Swedish energy company Öresundskraft invests in district heating network monitoring

Swedish energy company Öresundskraft invests in district heating network monitoring

Öresundskraft, a Swedish energy provider responsible for district heating and electricity distribution in Helsingborg, Sweden, is upgrading the monitoring of its district heating network. To improve reliability and reduce maintenance costs, the company is implementing new sensor technology – and has selected Wioniq for the job. The investment has the potential to generate savings of tens of millions of euros.

"Our philosophy is simple: if you can measure it, you can manage it. More measurement tools provide us the data we need to take the right actions and make the best use of our resources," says Magnus Ohlsson, Technical Manager for District Heating and Cooling Networks at Öresundskraft.

Owned by the City of Helsingborg, Öresundskraft is one of the leading energy providers in southern Sweden. The company operates Helsingborg’s district heating network, which includes a 55-kilometre eternit culvert network. To enhance monitoring capabilities, Öresundskraft recently procured sensor units supplied by Wioniq.

The goal is to gain real-time insights that help prevent costly failures. According to Ohlsson, the potential savings could be substantial:
"By detecting issues early, we have a much better chance of repairing our eternit culverts instead of replacing them entirely. This could save us around 27 million euros."

Wioniq will provide a non-stationary sensor unit—an innovative, newly developed smart solution designed to measures water presence, water levels, temperature, and humidity inside the culverts. A total of 900 units will be installed across Öresundskraft’s network.

During the procurement process, Öresundskraft focused on finding sensors that could withstand the high humidity levels in the culverts without corroding. Size was another key factor, ensuring the units could be installed effectively. Once the technical requirements were met, the decision came down to price.
"We chose Wioniq because they offer the quality we need at a competitive price," says Ohlsson.

The agreement runs for eight years, with the full deployment of all 900 sensors expected by late 2025 or early 2026. Once installed, the sensors are expected to remain fully operational for at least ten years—ideally twenty.

At Wioniq, expectations are high for the impact these solutions will deliver:
"We’re incredibly proud to have secured this contract. Now that we fully understand the scale of savings Öresundskraft can achieve with our innovative and efficient solutions, we’re more committed than ever," says Karl-Johan Wirfalk, CEO of Wioniq.

Want to know more?