What is the Smart Technology Hub

Wärtsilä’s Smart Technology Hub (STH), a new integrated centre of research, product development and production is located in Vaskiluoto, Vaasa. STH is the latest tangible step in Wärtsilä’s path to drive decarbonisation in the Marine and Energy sectors. It enables us to innovate and manufacture clean technologies in a completely new way.

In this new technology centre we do top-notch research, develop, innovate and pilot new products and solutions. STH is a one uniform agile testing facility linking together various Centres of Excellence to improve product and solution development by maximising synergies. In this way we are able to effectively put to use all of the know-how we have in Wärtsilä all over the globe.

Wärtsilä has invested 83 million euros in modern testing and production technology for STH. The total investment in the Smart Technology Hub is over 200 million euros, consisting of office and production buildings, logistics and infrastructure. During 2022, all of Wärtsilä’s functions and personnel in central Vaasa will be moved to the new Hub, along with the logistics and maintenance workshop operations from Runsor, Vaasa.

Factory of the Future

The Smart Technology Hub is a factory of the future where flexible manufacturing systems and robotics play a key part. STH also acts as an integral part of Wärtsilä´s ecosystem of additive manufacturing. Advanced and flexible manufacturing processes are applied in order to be able to adapt to the constantly changing market requirements while at the same time securing efficiency.

Data analytics also play a significant part in the technology centre enabling data to be turned into insights and new businesses using digital twins and big data analysis. The collected data is used to maximise lifecycle value proposition through continuous chain of critical data from the supply chain. This is continuous business development with no end point.

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Energy Efficient Building

The Smart Technology Hub itself is an energy efficient building. A BREEAM certification is applied for the building. The certification is a rating system that assesses the eco-efficiency of buildings, and guides the design, construction and use of STH.

The technology centre is linked to the grid, and all the electricity produced during test runs is fed to the grid. Residue heat is stored and used at STH. Our offerings are therefore not only sustainable as such, but they are also developed inside an energy efficient building.

Ecosystem of Collaboration

The Smart Technology Hub is an ecosystem of collaboration functioning locally and globally. This ecosystem consists of companies, start-ups, organisations and academia collaborating to ensure future sustainable societies. In the Partner Campus research and product development is done together with Wärtsilä’s customers and suppliers, start-ups in the sector, and universities.

Furthermore, the Port of Vaasa connects STH with different parts of the world. With weekly calls, WALLENIUS SOL connects Vaasa with the Belgian ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge and the German port of Travemünde and furthermore ship the ready-made engines southbound from Wärtsilä to its customers worldwide.

Wasaline’s new ferry between Vaasa and Umeå is installed with Wärtsilä´s products and solutions and it is one of the most environmentally friendly passenger vessels in the world. It also acts as a floating test lab for STH.

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