The new regulatory requirements imposed by the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate (Ei) mean that grid operators must secure themselves against shorter outages. Öresundskraft opted to invest in two mobile distribution stations to be on the safe side.
Öresundskraft’s Peter Johansson has worked together with Holtab on several occasions over the last ten years. As project manager for Sweden’s seventh largest grid operator, he had bought substations and various kinds of electric power solutions.
“It’s easy to work with Holtab. They are good at meeting our requirements, and even though I mostly bought standard products previously, I appreciate their ability to always come up with flexible solutions,” says Johansson.
Mobile solution
In spring 2015, Peter was giving some serious thought to alternative solutions to meet Ei’s new requirements in the event that Öresundskraft’s distribution stations should fail. He then visited Holtab’s stand at the Elfack trade fair and discovered that there was a product just for the job.
“It was interesting to see how they chose to tackle the solution. At first I thought it would require a specialised solution, but Holtab had decided on a more standardised product, so we sat down and began to discuss how to proceed,” recalls Johansson.
The setup included coming up with a station that can cope with being moved around on a trailer. When a mobile distribution station has to be put into operation, it must not involve time-consuming procedures requiring special transport permits.
Greater reliability and lower risks
Andreas Thern is Holtab’s sales manager for Sweden and was responsible together with his colleague Johan Andersson and project manager Michael Martinsson for the delivery to Öresundskraft. This is what he had to say about the ideas behind this new niche product:
“We noticed that it had become ever more important for our customers that we could offer a mobile distribution station. At first we really only saw it as an extra service rather than a specific product. Now, however, greater security and risk minimisation have in some way become a new everyday reality.”
“This product is designed to be used temporarily while the main distribution stations are being repaired or refurbished. So the mobile stations must be of very high quality while also being rugged and able to withstand somewhat rougher handling as they have to be moved at regular intervals.”
Holtab has now delivered two mobile distribution stations to Öresundskraft, who are extremely satisfied with them.
“We keep them on standby and I am sure that we will now have shorter outages in the event of a fault in our distribution stations,” says Johansson.
