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04 helen 2013 English Newsletter | www.helen.fi in this issue 01 ENERGy fROm aN UNDERGROUND NETWORK 02 YOu aRE IMPORTANt to uS 03 TOWARDS a sMARt hOME 04 NEWS ENERGY 01 from an underground network The city centre of Helsinki Markus Parviainen, Investment Mana- erties in the city centre of Helsinki and ger at Helen Sähköverkko Oy, is becko- taken into use in 2011. has often been called ‘cheese ning us at the roundabout to follow his The substation is located at the cen- with holes’. Its most important estate car. In just a moment, we arri- tre of the greatest load density in Fin- ve at the crossroad of Aleksanterinkatu land’s electricity use, and its output is con- holes are the energy tunnels and Mannerheimintie – albeit 30 metres sumed already within the area of about that contribute to the security underground. one square kilometre. The Kluuvi substation is located al- – Consumption of a hundred mega- of energy supply in the capital. most directly beneath the Three Smiths watts per one square kilometre is quite Statue. It was excavated in connection unique in the Finnish conditions, Parviainen Pertti Suvanto | PHOTOS Pekka Nieminen with the service tunnel serving the prop- points out. continues on page 2 © Helsingin Energia from previous page Crisscrossing and overlapping network There is a simple reason for having the net- work underground: there is no free land left to build on in the most efficient and densely built areas in Helsinki. – Here, we are in the middle of the city and still out of sight. With the Kluuvi substation, the network has been reinforced and the reliability of electricity supply has been improved further in the most important area of Finland’s electric- ity consumption, Markus Parviainen explains. Energy tunnels are one part of Helsinki’s underground ‘cheese’. Helsingin Energia has a total of almost 60 kilometres of energy tunnels deep in the Hel- sinki headland. There are seven main tunnels. These are located in the bedrock, usually at a depth of 40–60 metres. Helsingin Energia’s maintenance staff can move around in vans in ground facilities or knows its existing struc- mulator is charged at night from beneath the dry tunnel facilities to ensure trouble-free tures in their entirety as well as Helsinki. the Katri Vala Park, the world’s largest heat technical function of the systems. pump plant that produces district heat and – All in all, there are over 400 underground Looped network cooling in the same process. This plant is facilities and about 200 kilometres of techni- We are now deep in the Meilahti–Pasila–Kä- also located deep in the bedrock. cal maintenance tunnels under Helsinki, lists pylä main tunnel in Pasila to see the under- – The energy tunnels combine Helsingin Markku Hyvärinen, Unit Manager of Network ground wonder, the Pasila cold accumula- Energia’s main production plants into a ma- Development at Helen Sähköverkko. tor. This underground lake with a volume jor system. With these kinds of tunnels, we The majority of the tunnels, such as the of 11.5 million litres stores cold for the use can easily transmit high volumes of district energy tunnels, are not open to the public, e.g. of Helsinki residents. heat, cooling and electricity. for security reasons. – A similar gigantic accumulator, but As the network of tunnels is looped, the There are also underground facilities clas- twice the size, is being completed under security of energy supply is excellent. Opti- sified as secret by the state, and they are not the Esplanade Park, says Helsingin Energia’s misation of energy production in a network found on any master plan. However, there is an Project Manager Timo Nevalainen. of major transmission lines is also important. underground master plan in Helsinki, and it was In Helsinki, 80 per cent of district cool- – We are able to meet power demands completed in 2010 as the first one of its kind in ing is produced with energy that would with the most advantageous production at the world. No other city has planned its under- otherwise be unutilised. The Pasila accu- any given time, Nevalainen explains. 02 You are important to us “I’m really happy with my electricity. The pri- long term. We also develop our products continu- ce is right and the customer service impeccab- ously, so that we can offer enough alternatives for le, quick and flexible. I have recommended you to a variety of situations and lifestyles. many people.” Companies are often accused of concentrat- This customer feedback crystallises the expec- ing exclusively on attracting new customers and tations of many of our customers. A lot of them forgetting their existing customers. But we partic- are satisfied if everything works and the energy ularly wish our customerships to be long-lasting price is reasonable. They appreciate competent and want every one of our customers to feel that and easy-to-reach customer service when they they are important to us. need it. If you are one of their number, you A single person, family with young children or don’t need to worry. We want our cus- pensioner couple; different customers want differ- tomers to be confident that our ent things. Competitive pricing and good customer prices are set at a good service are the foundation that must be in order. As and competi- well as these, additional services and benefits are tive level required, from which all customers can find just in the the things that give them pleasure and are useful. Watch this space – we have great news and events in store for you next year, too! Tiina-Kaisa Saukkola Account Manager, Electricity Market © Helsingin Energia Matti Välimäki | PHOTO Helsingin kaupunki 03 Towards A SMART HOME Home automation can save energy and increase living comfort and safety. Smart features can be post-installed in homes, but in new builds it is included from the outset. The Kalasatama area is helping to show the way to the future. Electrical equipment should be turned off Home automation systems can also be Röning adds that this kind of a home is whenever it is not used. If the house has a constructed to constantly monitor the ope- part of the phenomenon becoming known storage heating system, heating is best done ration of electrical equipment and set off an as the Internet of Things. when it is most economical. When everyt- alarm immediately if the equipment beha- “The trend is for more and more devi- hing is automated, the occupant also saves ves in any way that deviates from normal. ces to be linked to the internet. An example effort and avoids things like having to re- Possibilities open up also for other types is the modern cameras that are capable of member to turn off lights and puzzling over of safety applications: sending the pictures instantly to the inter- various on/off switches. “For example, families with young net and social media.” Product Manager Hannu Pikkarainen children may be interested in an application Energy efficiency and control of energy tells us that Helsingin Energia is about to that automatically informs the parents that use must be viewed not only from the sing- announce a new Termo home automation small schoolchildren have now come home.” le home perspective, but also one of a net- service for controlling electric heating this Home automation also adds to living work formed by homes. autumn. comfort. It could feature a function that re- Pikkarainen believes that the next home cognises an occupant in the room and sets Smart aplenty in Kalasatama automation applications are also likely to the heating, ventilation and lighting auto- Helsingin Energia is involved in designing a be related to heating control and energy sa- matically at optimum levels. showcase of smart energy solutions in Kala- ving in general. satama. The area will make use of a number “There is call for controlling various Equipment internet of different automation and control systems. forms of electric heating and also such Professor Juha Röning from the University of They include local solar power, infra- things as on/off switches in the home. The Oulu Department of Information Processing structure supporting electric motoring, re- system could be set to switch off certain Science believes that the greatest possibili- motely read meters, energy storage facili- electrical equipment when there is nobody ties for increasing energy efficiency, safety ties, and an electricity network supporting in the house.” and living comfort open up when domestic a diverse complex. appliances are connected to each other and Helsingin Energia has been involved in a Increased safety the information network. consultancy role to define the specifications Ossi Porri, Development Manager at Helsin- “In the home of the future, equipment is required for the buildings in the system. gin Energia, stresses that as well as increa- more integrated as part of the home, and we “The energy angle is highlighted in Kala- sing energy efficiency, home automation can will get rid of switches and the hassle with satama, but safety and maintenance issues also help to improve electrical safety. leads,” Röning says. It is likely that at some are also important,” says Ossi Porri. “Of course, electrical safety is increased point in the future the various screens will The central idea is to control energy con- by the mere fact that the on/off system is also become history, and home functions sumption and level out consumption spikes programmed to automatically turn off the can be controlled through speech and mo- through methods like optimising usage on cooker when there is nobody at home.” vement, for instance.