Published:  23.1.2023

Company to Attend Verkosto’s Professional Trade Fair for the Energy and Information Network Industry in Tampere, Finland on 25 and 26 January 2023

[HELSINKI], 23 January 2023 – Technology company Digita today announced it is working with grid company Caruna to minimise power outages in Finland. The aim of the cross-industry cooperation is to design and build infrastructure that is smarter and provides better service.

There is a significant need to minimise unplanned interruptions in electricity distribution, with increased focus on anticipation, response and continuous development. Climate change is causing extreme weather events to become more common, which increases the frequency of power outages and places strain on electricity distribution infrastructure.

In Finland, heavy winter snowfall often creates challenges for grid companies. To help address this, Caruna has installed several hundred of Digita’s sensors for monitoring snow load on overhead lines, with hundreds more planned. Digita’s remotely readable sensors, which are connected to its LoRaWAN-based IoT network, can be used to monitor the amount of snow, ice or frost that has accumulated in overhead power lines, how low the line has bent and at what point snow removal is needed. The sensors are used to anticipate risks to power lines and reduce the frequency of power outages, among other applications.

“Our sensors provide predictive information, reduce the carbon footprint of operations and enable faster response to problems by allowing us to be at the right place at the right time,” said Mika Flinck, Head of Sales, IoT Services at Digita. “For example, trees falling on power lines can be detected remotely, allowing the magnitude of the damage and the need for repairs to be estimated. Electric companies are required to monitor protected overhead high-voltage cables. While these inspections have historically been carried out by ground-based patrols or helicopter, Digita’s sensors enable these inspections to be done remotely, saving resources and fuel.”

IoT Sensors Also Benefit the Environment and Consumers

For consumers, interruptions in electricity supply can be unpleasant and disruptive. Digitalisation enables more comprehensive processing and refining of data. Sensors operating in the IoT network benefit both electric companies and consumers, the end customers. The purpose of preventive maintenance of the distribution grid is to reduce power outages – now and in the future – and to provide better service.

Petteri Palmumaa, Maintenance Manager at Caruna, said, “The aim is to improve the service provided to customers, and IoT sensors can be used to effectively improve the safety and reliability of power grids. Safety is improved when our technicians can remove snow load from trees based on sensor data before a network failure can occur. Power outages will also become less common, improving the reliability of the service to customers.”

Digita to Attend Verkosto’s Professional Trade Fair for the Energy and Information Network Industry

Digita also announced it will take part in the Verkosto trade fair for the energy and information network industry in Tampere, Finland on 25 and 26 January 2023 in Hall A at stand 930.

At the event, Mr. Flinck will give a presentation titled “IoT technology in power grid condition monitoring: Case Caruna” on 25 January 2023 at 13:30-13:55 on the Smart Network stage in Hall E.

About Digita

Caruna is a Finnish electricity network company. We secure the reliable distribution of electricity to our customers – also as electricity consumption increases and we move from fossil to renewable energy. By investing in the electricity network, we make sure that our customers can use domestic, renewable energy and become small-scale producers of electricity. We bring electricity to over 720,000 customers in South, Southwest and West Finland, Joensuu and  Koillismaa – equalling 20% of Finnish electricity distribution.