Smart grids are one of the most important Cleantech solutions on the global scale. Smart grids play a key role in enabling a significant increase in renewable electricity generation. The demands for security of supply and fault tolerance will also grow along with the increase in renewable production. Society is becoming more and more dependent on electric energy, and this will highlight the importance of smart grids even further.
Finland has remarkable smart grid expertise in different sectors and branches of science. This expertise comes together in the SGEM research program. Together in our extensive and multidisciplinary consortium, we have been able to model future electricity networks already today – and alone this would not be possible. This helps ABB in many different ways in the ever tightening global competition. Together we have built new solutions to ensure that Finland’s own smart grid keeps abreast with leadingedge technology and that the solutions developed in Finland will become top export products on the global scale. This is the ultimate goal of our research input.
In the future, Finland will need even more high value added Cleantech expertise and innovation that happens across sectoral boundaries. The SGEM program has been a good example of creating innovation clusters. We hope that the broadbased research cooperation will continue after the SGEM program.
Tauno Heinola, CEO
ABB Oy