Consortium & Contacts

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd,
Mika Paajanen, project coordinator, email: mika.paajanen@vtt.fi

InnoEXC GmbH, Fabiana Fantinel

Nexans France S.A.S., Gabriele Perego

Tampere University of Technology, Kari Lahti

Terichem Tervakoski a.s., Ilkka Penttilä

University of Bologna, Gian Carlo Montanari

University of Twente, Anke Blume

ELECTRONICON Kondensatoren GmbH
 
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd is the leading research and technology company in the Nordic countries. VTT has a national mandate in Finland. We use our research and knowledge to provide expert services for our domestic and international customers and partners. We serve both private and public sectors.

We develop new smart technologies, profitable solutions and innovative services. We cooperate with our customers to produce technology for business and build success and well-being for the benefit of society. www.vttresearch.com

VTT is the coordinating partner in GRIDABLE and leading WP1 about material selection and nanosafety. VTT is also producing lab-scale film samples for capacitor film development and up to pilot scale extruded samples of thermoplastic insulating and semiconducting materials for HVDC cables.
 

Tervakoski Film is now the leading BOPP capacitor film supplier of MET and Hazy films for Power and Smart Grid applications (HVAC, HVDC); Traction Control and Locomotive applications (AC, DC); and Industry and Infrastructure applications (AC, DC). We have also been offering the automotive industry 1,9 µm pattern Metallised film since 2014.

One of our greatest strengths is that we have a long history of co-creation with customers and polymer suppliers. We have R&D laboratory for manufacturing and testing of capacitor elements and run regularly routine and endurance tests for all main types of capacitor applications. We have a complete supply chain – from polymeric design to converted films for capacitor manufacturers. In order to continue creating the best film for any capacitor, we must ensure that it will always display superior endurance performance in the toughest stress conditions.

Tervakoski Film is developed and manufactured in three locations: Svit, Slovakia; Tervakoski, Finland and Lutsk, Ukraine.

Tervakoski Film is a trade mark owned by Terichem Tervakoski, a.s. In the GRIDABLE project our main role is to manufacture BOPP capacitor film of nanocomposite polymer in commercial scale film line and metallise for capacitors. www.tervakoskifilm.com
 

Tampere University is one of the most multidisciplinary Universities in Finland and has more than 19’000 degree students. Almost all internationally recognized fields of science from technology to social sciences are represented. TAU’s Hervanta Campus, covering almost all technical sciences in its education and research is the second biggest University level technical education&research unit in Finland.  In addition to basic scientific research TAU’s technical sciences Campus is a forerunner in university-industry collaboration by active transfer of research results and new technologies to industry through collaborated R&D projects.

In GRIDABLE TAU’s main responsibility is the electrical characterization of capacitor nanocomposite insulations, which is carried out at TAU’s High Voltage laboratory. www.tuni.fi.
 

Nexans brings energy to life through an extensive range of cables and cabling solutions that deliver increased performance for our customers worldwide. Nexans’ teams are committed to a partnership approach that supports customers in four main business areas: Power transmission and distribution, Energy resources, Transportation and Building. Nexans’ strategy is founded on continuous innovation in products, solutions and services, employee development, customer training and the introduction of safe, low-environmental-impact industrial processes.

In the Gridable project, the main role of Nexans is the production of cable prototypes in industrial environment with the new nanocompositite insulation and the semiconductive material. www.nexans.com
 

University of Bologna (UBOLOGNA) is the oldest university in continuous operation, as well as one of the leading academic institutions in Italy. The laboratory of innovation technology (LIT) is world leading in the development of materials and components for electrical engineering, such as nanostructured insulating materials, cellular piezoelectric materials and magnetic materials. UBOLOGNA will provide the technology and expertise in electrical characterization and long term reliability assessment of the cable and capacitor grade insulations, with particular attention to their space charge and partial discharges characteristics. http://www.dei.unibo.it/en/  

SO.F.TER. GROUP is one of the largest European compounders, acknowledged on the market for its broad offering of engineered polymers and tailor-made solutions. The wide technological and manufacturing capabilities, ranging from Thermoplastic Elastomers to Engineering Plastics, combined with high-level expertise in key industrial sectors enable SO.F.TER. to offer its customers innovative and customized solutions, with a particular specialization in the automotive, appliance, construction, sports and footwear industries. In 2016 the SO.F.TER. GROUP has been acquired by Celanese, a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications.
 
SO.F.TER. was a GRIDABLE partner during 1.1.2017 – 31.1.2018.
 

University of Twente (UTWENTE) is a university located in Enschede, Netherlands. It offers research and degree programs in the social and behavioral sciences and in engineering. The Elastomer Technology and Engineering (ETE) Department of the University of Twente is world-leading in the subjects of innovative materials based on elastomers, filler and fiber reinforcement and modification.

In GRIDABLE, ETE is to find the best modification for nanosilica to be incorporated in cable insulation and capacitor film nanocomposites. Also, ETE is responsible for running different characterization tests on the produced nanoparticle samples, investigating factors related to material composition and controlling them. www.utwente.nl/ctw/ete
 

InnoExc GmbH is a Swiss-based consultancy connecting innovators and investors in the Circular Economy and in the Life Sciences, Chemicals and Plastics Industry around the globe. InnoExc consultants bring over a decade of managerial and technical experience to their clients for successful ideation and execution of innovation in technical and business aspects InnoExc takes companies to the next level in the management of innovation – and is a key partner for sustainable innovation supporting organizations through the innovation cycle in an open innovation framework - from idea generation to innovation strategy and portfolio design.

In the GRIDABLE project, InnoExc supports all processes involved in the aspects of commercial exploitation of the innovations generated by the GRIDABLE partners. www.innoexc-hub.com
 

ELECTRONICON Kondensatoren GmbH (former RFT Kondensatorenwerk Gera) have been associated with the manufacture of capacitors in Gera since the late 1930s, when the SIEMENS organisation moved part of their production facility from Berlin to eastern Thuringia in the heart of Germany. Since then, the company has extended considerably. Highest quality and reliability of all products have been the core of our philosophy from the very start. Continual development in its product ranges has resulted in ELECTRONICON becoming one of Europe's leading capacitor manufacturers supplying customers worldwide. The company employs about five hundred qualified engineers and skilled workers in its manufacturing facilities, producing capacitors for lighting, motor, and power electronics applications, further components for power factor correction. Regular investment in advanced and environmentally sound technologies guarantees the highest level in manufacture and quality to modern standards which are approved by standard authorities all over the world. Since 1942 the company has also been in a position to offer metallized dielectric material complying with highest technical standards. This guarantees an uninterrupted quality control of all relevant manufacturing stage. The quality assurance system of ELECTRONICON is supervised by DQS according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and railway standard ISO / TS 22163:2017 (“IRIS”). Our company's energy management system is certified to ISO 50001 by the International Certification Group (ICG).

In the Gridable project, Electronicon is manufacturing and testing capacitor prototypes made from state-of-art reference film and nanocomposite film in WP3. Manufacturing is done from single elements to full operational capacitor units and testing is done at Electronicon’s standard test procedures. www.electronicon.com www.electronicon.com