The Sustainable Technology Hub milestones

After four years of intensive planning, construction and collaboration, STH opens its doors. The official inauguration ceremony took place on 1 June as an international event for invited guests.

In connection with the opening ceremony, Smart Technology Hub’s name was also changed. The new name, Sustainable Technology Hub, better reflects our journey towards decarbonisation in the Marine and Energy sectors.

Watch the recording of the inauguration.

Watch the timelapse video of the construction of STH.

The logistics centre next to STH starts its operation. The centre coordinates all Wärtsilä deliveries in Vaasa and uses a digital platform to manage the logistics of needed materials for the STH. DHL Supply Chain (Finland) Oy operates the new logistics centre of Wärtsilä.

The SAP systems ECC & EWM (ERP Central Component & Extended Warehouse Management) are taken into use. They will be used to utilize the automation solutions of the logistics centre and ensure that Wärtsilä’s extensive product and lifecycle portfolio can be manufactured at STH and delivered to customers.

An automated assembly system for cylinder heads is introduced for the assembly of the Wärtsilä 31 cylinder head module.

The first heavy pre-assembly workstations are commissioned. The workstation concept takes the safe working environment to a new level while offering the widest product flexibility for the W2x, W3x and W4x product families.

The first customer delivery engine, the W12V46TS assembled at STH, is lifted into a test cell. The STH test run facility will thus move to production use.

Ramping up of products in the new small and medium sized component manufacturing system begins. At the same time, the main production responsibility is transferred to the STH’s systems. Later on, the large component manufacturing system will also start to produce components for customer deliveries.

It’s time to celebrate the first engine assembled at STH. The assembly of the Wärtsilä 31 engine, which started in January, is completed at the technology centre.

Wednesday 9 March marks the day when the first engine is started at the technology centre. The started engine is a Wärtsilä 34DF, which is used to test how the first completed test cell in STH functions.

One of the most significant milestones of the STH project is reached, when a part of STH’s production areas are approved for production use in a partial final inspection. With the approval decision, the phased commissioning of the area’s manufacturing operations can begin in engine assembly and component manufacturing.

The engine assembly starts with Wärtsilä 46TS and Wärtsilä 31 engines.

ABB is delivering the primary power distribution solution with switchgears and protection relays as well as robotic technology to the Smart Technology Hub. ABB is also responsible for the implementation services of the entire system.

As Wärtsilä’s technology partner, ABB is securing the reliability, high energy efficiency, sustainable solutions and automated production processes in the technology centre.

The Smart Technology Hub Ecosystem Challenge was organised for the first time in 2019. This year´s STHEC is held on 11-12 November and organised by Wärtsilä in collaboration with partners as part of the Energy Academy collaboration that brings together businesses and academia in the Vaasa region.

More than 50 students participate in the two-day-long co-creation challenge which focuses on solving real challenges provided by Wärtsilä, Danfoss, City of Vaasa, Vaasan Sähkö and Hitachi Energy.

Yet another remarkable milestone is reached in the Smart Technology Hub program as the logistics centre is handed over from the main contractor YIT to Wärtsilä on 29 October. The logistics centre will coordinate all Wärtsilä deliveries in Vaasa and it will be operational in spring 2022.

Wärtsilä Finland joins the Energy Academy which is a cooperation model between universities and leading companies in the Vaasa region. The Energy Academy creates new opportunities for collaboration and promotes dialog about the rapidly changing requirements of work life between companies, schools and students. At the same time, employers have a chance for more integration in higher education.

It has already been three years since the Smart Technology Hub was launched and day by day we are getting closer to turning our visions into reality. The technology centre itself will be an energy-efficient building in every sense of the word. Electricity produced while testing will be used in the Hub’s own processes. The remaining power will be fed to the grid, and residue heat will be stored and used at the Smart Technology Hub.

Jungheinrich equips Wärtsilä Finland’s new logistics center with an automatic small parts warehouse and a narrow aisle warehouse. The order picking height in the narrow aisle warehouse is the highest in Finland at 17 meters. DHL Supply Chain is in charge of building the indoor infrastructure for the logistics centre and it will also run the centre’s operations once it kicks off.

Another significant milestone is reached in the Smart Tehcnology Hub program when the office building is handed over to Wärtsilä’s use on May 18.

Hydroniq Coolers enters into a partnership agreement with Wärtsilä and supply a Rack seawater cooling system to the Smart Technology Hub. The cooling system consists of 6 cooling units, each 2.5 meter tall and a total cooling surface of 1820 square-metre, which will be utilised for testing of Wärtsilä’s engines. The Rack seawater cooling system has been developed in collaboration between Hydroniq Coolers and Wärtsilä’s design team.

An LNG terminal will be built in Vaskiluoto, Vaasa during 2021, from where liquefied natural gas will be delivered to the Smart Technology Hub and to Wasaline’s new passenger vessel. The energy company Gasum is responsible for the construction of the terminal as well as for delivering LNG with tanker trucks to customers. In addition to Wärtsilä and Wasaline, the City of Vaasa has signed the agreement with Gasum for the construction of an LNG terminal.

Wärtsilä Finland and Schneider Electric conclude a technology partnership agreement on the Smart Technology Hub program. Schneider will deliver the facility management, electricity distribution and energy management systems, as well as the process automation, for the STH.

The design, construction and use of the Smart Technology Hub are guided by BREEAM certification, a rating system that assesses the eco-efficiency of buildings. Schneider Electric’s solutions will ensure compliance with the certification requirements.

Aqua Clean Oy delivers a cleaning line system to the Smart Technology Hub. The system includes a robotized pre-wash for the engine block after machining and a two-phase finishing wash with the AQUA CLEAN HF washing machine. In addition, Jucat Oy delivers a robot cell for the cleaning line. The robot cell is used for washing engine blocks and other large components. Jucat delivers the robotics and a rotating device to the system, and Aqua Clean is responsible for the washing technology.

It was in November 2019 that the first delivery with the new liner service between Vaasa and Antwerpen took place. The concept for the liner service has been developing during its first year in service. From mid-January Travemünde will be added on the northbound route Zeebrugge–Antwerpen–Travemünde–Vaasa.

In all, 192 pieces of Danfoss new-generation AC drives with a total power of 32 megawatts will be delivered from the Danfoss Vaasa factory to Wärtsilä’s testing area for products and solutions in the Smart Technology Hub. In addition, the delivery includes VACON AC drives for various building automation applications, as well as other building automation products from Danfoss’ other business segments. As Wärtsilä’s technology partner, Danfoss is co-designing and delivering systems for the new testing area.

DHL Supply Chain (Finland) Oy will operate the new Logistics Centre of Wärtsilä. The Logistics Centre will be part of Wärtsilä’s Smart Technology Hub. After the Logistics Centre is finished, DHL Supply Chain will implement the indoor infrastructure in cooperation with Wärtsilä, utilizing latest logistics technologies and automation solutions, and run the future operations of the centre.

Another significant milestone is reached in the Smart Technology Hub program, as the environmental permit issued to Wärtsilä Finland by the Regional State Administrative Agencies becomes final.

In the STH Technology Partners concept, carefully selected partners bring benchmark technology in their own fields of expertise to the Hub. The first partners to be signed as Smart Technology Hub technology partners are Konecranes and Citec. In addition, Konecranes will deliver lifting products to the Hub. Read more about the technology partners in Konecrane´s and Citec´s press releases. ​​

Two years has passed since the launch of the Smart Technology Hub and the construction work in Vaskiluoto is still on schedule. Learn more about the growing ecosystem of co-creation around the Hub by watching the animation.

YIT will build a Logistics Centre next to the Smart Technology Hub. The Logistics Centre will cover an area of approximately 14,500 m², and its volume will be 250,000 m³. The construction work begins in June 2020 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of October 2021.

Wärtsilä Finland Oy announces on 10 March 2020 that it will sell the engine block machining and related operations in Delivery Centre Vaasa to Oy Leinolat Ab and the machine tool maintenance to Konecranes Finland Oy as a business transfer. The business transfer will further strengthen Wärtsilä’s position as a technology company and prepare for the activities taking place in the Smart Technology Hub that will be completed in 2021 in Vaskiluoto, Vaasa. At the same time, Leinolat Group and Konecranes will join Wärtsilä’s partner network.

As the project planning proceeds, more contractors are appointed to carry out building technology work for the Smart Technology Hub. These new contractors are:

Piping and sprinkler: Caverion Suomi Oy
Electricity and air conditioning: Bravida Finland Oy

The installation of the Hub building’s roof and wall elements starts in January 2020. All of the construction material comes from domestic companies. The installation will be finished by the beginning of autumn 2020.

With weekly calls, WALLENIUS SOL connects Vaasa with the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge. The Smart Technology Hub will be located in direct connection with the Port of Vaasa from 2021 onwards. All inbound deliveries from Central Europe to Vaasa will be routed via a consolidation point in Antwerp with the weekly shipping offered by WALLENIUS SOL. Furthermore, WALLENIUS SOL will ship the ready-made engines southbound from Wärtsilä in Vaasa to its customers worldwide, also with Antwerp as a hub.

The first Smart Technology Hub Ecosystem Challenge (STHEC) is held on 12-13 November 2019 at Wasa Innovation Center in Vaasa. In the two-day innovation challenge, students from universities and universities of applied sciences have the chance to prove their abilities in solving different real-life challenges provided by Wärtsilä and its partners: the City of Vaasa, Vaasan Sähkö, University of Vaasa and Danfoss.

Watch a video of the event.

The Hub building is supported by several columns. The first one of these is erected on 12 November 2019. Altogether 20 main columns will be erected in two parts. Each column is 29m high and weighs 27,000kg. In addition, 48 smaller main columns will be erected in two parts. These columns are 23.5m high and weigh 24,000kg. The columns are manufactured by Ruukki Building Systems.

Watch the whole video.

A concrete step for the building of the Smart Technology Hub is made on 10 September 2019 when the Groundbreaking Ceremony takes place in Vaskiluoto. Over 120 guests are gathered to witness the foundation stone-laying. During the ceremony, speeches are held by Jaakko Eskola, President and CEO of Wärtsilä, Ilona Lundström, Director General at Ministry of Economic affairs and Employment in Finland, Tomas Häyry, Mayor of Vaasa, and Hannu Isotalo, Chairman of the board of Luja Group.

Watch a video of the event.

The zoning process for the building lot containing the logistics area is started. The logistics area would be situated next to the Smart Technology Hub in Vaskiluoto.

The project has progressed from planning phase to implementation as the construction of the new research, development and production centre begins. During the spring, some preparatory infrastructure work has already been carried out in Vaskiluoto.

Wärtsilä chooses Lujatalo on 2 July 2019 as the main contractor for the construction of the Smart Technology Hub. Lujatalo´s regional unit in Ostrobothnia is responsible for the construction, which will employ 250-300 construction workers in the Vaasa area – both Lujatalo’s own employees, as well as suppliers.

Wärtsilä announces on 20 June 2019 that its partner in the leasing of the real estate and land area is SEB Leasing Oy. The Smart Technology Hub and the connected office building will be implemented together with them. The total investment value of the real estate is approximately 130 million euros. Wärtsilä signed a long-term leasing agreement with SEB Leasing regarding the facilities that will be built in Vaskiluoto. On the same occasion, SEB Leasing and the City of Vaasa, signed the ground lease agreements.

The City Council of Vaasa approves on 6 May 2019 the area zoning plan as well as the changes in the land subdivision, and the zoning plan is proclaimed as legitimate on 14 June.

The Open Innovation Playbook provides processes and tools for collaboration in the Smart Partner Campus. The Playbook is a guide and toolbox for making the innovation journey easier.

A number of Wärtsilä’s employees start their journey as internal Smart Technology Hub Ambassadors to drive transformation within the company.

The first phase in the Smart Partner Campus concept is designed together with Danfoss, Demos Helsinki Oy, NLC Ferry Ab Oy, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, Vaasan Sähkö Oy, and University of Vaasa. The selection focused on finding different kinds of partners and global companies, but in this first phase it was important to also involve local operators, since building a strong ecosystem is an important part of the entire Smart Technology Hub ideology.

Since the announcement of building the Smart Technology Hub in Vaasa, the project planning has proceeded with a strict schedule and the planning phase of the Hub has been put out to tender. The first designers appointed for the Technology Hub planning phase are:

Architectural design: Sweco Architects Oy
Construction planning: A-Insinöörit Suunnittelu Oy
HVAC-, electrical- and sprinkler planning: Granlund Pohjanmaa Oy
Acoustical planning: A-Insinöörit Suunnittelu Oy
Fire safety design and consulting: KK-Palokonsultti Oy
BIM-coordination: Sweco PM Oy

The Smart Partner Campus will focus on doing research and product development together with companies, start-ups and researchers within the industry, as well as with Wärtsilä’s partners, customers and suppliers. The Smart Partner Campus is now looking for its first cooperation partners in order to develop an operating model and a campus within the Smart Technology Hub. The idea is to build a new ecosystem and operating model in which cooperation brings new innovations to the market.

Watch a video about cooperation in the Smart Technology Hub.

An info session is arranged in Vaskiluoto on 11 September 2018 for both families living in the area and companies operating in the area. During the info session representatives from Wärtsilä and the City of Vaasa present the Smart Technology Hub to the audience. Similar info sessions will be held regularly to keep the inhabitants and companies informed about the Hub’s progression.

Wärtsilä announces 21 August 2018 that it is building the Smart Technology Hub, a new centre of research, product development and production, in Vaskiluoto, Vaasa, Finland. All of Wärtsilä’s functions and personnel in central Vaasa will transfer to the new hub, along with the logistics and maintenance workshop operations from Runsor. As a part of the project, Wärtsilä will invest 83 million euros in modern testing and production technology for the hub. The total investment in the Smart Technology Hub will be in the region of 200 million euros, consisting of office and factory buildings, logistics and infrastructure.

Watch the introduction video.