Svk Digital Substation Åker (2026)

Published: 2026-07-30 (event: 2026-07-28, 19:00)

Summary

Short Svk announcement: station Åker (Strängnäs kommun, Södermanland) went live on 28 July 2026 as Sweden’s first fully digital transmission substation (digital stamnätsstation), on schedule from a spring-2024 groundbreaking. It is the pilot for Svk’s “Digital station” concept — replacing an existing station nearing end of technical life. Thin source (single press release, no technical spec), but a concrete, dated execution example of a digitalization strategy the wiki previously only had in the abstract.

Key content

What a “digital station” is: functionally identical to a conventional station (same role in the grid), but a larger share of control functions run in networked, interconnected computers rather than discrete hardware — the digital control system uses network technology with all functions implemented in software. Result: less hardware, minimal copper cabling.

Why now: per Erik Wejander (project lead, Digital Stations concept), the underlying technology has existed for a while, but “alla bitarna” (all the pieces) are only now mature enough for deployment at station scale.

Stated benefits (beyond hardware reduction):

• Resource savings
• Better data for analysis
• Shorter build time — digital components can be tested earlier in the project phase, reducing on-site testing after installation
• Reduced on-site work; faults can be detected and remediation prepared without physical presence (remote monitoring)

Strategic context: Svk frames this explicitly as necessary to sustain its “historisk utbyggnad” (historic buildout) of the transmission grid — the reduced resource requirement per station helps Svk hit its build-rate targets.

Rollout: Following the Åker pilot, Svk is building two more digital stations — Ockelbo and Lindbacka — incorporating fixes/improvements identified during the Åker project (per Christoffer Bäckman, Åker project lead: the pilot succeeded but “allt såklart inte gått spikrakt” — required some rework along the way).

Commissioning note: per Bäckman, the commissioning process itself doesn’t differ from bringing a conventional switchgear station into service.

Relevance to wiki