Overview: turning telecom backup batteries into a Virtual Power Plant
Elisa, a leading Finnish telecom operator, partnered with Elisa DES to transform its network of mobile base stations into a distributed virtual power plant (VPP). This innovative initiative leverages AI to optimize energy use, reduce costs, and support Finland’s green energy transition.
Challenge: Making Storage Profitable
Elisa operates thousands of base stations across Finland and Estonia, each equipped with backup batteries that were traditionally idle unless there was a power outage. These batteries represented a significant untapped asset. Elisa faced the challenge of:
Reducing the rising energy costs of its mobile network operations.
Enhancing energy resilience and uptime during grid disturbances.
Contributing to national sustainability goals by integrating more intelligently with the energy market.
Solution & Impact
DES introduced an AI-powered energy optimization platform that turned Elisa’s passive battery infrastructure into an active, revenue-generating virtual power plant. Key features included:
Real-time optimization of battery charging and discharging based on market signals.
Participation in electricity reserve markets (e.g., FCR-D, aFRR).
Aggregation of over 2,000 base station sites into a unified VPP with over 150 MWh of distributed energy storage capacity
Impact:
Cost Efficiency: DES now offsets up to 50% of the electricity costs of Elisa’s base stations
Grid Resilience: Improved network uptime by 2–4x during outages
Sustainability: Charging the batteries when electricity prices are affordable means that it is produced using renewable and green energy.
Market Leadership: Elisa became one of Europe’s largest decentralized VPP operators, and the solution has since been adopted by other telecom infrastructure providers
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