Caption: The hall of Peltisepänliike Nykänen in Veteli was big enough to accommodate three electrical storage units. CEO Ville Nykänen has been closely monitoring the battery yield from the application and the initial experiences are positive.

Peltisepänliike Nykänen, based in Veteli, has taken steps towards the use of renewable energy in recent years. A few years ago, solar panels were installed in the hall in Nykänen and now, just before Christmas, a battery system was installed in the company's newly acquired hall in the centre of Veteli. The batteries were supplied by Cactos Oy from Kempele.

Benefits of the batteries

From the perspective of a SME, batteries have five key benefits, the realisation of which depends on the company's electricity needs on a case-by-case basis:

1. A company using a power exchange contract can charge the batteries during periods of cheap electricity and use electricity from the batteries instead of the exchange during periods of expensive electricity.
2. If a company has its own electricity generation, such as solar panels, the batteries can be charged with electricity generated by the company without transmission charges and used again when demand is high and electricity is more expensive or when there is a good income from the reserves and balancing power, as in section 4.
3. For some companies, outages can be very costly. For example, a power outage of a few minutes can lead to long periods of start-up and maintenance of production equipment and the loss of work in progress. A power cut can also lead to additional personnel and logistical costs. For such companies, a battery provides essential security in the form of uninterrupted production.
4. Batteries allow the owner to participate in the reserves and balancing power market. These are a system for ensuring the security of the energy network and the quality of electricity. Electricity consumption and generation must remain at the same level at all times and the frequency must remain between 49.9 and 50.1 hertz. Sudden changes in generation or consumption can swing this, in which case balancing powers step in and provide capacity to maintain the balance. They then receive revenue from this.
5. The final benefit is a potential saving in the size of the electricity connection. A typical way of sizing an electrical connection is to add up all the power required at the site, if theoretically all appliances, heaters, lighting etc. were running at full power at the same time. Often, however, these moments are rare. If there are only occasional moments of peak power, an efficient battery can be charged at the appropriate moments and allow for a higher peak power than the connection. This allows the other benefits of the battery to be harnessed, while sizing the electrical connection to be smaller and cheaper. The benefit can also apply to an existing connection where it would be desirable to add more electrical load, but it would be inconvenient and/or expensive to increase the size of the connection.

Peltisepänliike Nykänen in the energy market

The first site of Peltisepänliike Nykänen was equipped with three batteries when the property had a suitable empty space and sufficient space and capacity on the electricity connection. The batteries in the hall are mainly used in the reserves , where the Cactos Spine system takes care of calculation and optimisation. It charges electricity at favourable times and provides stability to the energy grid at times when different variables cause electricity use to spike one way or the other.

A battery unit is also being installed at the company's headquarters in Nykanen. There, the electricity connection does not allow for more, but the benefits are still likely to be greater, at least in relative terms, because of the additional benefits that can be gained from in-house solar generation. At the centrum, the batteries are normally charged with purchased electricity, but at Nykänen the electricity charged can be generated by solar panels, which will also not incur an electricity transmission charge.

The initial capital requirement is small

- We leased the batteries. In practice, the expectation and goal is that the battery will produce more each month than the lease payment. Revenues are billed quarterly, so the initial capital should be equal to three months of lease payments plus installation service. Another option would have been to buy the batteries yourself, but then of course you need to be more familiar with the subject and have an understanding of maintenance and servicing, unless you get a separate maintenance service, says CEO Ville Nykänen.

We have only one full month of experience with batteries, so it is still too early to assess the full 10-year leasing period, but the start is promising. The acquisition is also supported by the fact that Finland is seeing more and more renewable energy production that is dependent on extreme weather conditions, which increases the fluctuations in production and thus the need for balancing equipment such as batteries. At present, Finland is also investing in numerous batteries of tens of megawatts, especially in the vicinity of substations. The interest of large investment companies in battery investments is probably a sign that battery investment is a good target.

Batteries in real estate

How do batteries fit into a property and what are the space requirements?

- The batteries in the centrum are in a corridor that had no other significant use. Three units can be accommodated, but space for a fourth could still be made with minor adjustments. There is some heat from the batteries that can be transferred to the hall side, but this is incidental and I have not calculated any added value to the heat, says Nykänen.

One unit is just over a metre deep and there needs to be 15 centimetres of space behind it and space in front for maintenance, so you can't cram them into the smallest cupboard. However, you can probably find a suitable place in any ordinary industrial hall, as long as the space is sealed off from dusty work and the replacement air is filtered to prevent the battery units from getting dirty.