Tech startup approved to supply Swedish TSO with ancillary service

The energy transition and electrification of everything are central to combating climate change. Strong financial performance pushes the share of wind and solar power ever higher. As these energy sources grow, power networks and system operators struggle to keep pace with the system's quickly changing conditions and requirements.

Tech startup Krafthem has received approval to supply Swedish system operator, Svenska kraftnät, with frequency containment reserve (FCR), a product essential to balancing the increasing volatility within supply and demand of power. Krafthem's solution is to aggregate thousands of electric vehicle charging stations and other distributed energy resources to coordinate charging within their Virtual Power Plant (VPP).

Price levels for FCR, and other ancillary services, have risen rapidly. Krafthem's VPP is a hardware-agnostic platform that enables flexibility assets to offer ancillary services to power networks and system operators. An increase in the supply of flexibility counterbalances increasing costs. Moreover, the VPP is central to efficiently transition the power system to a resilient, reliable, and redundant resource for society to develop from.

The approval by Svenska kraftnät marks a milestone for Krafthem and the power system. Krafthem also works with other asset types, including energy storage, heating, solar power, and hydropower. The startup's vision is to drastically increase available flexibility and act as the reliable backbone of the power system.

"Krafthem has had an exciting beginning to its journey with an incredible effort by the team. To go from nothing to actively balance the Nordic power system within a year is a testament to the diligent and innovative work we have undertaken. Now we look forward to supplying more good news." - Krafthem CEO and Founder, John Diklev.