One windy winter’s day, a transmission outage was planned for the electricity network in Northern Finland. Planned outages are not a rare occurrence: about a thousand of them take place every year due to grid construction and maintenance. Transmission outages are planned well in advance to guarantee the security of the electricity supply.
Transmission outages are planned well in advance to ensure the security of the power system.
But this time, production was more challenging to control than normal, and the resources started running thin. A fault could have plunged the networking into an unstable state, leading to frequency fluctuations. In the worst case, such fluctuations could have caused the grid to collapse.
The system was becoming increasingly difficult to control, and the team was running out of options. So the Main Grid Control Centre called Fingrid’s standby specialist. This time, Roger Gustavsson answered the phone.
Under his leadership, alternative solutions were considered to ensure reliability and keep the lights on in Northern Finland. The regional surplus hemmed in by the transmission outage grew so large that production needed to be reduced substantially.
Fingrid has precise calculations of how much transmission is allowed. If metered transmissions exceed a certain quantity, system security can no longer be guaranteed, and the grid could go down.
Gustavsson took responsibility for determining whether the transmission limits calculated in advance using the default values differed from the situation in practice.
A solution is found
Gustavsson contacted the people responsible for system security calculations, and the values were recalculated based on the operating state at the time.
“More transmission capacity was obtained, easing the situation slightly. However, regulation was still necessary, and several specialists addressed the matter over the following few days. Finally, the decision was taken to split the network, which eventually resolved the difficult operating state,” says Gustavsson.
This was the most challenging situation he has encountered so far as a standby employee at Fingrid.
Gustavsson began working on standby last autumn when he took up the job of Control Centre Manager in Balance Management. However, he already knew all the ins and outs, having worked at Fingrid since 2006.
Standby employees do their own work as normal but support the Main Grid Control Centre in the event of a network disturbance. Their main tools are a computer, a phone and the ability to listen. The standby employee organises activities and supports the Main Grid Control Centre in making decisions. If necessary, they travel to the Main Grid Control Centre and set up a support organisation.
“The operators purchase reserves. Standby employees can authorise additional purchases if an operator does not have sufficient procurement authority,” Gustavsson explains.
The standby employee is also responsible for communication, writing a news article for Fingrid’s website. Fingrid’s Communications Unit contributes its expertise in the event of wider-ranging problems.
Seasons affect duties
Faults in power production plants can cause deviations. The standby employee is often contacted about power adequacy issues or if a major production facility or transmission connection fails.
The Main Grid Control Centre contacts the person on standby if there are concerns about the adequacy of electricity or if a major production plant or transmission link fails.
In the winter, it is important to keep the grid unified. In the winter, it may be necessary to call the standby specialist if a fault arises in a transmission link or the weather conditions affect the transmission network or production facilities.
Some especially challenging situations occurred in the first week of January 2024 when very cold weather led to a high demand for electricity.
Transmission outages are planned for the spring, summer and autumn so that the transmission grid can be maintained and modernised. The challenges in these cases may relate to transmission management and faults caused by lightning strikes. Long spells of hot weather can also cause equipment to overheat.
One week at a time, 24 hours a day
Fingrid has eight standby personnel, each assigned to duty once every eight weeks. A shift lasts
one week, from Monday to Monday, 24 hours a day.
When they are on standby, they do their normal work, but at all times, it is essential to remain near the phone and within an hour of the Main Grid Control Centre in case a disturbance arises. They also need to be reachable during leisure hours and ready to support the Main Grid Control Centre. This means they cannot drive their children to their hobbies, for example. Besides that, being on standby has hardly affected Gustavsson’s daily life.
“We cannot go away for the weekend when I am on standby duty, but we do spend a lot of time at home due to children’s hobbies.”
On average, the standby personnel are called upon once per week. The calls have not been too taxing for Gustavsson – at least so far:
“I know that sometimes, a situation might require a lot of work. I have not yet encountered such a situation, and I hope it remains that way.”
