Family-run Farm Finds Greenhouse Flexibility

At Sympower, we believe that everyone has a part to play in the energy transition. Some of our greatest customers are small businesses with an entrepreneurial spirit, like Hanna Helenius, the CEO of Piltin Puutarha Greenhouse. 

Spanning almost 2 hectares in the south of Finland, Piltin Puutarha Greenhouse is a family-run farm that focuses on the greenhouse cultivation of spinach and flowers. Working all year round, their greenhouse lights are an essential part of its business operations. During the dark winter days, these lights are the key to a successful harvest. But thanks to Hanna’s forward-thinking, Piltin has seen generous revenue flow into their operations. With help from us, they have seamlessly integrated these lights into our demand response platform.

Back in 2016, Hanna was able to get in contact with us and explore our cost-saving solutions. Our experts explained what demand response was and how it worked. Before long, we were already installing our hardware. We asked Hanna her thoughts on this process, and she mentioned,

“The installation was really easy. After talking to Sympower about the process, they came and installed everything. I didn’t have to do a thing! Sympower even called my local electrician to help with the installation”

Piltin Puutarha Greenhouse went from not knowing anything about demand response to becoming a major beneficiary of it.

Despite the greenhouse lights being critical for daily operations, they’re now earning thousands of euros in revenue through the flexibility of these assets. When asked about how demand response has impacted their business processes, Hanna said,

“We get a notification alerting us. But in the greenhouse, the lights briefly turn off and on again. But it’s so short that we’ve seen no impact on our crop growth, even during the winter days. What’s more, it generates a nice amount of money for us too.”

When new balancing markets opened up in Finland, one of our Finnish team members, Oscar Karlsson, reached out to Piltin to see if it could benefit even further from demand response. On this, Oscar commented,

“We’re always trying to give our customers as much flexibility and control over their assets as possible. For Piltin, we were able to expand the balancing markets it was participating in to give them even greater returns for their contributions.”

Initially, Piltin was participating in FCR-D Up markets, which allowed us to turn their lights off during demand spikes. But with more markets opening in Finland, this expanded to FCR-D Down markets too. Now we can remotely turn their lights both on and off, increasing their overall flexibility and maximising their revenue.

While Piltin’s lights are only activated a few times a year, they’re still seeing a major return on their demand response involvement. What’s more, their actions are helping to create a more sustainable grid system for Finland. 

“I wasn’t aware of the environmental benefits of demand response at first. But after working with Sympower, it’s something I want to share with my customers, so they know we are dedicated to sustainable change.”

Hanna said on the environmental benefits of demand response.

As one of our first clients, Piltin Puutarha Greenhouse embodies the innovative change that is possible for similar businesses. We’ve been able to help them see a great return on their involvement with us. With this long-lasting partnership, we hope to continue aiding Piltin as they expand their endeavours, and ensure that they are able to make an impactful contribution to their community. 

To learn more about Piltin Puutarha Greenhouse, see here: https://www.piltti.com/ 

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Sympower is dedicated to creating a fully renewable energy system. We are the energy experts with years of experience in demand response and flexibility optimisation. Our goal is to turn the potential of your energy assets into extra revenue for you. We provide the technical expertise, all while you stay in control.