Together with CGI, Finland’s transmission system operator, Fingrid is developing Datahub, a centralized information exchange system for the Finnish electricity retail market. Datahub will be introduced in February 2022 and will store information related to Finland's 3.8 million electricity use points. Maintained by Fingrid Datahub Oy, the data exchange hub will enable simplified, faster and enhanced efficiency of data exchange.
Datahub supports Finnish electricity market reforms
Significant electricity market reforms will be completed in 2023. For example, housing associations will be able to set up energy communities that will enable more flexible use of solar energy for residential electricity consumption. In addition, a 15-minute balance sheet period will be implemented to ensure the balance between energy production and consumption operates reliably, guided by market prices.
As these major changes in the energy market unfold, we will continue to develop the Datahub together with Fingrid to meet the needs of market regulations. The Fingrid Datahub is designed and built using our Central Market Solutions (CMS) to efficiently manage high data volumes.
“In 2023, consumers will have the opportunity to form energy communities. They are in-house, voluntary consortia that, for example, produce renewable energy together and want to use the energy produced for the benefit of community members. Energy companies thus increase customers' options for producing and consuming energy produced in different ways,” says Pasi Aho, Director of Fingrid Datahub Oy.
“Datahub’s upgrades will be completed early 2023. The development work will be completed in the autumn of 2022, after which testing will begin with the Finnish energy industry,” says Riku Rokala, Vice President of Consulting Services, CGI.
15-minute balance sheet period enables competitive pricing of renewable energy
At present, renewable electricity production in Europe is growing; however, it is dependent on weather variations. At the same time, traditional electricity generation, which can be regulated as required, is declining. For this reason, Finland and the whole of Europe will move to a shorter, 15-minute balance sheet settlement period. By measuring energy in 15-minute cycles instead of the current one-hour cycle, the price of electricity can be valued more accurately, investment in new technology can be promoted and cost efficiency can be increased.
"Datahub upgrades allow us to collect hourly readings from consumers and convert them into quarterly consumption readings until consumer electricity meters are renewed. Until then, Datahub is responsible for converting the readings. This will enable an effective transition to balance sheet clearance by the beginning of 2023,” says Aho.
According to Aho, the electricity market model needs to be updated to be compatible with the new production structure for the balancing of energy production and consumption to work reliably driven by market prices. “The 15-minute balance sheet period also supports the achievement of energy and climate goals in a cost-effective manner,” Aho emphasizes.
CGI has been at the forefront of building and running data-driven ecosystems for more than two decades. According to Rokala, the ground-breaking pioneering Finnish project will be closely watched around the world. “Finland is one of the international pioneers in this field. That is why we are very happy that we will be able to continue our successful cooperation with Fingrid and that we can help Finnish society move to new, more sustainable energy production models,” Rokala concludes.
