Wind farm security of supply requires adaptive access management

Lakiakangas 3 is a recently built wind farm, located in the forests of Isojoki and Kristiinankaupunki, in Western Finland. The wind farm includes 20 wind turbines, producing renewable, clean energy. It is owned by the energy company Helen, together with the wind power company CPC Finland. Completed in the beginning of 2022, Lakiakangas 3 quintuples Helen’s wind power production. The wind farm is a major investment for Helen and it is another great step towards reaching their goal of carbon neutral energy production by 2030.

Effortless ability to grant entry remotely is a must

For the security of the wind farm, it is essential that the unmanned wind turbines, as well as the power station, located in the middle of a forest, are properly secured from outsiders.

“When a mechanic arrives to the wind farm, we must be able to grant access rights remotely, so they can perform the necessary upkeep on the spot. Our maintenance providers change constantly, and they come from different parts of Europe. We must be adaptive so we can grant access rights to new personnel with ease. Furthermore, we need to be able to deactivate those access rights if needed”, explains Helen’s Power Asset Manager, Jari Kottonen.

Centralized assignment of access rights via mobile phones

An energy company like Helen has many different assets, for example electrical rooms, where access must be restricted. Key management plays a major role in the security of supply. The wind farm Lakiakangas 3 also has critical and closed security of supply spaces that only certain people have access to. 

“We chose to utilize the PROTEC2 CLIQ access management solution by Abloy. CLIQ Connect seemed convenient for us since it allows our staff and contractors to activate a key’s access rights via a mobile phone. We can have multiple keys in circulation but we can assign correct access rights at certain moments to specific people to the exact CLIQ key and lock needed”, Kottonen says. 

The locking points have been secured with multiple different padlocks and mounted locks. The overall security solution at the wind farm is complemented with exclusively ABLOY Keyless Access padlocks. With them, Helen can provide even more flexible access for employees and contractors without physical keys.

“Now the various maintenance personnel don’t need to pick up keys from a faraway location, but they can travel straight to the site without any extra detours. We grant access rights directly to their mobile phone that they can then use to open the lock. This makes the operation easier and faster”, Kottonen adds.

Various solutions for unusual locking demands

The co-operation between Helen Ltd and Abloy goes way back. Helen has a wide range of different ABLOY solutions in use.

“Abloy has been able to offer solutions for even the quite unusual locking needs we have had at our different power sites. They have always been able to provide the needed products and hopefully they will continue to fulfill our wishes in the future. I believe that the new Keyless Access portfolio will grow, and we will be able to utilize them even more”, Jari Kottonen predicts.

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Products

  • ABLOY® CUMULUS

    ABLOY CUMULUS combines quality products with secure access and management applications. It provides the key to keyless access.

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  • PROTEC² CLIQ

    PROTEC² CLIQ - secure every lock, key and access with remote access management.

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  • CLIQ Connect

    CLIQ Connect mobile solution takes your organization’s security and efficiency to a new level – update access rights from wherever you are.

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