Volue partners with Norgesnett to reward ‘net awareness’? landing

Norgesnett and Volue will collaborate on the Spark by Volue initiative, a thriving ecosystem of partners committed to sustainability. The aim is to create a flexible network that benefits the environment and generates long-term value.

The initiative aims to facilitate the integration of renewable assets, initially in Norway and eventually across Europe, while maintaining an efficient and stable low-voltage network.

“Many of us are familiar with smart charging for electric cars, which means we charge them at times when electricity is cheapest on the spot market, usually at night,” said Kjetil Storset, director of Spark by Volue. “The problem with this type of first-generation smart charging is that it does not take into account the load on the local power grid. Does not support networks. This is the element that we are now introducing together with Norgesnett. Today’s announcement confirms our ambition to deliver a resilient and sustainable network. By using distributed energy resources, we facilitate more intelligent use of the energy network. This will not only increase network stability, but will also reward consumers while creating value for our partners such as Norgesnett.”

The new service is intended to facilitate the inflow of increasing amounts of solar energy from roofs and greater use of electric cars without the need to increase network fees to finance extensive network expansion.

The system will be managed by operators offering intelligent charging. The service will be offered in areas where particularly heavy network traffic has been observed. Initially, this will apply to approximately 160 districts, but this number will increase as the new photovoltaic installation is launched. Customers who choose to join the program will have an additional line on their Norgesnett Network Charge invoice indicating the compensation amount. This will be regardless of which electricity supplier they purchase electricity from.

“We all support the green transition, but for us as an energy grid company, rooftop solar panels and electric cars also pose challenges,” added Vidar Kristoffersen, CEO of Norgesnett, which has around 100,000 grid customers. “When a lot of solar energy is fed into the grid from private homes on sunny days, and more and more people choose to charge their electric cars at night, this puts an increasing strain on the local power grid.”

Thanks to the new system, in the coming days the network operator will receive a constantly updated forecast regarding production, consumption and bottlenecks in the local energy network.

“We are passionate about keeping network fees as low as possible, so it’s important to think innovatively about what we’re contributing to here,” Kristoffersen said. “If we do nothing, we will soon be faced with two alternatives. Either massive investments in the network, which customers pay for in increased network charges, or limiting solar production and charging electric cars to avoid overload. In this case, we believe it is much better to provide customers with a small reward for charging ‘smart off the grid’ with local solar power.”

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