A consortium of 11 companies and three research organisations has received a grant of €5m from Business Finland to develop a flexible energy system testing platform.
The flexible energy system testing platform will be built in Otaniemi, Finland, and will utilise Nokia’s existing 5G network to facilitate the rapid transfer of data between project stakeholders. Funding was awarded as part of Business Finland’s Smart Energy programme, which seeks to create business opportunities and increase Finland’s role as a world leader in innovation.
The consortium which is developing the project is seeking to create an innovation ecosystem around the smart energy system testing platform, which will unite both national and international stakeholders, including researchers, companies, SMEs, pilot projects and technologies to develop new and future-proof approaches to smart energy.
How might the flexible energy system testing platform operate?
According to Lauri Oksanen, vice president of research and technology at Nokia Bell Labs – one of the consortium partners in the project – the growing role of 5G internet and automation across a variety of sectors will also have an enormous impact on the energy sector.
The creation of a new framework in Finland will allow the country to take full advantage of these developments and capitalise on cutting-edge innovations. Further, it will create partnerships which will expand the capabilities of innovators and companies in a range of related areas and digital technologies.
What are the stakeholders’ ambitions for the project?
VTT Technical Research Center of Finland is one of the partners co-ordinating and constructing the testing environment alongside the network of researchers among the consortium’s participants. The centre aims to collect data on how 5G and the IoT are being used under the platform, in order to advance its understanding of the applications of these technologies.
Antti Vasara, CEO of VTT, said: “Research plays on important role in this changing world. We also need bold experiments alongside strategic cooperation between the different actors. VTT wants to bring the actors together to find new business solutions for global opportunities.”
