepistö
Junior Planning Specialist at Helen Electricity Network Ltd
Optimization at Helen since 2016.
Master of Science 2017 (Electrical Engineering)

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"Hot topics these days include robotism and machine learning. That’s probably the future for this, too,” Markku wonders, “So wonder if we’ll be needed at all, maybe we’ll just go off and retire,” he laughs.

Well, don’t retire just yet, say I. You guys need to work a little more of that magic of yours before that!

-Hanna

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