• 14%saved from monthly energy bill
  • 39tof CO2 emissions reduced annually
  • 26 000m2floor area integrated with Virtual Power Plant
  • 0% of core business affected
Rimi has the ambition to be sustainable and climate neutral. That means we are interested in efficiency-driven innovative energy solutions and Fusebox Virtual Power Plant provides exactly that.

About the Client

Rimi Baltic is one of the fastest growing retailers in the Baltic states. It operates four chains that are favorite among customers – Rimi Hyper, Rimi Super, Rimi Mini and Rimi Express.

First stores integrated into Fusebox Virtual Power Plant are all located in Estonia where Rimi has over 80 different stores.

Rimi has a noble mission to push sustainability both in the supply chain as well as in the local community. Like Fusebox, Rimi has an environmentally friendly mindset and therefore participation in Fusebox virtual power plant was a self-explanatory decision. Moreover, this highlights Rimi’s ability to move fast towards a more sustainable society.

Fusebox Virtual Power Plant and Rimi

As a part of the Fusebox Virtual Power Plant, Rimi stores can now provide flexibility to energy markets through our platform to ensure electricity system stability in the Baltics. Flexibility means that Rimi stores are now able to react to changes in the energy system. For example, if the electricity demand is too high, Rimi could reduce its consumption for a short duration to avoid blackouts or outages in the area. That means Rimi is directly helping to integrate more renewables such as wind and solar into the Baltics energy system.

Flexibility is a New Untapped Resource

Flexibility in Rimi stores is mainly provided through electrical appliances such as heaters, motors, and cold compressors. Necessary upgrades to receive signals from Fusebox were done in collaboration with automation and maintenance companies who built the local automation system. Upgrades are mainly software based and signals to change electricity consumption do not have any effect on Rimi’s core business. This is assured thanks to Fusebox platform which learns and analyzes electricity consumption in real-time to forecast potential flexibility in every hour. In addition, certain limitations and setpoints are used to avoid any disturbances in indoor climate and wellbeing, hence Fusebox never has the priority to reduce or increase electricity consumption in Rimi stores.

Conclusion

Four Hyper Rimi stores in Estonia, three of them in Tallinn, and one in Tartu were integrated into Fusebox virtual power plant as a first step of the cooperation. Providing over 26 000 m2 of floor area in total. Fusebox hardware and other necessary upgrades for participation in virtual power plant were done in collaboration with local automation and maintenance companies to ensure the highest level of security, transparency, and reliability.

As a result of the first stage of the project, Rimi Estonia now contributes to CO2 reduction across the Baltics. CO2 reduction mainly comes from reducing the need for quick response thermal power plants which are traditionally used for balancing services. Therefore, Rimi also enables better integration of renewables such as wind and solar.

Each store integrated with Fusebox earns monthly revenue for participation in the virtual power plant. Moreover, that means the new stream of revenue is vastly scalable because all the stores add up. Additionally, more precise energy metering data is available through the Fusebox platform.