Fingrid to build a new substation in Kirkkonummi to ensure the supply of electricity in the area
Fingrid is building the new Framnäs 110-kilovolt substation in Kirkkonummi to safeguard the supply of electricity in the area as electricity consumption increases. The new substation will enable area customers’, Caruna Espoo Oy, Microsoft and Fortum, investments with a reliable electricity supply long into the future. The substation will be built with SF6-free technology.
The new Framnäs 110-kilovolt SF6-free substation in Kirkkonummi will be completed in autumn 2024. Caruna Espoo Oy will connect the 110-kilovolt transmission line that currently supplies the Masala substation to the new Framnäs substation, which will reduce the rate of electricity distribution outages due to disturbances and maintenance in Kirkkonummi area and enable also the growth of the area electricity consumption. Microsoft will also build a new 110 kV connection line to the Framnäs substation.
Framnäs substation to supply reliable power also to a data centre
Microsoft is planning a data centre area in Kirkkonummi, and Fortum intends to exploit the waste heat generated by cooling the servers as a source of carbon-neutral district heating. The Kirkkonummi project is one of three data centre areas that Microsoft is planning in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
The primary power supply to the data centre will come from Fingrid’s Espoo substation, and Microsoft is building 400-kilovolt cable links to the substation, with construction scheduled for completion in 2025. A reliable power supply is of paramount importance to Microsoft. The planned 110-kilovolt connection to the Framnäs substation will serve as a backup connection for the data centre area.
Fortum is reducing its use of fossil fuels and gradually switching to carbon-neutral electricity for district heating production. Fortum plans to build an electric boiler plant in the Kirkkonummi data centre area in winter 2024–25, making use of Microsoft’s connection to the Framnäs substation. The next phase will involve commissioning heat pumps to exploit the waste heat from the data centre.
Building with environmentally-friendly SF6-free technology
The Framnäs substation will be built with environmentally-friendly SF6-free technology instead of SF6 gas. SF6 is a potent greenhouse gas that has been used as the main dielectric medium in high-voltage electrical switchgear and controlgear.
New innovations enable the phased replacement of SF6 dielectric gas, which is harmful to the climate, whenever substations are modernised. Fingrid aims to use new, environmentally-friendly dielectric technology in all its new indoor 110-kilovolt switchgear (GIS) as of 2025.
Further information:
Timo Kiiveri, Senior Vice President, Fingrid Oyj, tel. +358 40 543 3039