Energy, Estonia

Compared to 2012, the number of faults almost halved, Elektrilevi said on February 16th.

"That the number of faults in the Elektrilevi network decreases year after year demonstrates that our investments are paying off," Elektrilevi CEO Jaanus Tiisvend said.

During 2017, Elektrilevi built and upgraded 219 substations and 1,942 kilometers of power lines.

"The establishment of a weatherproof network has been an important factor in reducing faults. This means that aerial wire overhead lines are replaced with underground and aerial cables which are much more resistant to whether effects such as storms, glazed frost and thunder," Tiisvend added.

At this point 62 percent of the Elektrilevi network is weatherproof. During the year, Elektrilevi built 1,935 kilometers of weather resistant network. The goal of Elektrilevi is to make 75 percent of the Estonian power transmission network whether resistant by 2025.

The amount of time that an average customer had to spend without electricity due to faults has decreased as well. If as recently as in 2014 that amount of time was 413 minutes, in 2016 it was 163 minutes and in 2017 104.4 minutes

"Automatic solutions developed by our engineers which reduce the number of customers affected by faults and significantly raise the speed of restoring power to customers have helped reduce the duration of faults," Tiisvend added.

Fifty-eight percent of the distribution and regional substations of Elektrilevi are digitally automated. Elektrilevi's innovative automation solutions have attracted interest also outside Estonia, and Elektrilevi automation specialists are designing two substations in Finland this year.

Operating a network of about 61,000 kilometers of power lines and 24,000 substations, Elektrilevi is the biggest distribution network company in Estonia. The company also manages 40 percent of the total number of street lighting spots and is piloting an open communications network with the power infrastructure for fast internet connection.