Via 3L warehouse in Estonia opened a renewable energy park with a storage facility and improved energy security
Via 3L OÜ has completed a major renewable energy project at its logistics complex in Lagedi, Harju County, which reduces the company’s overall environmental footprint by more than 20%. The logistics complex’s own footprint will decrease by over 60%, and the energy security of the entire logistics center is guaranteed.
Autonomous renewable energy park
The autonomous renewable energy park, consisting of 1280 solar panels (with a total capacity of over 627 kWp) and a 2.15 MWh battery bank, enables the large logistics center to withstand power outages for at least 24 hours, or even several days if it is sunny. In addition, the storage device makes it possible to purchase electricity from the grid at a favorable price on days with little sunshine and to use affordable electricity throughout the day without buying more expensive electricity from the market. This, in turn, means that price stability is guaranteed and the cost base of the service remains unchanged, ensuring a stable service price and quality for Via 3L’s partners.
According to Urmas Uudemets, CEO of Via 3L OÜ, the combination of solar panels and a storage device enables the company to produce and use more than 65% of the electricity needed for the entire logistics center, which strongly reduces the company’s environmental footprint and makes it possible to control the electricity cost base. Also, the off-grid capability of the entire solution is an important aspect, meaning that if there should be problems with the security of electricity supply, the battery capacity is dimensioned in such a way that the entire logistics center’s daily demand can be covered from the storage device, and work in the logistics center will not stop for a moment. And if the sun shines during the day, we can talk about the complex’s island operation capability for days, which, considering the aspects of our business and ensuring national food security, is not unimportant for Via 3L, our partners, and the entire country.
The project was one of the most complex and versatile in the region in terms of scale and complexity, which is why the entire project took a year and a half from the initial outline to completion. Uudemets said that he is very satisfied with Energiapartner for carrying out the entire project.The whole project is extremely important from the point of view of Estonia’s energy security, because this weekend Estonia, together with the other Baltic countries, will permanently disconnect from the frequency band of the aggressor state Russia, after which the production of renewable energy together with storage technology will be very important in maintaining a stable network.
Energiapartner OÜ and VIA3L had professional collaboration, resulting in an innovative energy solution for the client.
Energiapartner, together with controller manufacturer ENcombi, balance manager, and aggregator Scener, found the most suitable solution, which ensures:
- Making self-consumption more efficient (peak-shaving), during which batteries are charged with cheap electricity from the grid or maintain the required battery capacity from PV energy to use it later during higher price peaks.
- Negative exchange price protection to avoid the unprofitable sale of PV energy exceeding own consumption to the grid.
- Security of supply, where the customer can determine the battery capacity balance (SOC) for a power outage.
- Earning income in the energy markets (SPOT and reserve markets), where the battery cycle decision is made according to the most profitable transaction, thereby reducing the payback time of the entire system.
