Four fresh ideas for main grid maintenance development from Fingrid's idea competition

Fingrid sought new ideas for the improvement and development of main grid maintenance work and fault repair in an open idea competition. Of the submitted suggestions, four ideas suitable for implementation were selected to support development towards maintenance that is increasingly based on condition and measurement information. The idea competition was also a step towards an even more open innovation activity, which is among Fingrid's objectives. The goal of maintenance development is to reduce inconvenience to customers and society caused by faults and maintenance on the main grid.

According to international comparison studies, the cost-efficiency of the company's operations and the system security of the grid are at the top level of the industry, but operations are nevertheless continuously developed. The aim of the idea competition was to also take into account expertise and ideas outside the company in the development of operations; to improve further, ideas must be sought from new fields.

A total of 36 suggestions were submitted in the competition; in the first phase, the ten best ideas were selected for further examination and development. Companies that submitted the ideas developed their suggestions in January and February based on Fingrid's more specific questions. The ideas involved such things as new measurement technology, smart glasses, crowdsourcing

and satellite technology.

The winning ideas are:

Empower – using smart glasses in maintenance. The idea is based on virtual documentation technology that can bring benefits in grid maintenance, planning and asset management.

Noiseless Acoustics – acoustic camera for detecting and locating deviating sounds. The idea is based on a new kind of acoustic camera technology, which enables the location of equipment faults, for example.

Scoopshot – utilising crowdsourcing with targeted photo tasks. The idea is based on information collection with photos using crowdsourcing. The method can be used, for example, for locating faults by people participating in the task.

Vaisala – new measurement technology. The idea is based on a simple sensor and a new kind of measurement technology. The method can be used to detect faulty components without an inspection that requires an outage, thus bringing savings in maintenance costs.

The winning ideas may not be implemented exactly as they are, as they need further joint research. The winners were announced on 19 May 2016 in Fingrid's Maintenance Management 2020 event.

The idea competition was organised in cooperation with Spinverse Innovation Management Oy, which specialises in R&D funding and innovation projects.

Further information:

Kimmo Nepola, specialist, grid systems, tel. +358 30 395 4221
Jussi Matilainen, technology manager, technology, tel. +358 30 395 5143