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demand at all times. For example, characteristics and the island’s generation assets into the Wärtsilä GEMS
parameters such as the length of time a power plant control system carried out from then onwards. From
takes to start, the optimal running conditions of the the moment the new hybrid plant comes online,
plant, and the plant’s fuel consumption under given VIWAPA and its customers will benefit from reduced
conditions are entered into the GEMS Fleet Director. operation costs and improved reliability and service
Once all the data is collected, the control system quality.
considers fuel costs, battery degradation and the
multiple engines’ efficiencies to meet the demand “The Wärtsilä engine generating units will be critical to
across the island, according to the GEMS economic the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority’s ability
dispatch algorithm, which constantly optimises to maximize the full potential of its recent conversion
the plant operation to deliver the lowest cost of from fuel oil to LPG as the primary fuel source.
electricity. The Wärtsilä power plant will be a cornerstone in
providing not only reliable and highly efficient power
GEMS makes optimal decisions in real-time to generation, but in making more affordable electricity
maximise efficiency and minimise cost. Each available to our customers,” said Lawrence Kupfer,
calculation performed by GEMS adds to its bank WAPA Executive Director and CEO.
of knowledge and is used to perform the next The beauty of this story is that it doesn’t end there.
calculation, making it progressively smarter.
The Virgin Islands, as elsewhere in the Caribbean,
have a huge potential for increasing their renewable
In addition to processing the data from the actual wind and solar capacity. The combination of flexible
conditions experienced upon the island grid, generation, energy storage and intelligent asset
GEMS incorporates load and weather forecasting management means that the infrastructure is in
alongside artificial intelligence machine learning. place for the islands to take more steps towards a
The combination of real and forecast data is thus renewable, resilient, and reliable energy path.
progressively honed to produce increasingly optimal
results. Related: LPG taking fuel flexibility to the next level.

GEMS, a fully automated machine learning control
system, offers a new tool for operators that will ABOUT WÄRTSILÄ ENERGY
help them ensure that all critical assets in a power
system are kept running at optimal performance for Leading the energy transition:
maximum benefit via onsite and remote operations,
with controls that can be set manually if needed from Wärtsilä leads the transition towards a
100% renewable energy future. We help our
a single user-friendly interface. GEMS will maintain customers in decarbonisation by developing
the health of the batteries, as well as provide grid market-leading technologies. These cover
control functions; and monitor, control and optimise future-fuel enabled balancing power
the plant operation, along with aggregating all plant plants, hybrid solutions, energy storage and
data for maintenance support and root cause optimisation technology, including the GEMS
analysis when necessary. energy management platform. Wärtsilä
Energy’s lifecycle services are designed to
Wärtsilä’s GEMS Power Plant Controller also increase efficiency, promote reliability and
conforms to the highest cybersecurity standard, IEC guarantee operational performance.
62443, ensuring best practices in communication and Our track record comprises 74 GW of power
access security. With GEMS cybersecurity, all network plant capacity and more than 80 energy
traffic can be monitored for incident investigation, storage systems delivered to 180 countries
and restrictions can be defined to allow secure around the world.
access, while ensuring the safety protection of the
hybrid plant operations.

FUTURE-PROOF CORNERSTONE
The power plant is expected to move into full
operation in spring 2022, with the integration of all

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