In the business area of EPV Electricity Transmission, network coverage and capacity were increased in preparation for potential future expansions. EPV Alueverkko was named a significant network company in Finland. Customers experienced no significant disturbances in 2020, and business proceeded according to plan.

EPV Alueverkko Oy (EPA) is a subsidiary wholly owned by EPV Energy Ltd. EPA’s customers are local distribution network companies, large-scale industry operators, greenhouse farms and the energy sector’s generation plants in Ostrobothnia, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia and Northern Finland.

Grid expanded considerably in Tornio

In 2020, EPV’s affiliated company EPV Teollisuusverkot Oy acquired the electricity grid in Tornio previously owned by Outokumpu. The transaction included:

• The 21.7 kilometre long Keminmaa-Sellee transmission line (400 kV)
• The Sellee 400/110 kV substation and its fixed structures
• The 400/110 kV transformer belonging to the substation

According to the collaboration agreement for the transaction, EPV Teollisuusverkot also commits to developing the area’s transmission connections by installing another 400/110 kV transformer and its necessary equipment at the substation, as well as a 110 kV transmission line approximately 1 kilometre long between Sellee and Röyttä.

“The expansion of network coverage will help us protect our current electricity transmission. At the same time, it will provide us with extra capacity for potential expansion of the factory in the future. This expansion project is extremely valuable to us,” says Jukka Rajala, Director of the EPV Alueverkko business area.

Construction of assured connections progressed towards completion

The Energy Authority has commissioned Finland’s transmission system operator Fingrid to specify operators that own substations capable of transmitting electricity from production plants with more than 30 MW of power to the main grid and appoint them as network companies in accordance with the Emergency and Restoration Network Code.

EPV Alueverkko Oy has been specified as one such significant network company and, as the EU Regulation states, the capacity of the substations in question has to be assured for at least 24 hours as regards internal consumption and voice and data communications. For this reason, we are improving our substations’ reliability of operation to ensure that the recovery of the electricity system can be secured in fault situations. Conformance must be ready by December 2022.

In 2020, we implemented plenty of the required precautionary measures as regards communications, including building optical ground wire connections (OPGW) into transmission lines’ overhead earth wires. Optical ground wires have already been installed in almost all the important substations and their commissioning is proceeding according to plan.

“Securing the networks will further improve EPV’s cyber security. The work to secure all our networks progressed well in 2020, but there is still some work to do to ensure we meet the regulatory requirements by 2022,” Rajala says.

Secure electricity distribution

2020 was a good year for electricity distribution. Customers experienced no significant disturbances. EPA’s business activities also generally progressed according to plan.

The volume of electricity transmitted from the power plants to the grid grew. According to Rajala, more and more electricity is transmitted through the main grid to where it is needed and the volume will keep growing.

Fingrid Oyj made an investment decision to build the new 400/110 kV Kärppiö substation in Teuva. This will have a significant effect also on EPA’s future network projects to be built in the same area and especially on connections to the power grid.

EPA further expanded its operations in 2020

EPA continued expanding its operations in 2020. Its new and projected transmission line projects will improve the management of the current grid’s power transfer situations and make it possible, for example, to connect new wind power plants to the main grid and transmit power into it.

In 2020, new connections were completed for wind power generation and several substations were built to be connected to wind power facilities. Greenhouse cultivation in the Närpes region continues to grow, and one more new connection agreement for a greenhouse was made in 2020.

Transmission line projects completed in 2020:

• Vaskiluoto–Vaasa cable switch
• Seinäjoki–SEVO overhead earth wire switch to Optical Ground Wire (OPGW)

Transmission line projects under construction:

• Kristinestad–Närpes overhead earth wire switch to OPGW

Transmission lines at the licencing stage:

• Perälä-Paskooharju
• Perälä-Kroksmossen
• Brändskogen-Rajavuori

Modernised or renovated substations put into operation in 2020:

• Itikka gas-insulated substation (GIS), Seinäjoki, owned jointly by Seiverkot Oy and EPA
• Perälä substation, Teuva
• Saunamaa substation, Teuva
• Brändskogen substation, Närpes
• Renovation of the Nori switchyard, Teuva
• Sigg-Plant switchyard, Närpes
• In accordance with the arrangement between PVO-Vesivoima Oy and EPA, the ownership of the Maalismaa substation was transferred to EPA in March 2020

Substation projects under construction and those concerning wind power plant connections:

• Kärppiö, new substation
• Brändskogen, new substation
• Saunamaa, new substation
• Nori, renovation

EPA transmission from network to consumption, GWh

* Starting in February 2019, the significant capacity of the transmission line from Sellee to Röyttä was removed from the figures for EPV Alueverkko and became the responsibility of EPV Teollisuusverkot.

EPA peak hour capacity for consumption, MWh/h