DNA Tower becomes world's first tower company to offer battery capacity in electricity reserve markets with Elisa DES

Elisa Oyj / Elisa Industriq, Press Release 5 June 2025

HELSINKI, June 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- DNA Tower Finland, a Telenor Towers company, has successfully connected base station batteries to the Finnish electricity reserve market using Elisa Industriq's AI-based Distributed Energy Storage (DES) solution. DNA Tower Finland is the world's first tower company whose base station batteries help to balance the national electricity grid with Elisa DES.

DNA Tower Finland has taken a significant step towards a greener, profitable energy future by starting to optimize the batteries in its equipment rooms with Elisa DES, as announced last year. DNA Tower Finland's base station batteries are now connected to the solution, and the battery capacity is being made available to the Finnish electricity reserve markets, maintained by Fingrid.

With the AI-powered solution, DNA Tower Finland gains significant benefits from grid-balancing services in the reserve markets. Elisa DES also optimizes the electricity consumption of base stations by utilizing affordable green energy, achieving substantial savings as well as environmental benefits. DNA Tower Finland has acquired lithium batteries for its base stations, which utilize DES solution and ensure that the base stations will remain operational for significantly longer periods during power outages.

"We will be connecting hundreds of base station equipment rooms to the electricity balancing markets. The aim is to expand the service to cover most of our tower sites. This is a significant step towards improving our energy efficiency. At the same time, we achieve both economic and sustainability benefits, as we participate in electricity reserve markets to generate a new revenue stream," says Antti Koskinen, CEO of DNA Tower Finland.

Elisa initially implemented the DES solution in its own base stations three years ago. The revenues and savings that the solution generates cover up to half of the electricity costs of Elisa's base stations. Elisa Industriq is offering the solution to other European telecom operators and tower companies, and DNA Tower Finland is the first tower company to fully implement the service.

"DNA Tower Finland has been a pioneering tower company in choosing to adopt Elisa DES solution and create new value with their site infrastructure. This marks a significant development in a way that telecom operators can monetize their battery storage. Together, we are also bolstering Finland's national resilience and advancing the green energy transition," says Jukka-Pekka Salmenkaita, VP for AI and Special Projects at Elisa Industriq.

More information & interview requests:
Elisa Industriq Mediadesk, mediadesk@elisaindustriq.com, tel. +358 50 305 1605
DNA Corporate Communications, viestinta@dna.fi, tel. +358 44 044 8000

Press photos attached:

• Photo 1: Antti Koskinen of DNA Tower Finland (left) discusses distributed energy storage with Snorre Solvang and Jukka-Pekka Salmenkaita of Elisa Industriq.
• Photo 2: Jere Tuominen, Head of Technology at DNA Tower Finland, inspects battery installations at the company's equipment facilities.

Elisa Industriq energy solutions:

Elisa Industriq offers telecom operators, energy-intensive businesses, and households the opportunity to take an important and profitable role in the energy transition. The Distributed Energy Storage solution, Elisa DES, is based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. In mobile networks, the solution uses the flexibility of base station batteries to control the power supply of base stations by optimizing battery charging and discharging times. Part of this flexible capacity is offered to transmission system operators for grid balancing. The solution can utilize solar energy in addition to grid energy.

The solution is used in Elisa's network in Finland and has also been implemented in Elisa's network in Estonia. Commercial deliveries of DES began in 2024. In addition to the DNA Tower, the Åland operator Ålcom has also adopted the solution in its network using solar energy.

Elisa Industriq's solution also optimizes energy storage in the commercial and industrial sectors. For example, Loviisan Lämpö, a district heating company from Finland, chose Elisa DES to optimize the world's largest Sand Battery, delivered by Polar Night Energy.

Elisa is also bringing the energy solution to homes: the Elisa Kotiakku home energy storage service helps households balance electricity price spikes and store electricity generated by solar panels. elisa.com/des

About Elisa Industriq:

Elisa Industriq creates software solutions for operational intelligence by multiplying industrial knowledge with AI innovation. Our businesses – camLine, sedApta, Elisa Polystar, CalcuQuote, TenForce, and Elisa Distributed Energy Storage – serve over 2,000 clients internationally in the manufacturing, telecommunications, and energy sectors. 

Elisa Industriq delivers business value for customers by reducing costs, improving quality, and generating growth. Our software solutions integrate with customers' existing systems to optimize their operations in areas including manufacturing execution, supply chain optimization, network analytics, and energy management. 

Elisa Industriq is part of Elisa, a pioneer in telecommunications and digital services headquartered in Finland. Our shared mission is a sustainable future through digitalization. Elisa Industriq employs nearly 1,600 experts in Europe, Asia, and North America. elisaindustriq.com

About DNA Tower Finland:

DNA Tower provides comprehensive infrastructure services for modern communication needs throughout Finland. The company owns, leases, and manages telecommunications network facilities and components, such as antenna and equipment rooms in masts and buildings, as well as customer equipment rooms in data centers. DNA Tower is part of Telenor Towers, which connects Norway, Sweden, and Finland with world-class sustainable and critical telecommunications infrastructure. Telenor Towers is the largest company in its field in the Nordic countries.

About DNA:

DNA is one of the leading telecommunications companies in Finland. Our purpose is to connect you to what matters most. We offer connections, services and devices for homes and workplaces, contributing to the digitalisation of society. Already for years, DNA customers have been among the world leaders in mobile data usage. DNA has about 3.7 million subscriptions in its fixed and mobile communications networks. The company has been awarded numerous times as an excellent employer and family-friendly workplace. In 2024, our total revenue was EUR 1,100 million and we employ about 1,600 people around Finland. DNA is a part of Telenor Group, a leading telecommunications company across the Nordics. More information: www.dna.fi, Facebook @DNA.fi, Instagram and Threads @dna_fi and LinkedIn @DNA-Oyj.

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