North-Western Kuhmo

North-Western Kuhmo is a scarcely populated area in Kainuu region right on the line in the middle Finland and at the Russian border. The population structure is predominantly elderly; and the economy relies on forestry and agricultural activities. Although the inhabitants have built village networks covering the whole area, information society public services are missing.

Renewable Energy Cluster Member

Most of the villages' innovation comes from an electricity system, fiber network construction, and information society technologies projects. Even though these are not projects that directly include renewable energy, electricity is needed to power systems, therefore the village decided to look into more sustainable solutions. The village made a pilot project where they tested using an off-grid photovoltaic system that could, on a bit larger scale, be used to power the fiber network and electricity system in place. There is ongoing research and planning on implementing renewable energy sources, more specifically photovoltaics and/or wind turbines, in a vulnerable village. The aim of that project is to raise the resilience of this village in case of a crisis situation.

Country

Finland

Type

borders

Degree of urbanization

rural

population of 720

This village has no publishable strategy.

Village Solutions

Fiber network

In 2020 in the village Tuakkylum a large amount of snow fell and electric wires were broken by the branches full of snow. This created crisis that was not unfamiliar in this area. To ensure this never happens again, the village established a fiber network with easy-to-use sensor equipment. It created a democratic and open network that could be used even in crisis situations like the one in 2020.

Mobility & connectivity

Information society

Local cooperative invested in energy research on a socio-economic base in relation to information and communication. The objective is to build a fiber network with a new mode of sharing information to build an information society. To build that there is also a need for sustainable infrastructure that would power the system. There was a photovoltaic pilot to see how it works in an off-grid system with batteries consisting of a central unit, inverter, charger, and highly-efficient battery.

Mobility & connectivity

Contact Information

Luoteis-Kuhmon kyläverkko-osuuskunta (Village network cooperative of north-western Kuhmo), toimisto@nettinoste.fi

https://nettinoste.fi/wp/?cat=3
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