Smedvig Eiendom invests in Power Distribution

From the left: CTIO at Smedvig Eiendom Rune Augenstein and CEO Asbjørn Lunde

Great progress is being made on the technology front and development are going rapidly. We want to contribute to this development and the green shift, says Rune Augenstein, CTIO at Smedvig Eiendom

Smedvig Eiendom has entered into a 10-year innovation contract with PowerPal AS, which has developed a new concept in power distribution and energy management. The system evens out power peaks at energy-demanding locations while at the same time ensuring sufficient energy locally.

The concept is based on industrially scalable technology that can be easily implemented in existing infrastructure and is compatible with all operational management systems.

First commercial facility

The first commercial facility will be set up in the Smedvig quarter during 2022, with complete energy management, storage systems and rapid charging stations "lightning charging" with capacities up to 360kW. This enables the opportunity to fully charge an electric vehicle in 15-20 minutes.

The establishment will act as a relief to an already pressured city center on fast charging. The charging stations will also be dedicated to the transport and logistics industry in Stavanger, says Augenstein. 

The facility will be fully integrated with existing systems with interaction between grids, periodic power sources and energy storage systems.

The system is adapted to the location with two-way and local load handling, which provides increased access to energy,  new areas of use and new sources of income.

Climate-neutral industry involves higher power consumption in multiple locations.

The need for flexible and locally adapted systems is important to facilitate, here we have the opportunity to give an entire industry a new tool around power distribution, says Asbjørn Lunde, CEO at PowerPal.

Powerpal, in collaboration with Siemens and partners, has arranged for future scaling and export, and Powerpal will establish a solid project portfolio for the next 5 years.

Norway can be the pioneering country for development and facilitation of the green shift.

Today, the electric car accounts for over 80% of all new car sales in Norway. In order to accommodate the growth, new solutions and faster establishment of infrastructure are required. Eurostat's measurements show how small a proportion of the power mix in the respective countries is based on green energy.

PowerPal's solution contributes to a faster establishment of the necessary infrastructure. This, in turn, will ensure that a greater proportion of the energy mix becomes greener in accordance with political objectives.

According to the Directorate of Energy, the total electricity demand in Norway will increase from 136TWh to 159TWh by 2040. Transport and industry will be significant factors for this increase.

Both the overall grid, the distribution grid and the transformation grid must handle power peaks - morning and evening - and seasonal variations

The market situation

It is almost impossible to build enough fast charging and charging infrastructure based on the current approach and AC technology. All locations where there is access to power are largely built out with DC and AC charging.

Access to variable power such as solar, wind and periodic surpluses in the local power grid must be utilized to a far greater extent to meet needs and provide a sustainable investment basis.

Future-oriented and sustainable technology must be established, that does not depend on public support to be realized, says Lunde.

Through PowerPal's concept, a seamless arena (market) is established where the power is shared between all relevant participants.

The marketplace is created through industrially proven technology from acknowledged players, while the projects are tailored to the individual location's current and future needs.

With PowerPal's solution, there will be a potential to reduce the down payment for establishing power distribution, energy management, energy storage, solar and wind power. The conversion to the electric car will go much faster if there are more available charging/connection points - and the cars always have the possibility to connect.

By implementing the systems, we will be able to handle the current and future mix of electric cars and be prepared to accommodate all cars with and without bidirectional charging options.

This ensures that the investment will be sustainable and relevant for the market in the foreseeable future. Flexibility and local adaptation will ensure value creation and sustainability for everyone in the supply chain, which is essential for the investment, says Lunde.