This year's conference was introduced by State Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy Liv Lønnum, CEO of Statnett Auke Lont and director of NVE Ove Flataker. It had 180 international participants, was hosted by Statnett R&D with R&D director Sonja Berlin as host. The conference was concluded with an international session, comprising partners from the Nordic countries and the EU.
This year, Statnett invests about NOK 90 million in research and development. The effort increases to approx. NOK 120 million annually for the period 2020-2023 as a result of achieved results and in line with NVE's regulation.
There is little doubt that R&D works, Auke Lont pointed out in the introduction session of the conference and referred to calculations that R&D since 1998 has provided savings for society of at least NOK 10 billion.
The R&D conference provided insight into approximately one-third of the 60 R&D projects in which Statnett is active at all times, and an insight into Nordic network owners and the EU's R&D efforts within the energy field.
The projects were presented along three axes; Innovative technology related to the physical power system, sustainable solutions related to Statnett's footprint, as well as smart digital solutions. Among the current projects, R&D has contributed to all from research on aluminium and composite pylons as well as project to prevent icing at power lines, to systems based on artificial intelligence that predict imbalances in the grid system, smart construction management and goats keeping vegetation low along the lines in the Geit Nofence project. And it works!
You can find the presentations at the bottom of this page
Read more about these and a number of other projects in the new R&D magazine
R&D makes a significant contribution in the effort to establish a power system which makes it possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase value creation, while safeguarding security of supply. According to a report from the Research Council of Norway, the energy research has created values of NOK 16 billion since 2008. The same report represents a potential of NOK 100 billion in the years to come.
From 2020, the three focus areas for Statnett's R&D efforts will be adjusted to include cooperation in the future energy system, data-driven decision support in real time and digital, secure and cost-effective infrastructure, and a fourth focus area that will be continuous knowledge development.