Sympower and Vattenfall working together to power flexibility in the Swedish energy market

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – Sympower, the demand response specialist, is working with leading European energy utility Vattenfall to help increase the amount of flexibility in Sweden’s reserves markets. The companies are working together to control approximately 60MW worth of assets of the country’s new fast frequency reserves (FFR), which has a total capacity of just under 70MW.

• Demand response specialist Sympower and the Swedish energy company Vattenfall are controlling approximately 60MW worth of assets in Sweden’s new fast frequency reserves (FFR).
• The total FFR need in the Nordics is 300MW, with Sympower already providing a third of this.
• The launch of FFR in the Nordics will enable more renewables to enter the market and help drive the energy transition.

The FFR market has been introduced by transmission system operators across the Nordics to handle low inertia situations. Operating conditions with low inertia have become more frequent in Nordic power systems, with the inertia being so low at times that the previous reserve products were unable to handle large disturbances in electricity generation quickly.

In Sweden, the electricity grid is operated by Svenska kraftnät, which ensures that the country’s electricity supply is reliable and that there is a constant balance between power input and output, keeping the frequency stable at 50Hz. For Svenska kraftnät to be able to maintain balance in the power system, it purchases reserves from balance responsible parties such as Vattenfall.

The total FFR need in the Nordics has been assessed at 300MW, with Sympower already controlling a third of this. Specifically in Sweden, the new FFR market size is just under 70MW. Sympower is managing approximately 60MW of this portfolio for Arctic Paper, Sweden’s leading manufacturer of fossil-free and innovative printing paper solutions, and Vattenfall Uppsala Heat, a local supplier of heating, steam and cooling. Both of these companies are customers of Vattenfall.

Together with Vattenfall, Sympower was also the first company to go live in Sweden’s frequency containment reserve for disturbance (FCR-D) for the consumption market which went live in March 2020.

Anders Tonhammar Lööf, Sympower’s Business Development Manager for Sweden, said:

“We’re delighted that the FFR market has launched in the Nordics, as it will enable more renewables to enter the market and help drive the energy transition. We’ve spent time educating and explaining the market to our customers while showing how our products are non-intrusive and don’t interfere with their operations. Generally, our customers are interested in new services such as ours and markets as FFR as they unlock new revenue streams for them.”

“It’s also great to be collaborating with Vattenfall on this project. Vattenfall chose to work with us to power flexibility thanks to our knowledge and experience of reserve markets, as well as our solid platform and modular products that are easily scalable.”

Henrik Juhlin, Vattenfall’s Head of Physical Power Management, added:

“At Vattenfall, we want to enable fossil-free living within one generation. We strive to offer easy and economical solutions for all our customers to participate in all electricity flexibility markets. We work closely with our customers, partners and regulatory counterparts to drive the energy transition forward and give our customers the tools and services to excel with these new market opportunities.”

Sweden’s current FFR market is due to remain open until the end of September, with an option to extend this until the end of April 2021. The next version of the FFR market will then open in May 2021.