Data analysis to support strategic decision-making

The electricity distribution company Caruna and Gofore collaborated to test the limits of artificial intelligence and data driven forecasting. The result is a power consumption forecasting tool that combines extensive data and offers a scenario of an electrified society of the future.

“Our business development and changing customer needs are one and the same. Electricity networks have a lifespan of 40 to 50 years. With the energy transformation, they play an increasingly important part in securing the functionality of our continuously electrifying society,” says Caruna innovation manager Mika Suomi.

This means Caruna’s innovation team is facing a task that is both challenging and inspiring: to look far into the future and consider how electricity networks could best respond to societal change.

“We must stay on track and find ways to turn changes into opportunities. To achieve this goal, we have a launched an initiative to increase understanding of the business potential of artificial intelligence solutions.

The initiative has helped us discover 125 different ideas so far. The power usage forecasting tool, which was created in an agile pilot project with Gofore, is one of the four ideas that we are ready to take to the minimum viable product level.”

“We wanted to find out if it was possible to use data to forecast changes in electricity usage and their long-term effects on electricity networks.”

According to Suomi, the pilot reached its goals very well.

“Our central goal was to better understand how forecast modelling can be used, what kind of data is available from our own and public sources, and how accurate the forecasts need to be on a regional level.”

At Caruna, the pilot is considered vital. The project brought new expertise into the company and created a solid foundation for further defining modelling and forecasting needs.

“This kind of understanding can only be gained through experimentation. The collaboration with Gofore ran smoothly, and the Gofore personnel were able to grasp the idea well, even though they did not really have any specifics available when they set off.”

The goals for the project were jointly defined.

“The number one thing was that the people from Gofore were not afraid to tell us if they thought our ideas were bad. They would come up with alternative solutions themselves, too. We have not yet made any decisions regarding the future, but if outside expertise will be involved then Gofore will definitely be a part of the discussion.