Exton, Pennsylvania (December 7, 2023) – Heimdall Power, the technology company that’s accelerating the energy transition through power grid optimization, today announces the results of its work with Meteomatics, the weather intelligence and technology company that enables the world’s leading companies to accurately forecast the weather’s impact on business. For over three years, Heimdall Power has combined its software and sensor data with Meteomatics’ weather and climate data to monitor and forecast the real-time capacity of high-voltage power lines. This enables energy grid companies like Swissgrid, Austrian Power Grid and Tennet to use all available capacity on their existing lines. With Meteomatics’ data integrated into its technology, Heimdall Power is powering a 30% increase to utilities’ transmission capacity on average.
As the demand for electricity grows globally–to nearly double over the next 30 years–energy grid companies are seeking ways to meet the growing demand for electricity while also lowering costs and emissions. One solution is to connect more renewable generation such as solar and wind. However, connecting and handling variable renewable production requires extended grid capacity, which is expensive and can take years to build (typically 7-12 years).
Heimdall Power solves for this by unlocking the full potential of power lines so companies can get the most out of their existing grid–without having to build additional infrastructure. Because nearly every power line today is operated without insight into its real-time conditions, companies are unknowingly leaving a significant portion of the grid’s full capacity untapped. Heimdall Powers offers companies the insights they need to predict the real-time actual capacity of specific power lines and determine new, safe limits for operating them.
As part of this, the company tapped Meteomatics to provide weather and climate data–one of the strongest factors influencing the capacity of power lines–to its technology.
Heimdall Power’s sensors are installed on live, high-voltage power lines and measure the temperature, current and angle of the line in real-time. The sensor data is collected and processed by the company’s software platform, where it is analyzed and paired with Meteomatics’ precision weather and climate data. By seamlessly combining Meteomatics’ data with power line data and machine learning, Heimdall Power has developed a unique algorithm that empowers grid companies to safely enhance their transmission capacity in an instant.
“The ever-increasing demand for grid capacity cannot be solved by building new power lines alone. Grid companies also need to utilize existing power grid infrastructure in a more efficient way” said Jørgen Festervoll, CEO, Heimdall Power. “By pairing our unique software with Meteomatics’ weather intelligence we’re able to provide grid operators with insights that allow them to utilize more of the available capacity in their grid.”
By understanding the real-time capacity of their power lines, grid companies can optimize their transmission and set safe, new operational limits to integrate more renewable energy in the existing grid. Heimdall Power’s technology also allows companies to improve their operational planning, grid planning and the flexibility of their daily operations.
Across Europe, Heimdall Power and Meteomatics have driven an increase in the capacity in high-voltage power grids by 30% on average through Heimdall Power’s technology. The two companies will now bring this success stateside, and have already started working together with Heimdall Power’s existing U.S. customers.
“Companies’ ability to maximize the use of renewable energies, while still working safely within the actual constraints of the power grid, comes down to identifying the current state of power lines and predicting weather’s influence on them,” said Paul Walsh, CEO, Meteomatics North America. “By combining our weather insights with Heimdall Power, we’re offering companies a look into their real-time power line capacities–something that a majority of energy grid companies have not had access to before. We’re looking forward to continuing our work together stateside.”
