Fortum is moving from solar economy research to commercial development
”Fortum has long been developing energy solutions for the solar
economy, solutions like smart grids, the energy efficiency of
electricity production, new residential and transportation solutions,
and the know-how required for wave power. In terms of the solar
economy, we are more clearly moving from the research and development
phase to the commercialisation of solutions,” commented Fortum’s Anne
Brunila, Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations and
Sustainability on 8 December 2011, at the Solar economy seminar,
arranged by TEKES (Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and
Innovation) in Helsinki.
Energy from the sun can be utilised either directly, as solar
electricity and heat, or indirectly, as hydro, wave, wind and
bioenergy, and geothermal heat. Solar energy technologies are advancing
quickly, and the use of solar energy is already cost-efficient in
small-scale solutions in countries that have plenty of sunshine. Fortum
has several solar energy demonstration and research projects under way
to tap into its enormous potential.
”Fortum is moving from the research-only phase to priming for actual
commercial operations in direct solar energy. Inexhaustible, renewable
and emissions-free solar energy will play a significant role in
tomorrow’s electricity and heat production. That is why we got off to
an early start in its commercial development. The learning curve for
solar energy-related technologies has been steep in recent years, and
technological breakthroughs can be expected in this area,” Brunila said.
”Energy must be both produced and consumed in a smart manner. The
growth in the share of renewable energy will boost the need for
long-term storage of electricity and additional regulating capacity. In
this respect, hydropower offers very good opportunities as part of the
solar economy. Energy producers and consumers will also need smart
grids, meaning, for instance, technologies for the two-way transmission
of electricity from the grid to the consumer and from the consumer back
to the grid.”
”To an increasing extent, electricity consumers will also become
electricity producers. When consumers adjust their own electricity
consumption from the most expensive peak consumption periods to the
more economical periods, the need for expensive reserve power
decreases. Smart grids will allow consumers to sell their surplus
electricity back to the grid. Technologies to combine the small streams
from distributed energy production units into the large-scale
electricity currents must also be developed.”
”The factors driving the transition from fossil fuels to a solar
economy-based energy system are known: as the global demand for energy
– and particularly electricity consumption – is rapidly growing, the
mitigation of climate change is becoming an increasingly acute issue.
Population growth will intensify competition for exhaustible natural
resources, and therefore the use of limited resources and energy
systems must be made more efficient,” Brunila said.
Additional information:
Anne Brunila, Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations and
Sustainability, Fortum Corporation, Tel. +358 (0)10 4511
