SHOPPING MALL TO TURN VIRTUAL POWER PLANT

One of Sweden’s biggest shopping malls could become a key player in the energy market in northern Europe.

Vala, which houses more than 200 shops and dates back four decades, is poised to along with other big electricity consumers to become increasingly important in providing grid stability at a time when the share of intermittent renewable power is rising. By reducing or increasing consumption in short bursts, the facilities will be vital in keeping the network balanced in the future.

The opportunity for everyone from server halls to charging points for electrical cars to participate as virtual power plants in these new markets have come from the unprecedented retirement of Europe’s old nuclear and coal power stations in the past few years. This year alone, Swedish grid manager Svenska Kraftnat will spend $190 million to pay flexible users for balancing, a service it used to get for free from the big plants.

Vala is already equipped with solar panels, a reserve generator and back-up batteries that within seconds can be used when the mall is disconnected from the grid. Neither customers or tenants should be able to tell, by flick of the light or any kind of startup noise, that the reserve has been activated, said technical director Fredrik Arvidsson. A final decision to join the markets is yet to be taken, he said.

“Flexibility is no longer science fiction, it works in real-life situations,” said Edgeir Aksnes, chief executive officer of Tibber, a digital utility who lends capacity from its customers to the Swedish grid.

Sweden has shut down four of its oldest reactors since 2015 and several regional fossil-fuel plants have closed. Wind output in Sweden is expected to grow by almost 50 percent this year.