https://www.mdu.se/

Mälarenergi’s vision is a world where we live and operate together without climate impact. This degree project has examined which opportunities Mälarenergi Elnät has in order to work towards this vision by looking more closely at whether their bigger substations can become self-sufficient in terms of heating, cooling and battery charging. The purpose of this degree project was to investigate how heat recovery from the substations’ transformers and the installation of PV-systems could contribute to both more environmentally friendly and self-sufficient substations. In addition to that, the economics and how this would affect the Swedish power grid regulation were of interest. The thesis was based on current values and data for oil temperatures and installed power in three of Mälarenergi Elnät’s substations. In addition to this, the thesis also includes a literature study, where previous research in heat transfer from power transformers, up-to-date information about PV-installations and the power grid regulation in Sweden were studied. The results of the thesis showed that both PV-installations and heat exchange for heating the station buildings could be of great benefit for Mälarenergi Elnät. In all but one case, the energy saving measures resulted in lower life cycle costs than if no measures were taken. It shows that the measures investigated in the thesis are not only good from an environmental perspective, but also has economic profitability.