VEO’s control system expertise seals deal with Wärtsilä

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When looking for a control system supplier for the CHP engine power plant, VEO, being the only certified WinCC OA premium partner in Finland, was the natural choice for Wärtsilä.

VEO will supply the control system for one of Wärtsilä’s CHP engine power plants currently under construction in Germany. The power plant, scheduled to be operational during 2021, will feature eight Wärtsilä 31SG natural gas engines to deliver an electrical output of approximately 90 MW.

When looking for a control system supplier for the CHP engine power plant, VEO, being the only certified WinCC OA premium partner in Finland, was the natural choice for Wärtsilä. The German end client had requested that the supplier of the control system be WinCC OA certified and Wärtsilä already had previous experience of VEO’s expertise in this area.

VEO went through the extensive WinCC OA certification process several years ago, a strategic investment involving considerable training which must be updated periodically.

“Holding a premium partner certificate shows that our team are genuine experts on the system, a fact that made Wärtsilä involve us already during the negotiation phase with their client,” says Anssi Litmanen, Key account manager at VEO.

As VEO had utilised their WinCC OA expertise in several Wärtsilä power plant projects previously, they already have a certain level of routine. However, all projects are different. In addition to the WinCC OA requirement, the German end client had several other special requirements.

The requirements make the project one of VEO’s largest and most demanding automation projects to date. All in all, VEO’s scope will take roughly eight man-years to complete.

“A CHP engine power plant produces electricity and district heating simultaneously, something that makes the design phase rather complex,” says Mats Warg, Engineering manager, Automation, at VEO.

The project is also exceptional from a project-management perspective. A greater number of stakeholders than usual makes the need for precise communication all the more essential. To ensure the project advances according to plan, frequent status checks are held both internally at VEO as well as with Wärtsilä’s project groups. VEO has also arranged workshops for the end customer in cooperation with the Wärtsilä project team.

“I am very proud of our team. It takes a certain level of professionalism to manage an automation project of this size. In addition, it is essential that the cooperation with Wärtsilä is close and runs smoothly. In fact, it is a prerequisite for being able to deliver the solutions the end client is expecting,” says Jaana Taittonen, Project manager at VEO.