Orlen invests in Norwegian energy monitoring technology
Orlen, announcing the investment of a corporate venture capital fund in the Norwegian company Heimdall Power, explained that this is a company that, through direct monitoring of power line operating parameters, enables the assessment of the current line load and detection of events such as failure, icing, fire, high vibration levels. Data from sensors is also used to model the state of the network or plan the development of transmission infrastructure.
The company emphasized that “the technology developed by the partner Orlen VC allows to increase the capacity of power grids by 40%, which translates into increased security of electricity supplies to recipients.
The importance of flexible network management in the energy transformation
“Flexible and effective management of power grids is one of the key challenges related to the energy transformation. In the face of the inevitable, fundamental change towards distributed generation sources, the role of network infrastructure will continue to grow,” said Orlen CEO Ireneusz Fąfara, quoted in the company’s press release.
As he added, the Orlen Group, which currently manages a power grid of over 200,000 km, is “actively seeking the most technologically advanced solutions”, which – as he assessed – will allow the concern to build “lasting competitive advantages”. “The investment in the Norwegian company Heimdall Power, one of the world leaders in innovation in power engineering, is an opportunity to increase the use of our system” – emphasized Fąfara.
Heimdall Power: Innovations to improve the security of energy networks
Orlen explained that Heimdall Power, which was established in 2016, supplies software and sensors for monitoring overhead power lines, and this technology allows operators, among other things, to increase power in medium and high voltage networks while improving their operational safety. “Thanks to this, companies using Heimdall Power solutions are ready to meet the ever-increasing demand for electricity, while reducing or delaying the need for costly infrastructure modernizations,” the concern emphasized.
Orlen VC CEO Marek Garniewski pointed out that Heimdall Power “has built a unique position in the energy industry as an entity that enables energy transformation in the face of rapidly growing demand for energy and challenges related to its transmission”. “The ability of Heimdall Power technology to improve the flexibility of high-voltage grid operation can also significantly support our Group’s operations. Moreover, thanks to the growing interest and new orders from Europe and the USA, the company is becoming a key player in this market”, he added.
Global Heimdall Power technology rollouts
As Orlen reported, in September 2023, Heimdall Power signed the world’s first contract to implement a system for full monitoring of the entire network with the largest operator in Norway – Elvia. According to the group, the Norwegian company is currently conducting many projects simultaneously aimed at further implementations in Europe and the USA; its customer base is over 40 distribution entities in the world, also in Asia.
Orlen noted that “there is a noticeable increase in interest in modern solutions for monitoring high-voltage overhead lines on the market, and the number of tenders announced is also growing dynamically.” “More and more customers are moving from the stages of testing systems to their commercial implementation,” the concern noted.
Growing interest in modern monitoring of energy networks
As Orlen emphasized, Heimdall Power from Norway is Orlen VC’s 11th investment. He assessed that in the two years of its operation, its venture capital fund “has joined the group of the largest and most active” in the Central European region and currently has two foreign venture capital funds in its portfolio.
“In accordance with the adopted assumptions, Orlen VC plans to make approximately five investments per year, focusing on the most promising companies with innovative and commercializable technologies that will support the goals adopted in the Orlen2030 strategy,” the concern announced.
Orlen VC: Active investments in innovative technologies
The Orlen Group is a multi-energy concern that owns refineries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, as well as a network of petrol stations, including in Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. It is developing the hydrocarbon, oil and gas extraction segment, the petrochemical segment and renewable energy sources, and plans to develop nuclear energy. By 2030, it intends to launch at least one small nuclear reactor SMR.
According to the Orlen Group strategy until 2030, the concern plans investment outlays at the level of over PLN 320 billion. This year’s investments are to amount to PLN 38.6 billion, including PLN 27.9 billion for development, of which PLN 5.7 billion in the energy segment. (PAP)
