Neste doubled its production capacity for sustainable fuels with its Singapore refinery, where VEO provided critical power distribution systems to advance the green transition.

There is an urgent need to transition from fossil fuels to renewable solutions to slow climate change. That is why Neste, the world’s leading producer of sustainable fuels, built a refinery in Singapore to increase the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel.  

VEO has been Neste’s trusted partner in large investment projects for nearly 20 years and has distributed electricity to all of Neste’s renewable product refineries globally. Thus, VEO has been involved in the Singapore refinery project since its outset in 2010. 

High-quality power distribution   

When Neste was building the Singapore refinery, VEO contributed by delivering high-performance low-voltage switchgear for motor control and operations and medium-voltage switchgear for the electrical supply network that powers the process lines.  

Neste then expanded the refinery in 2024. For the expansion, VEO supplied the refinery’s entire power distribution system, all the medium-voltage switchgear, and the switchboard that handles the refinery’s electricity. The electrical distribution system was designed based on VEO’s 400-volt VEDA 5000 switchgear.  

– The VEDA switchgear is an excellent and high-quality product that we have designed specifically for heavy industry projects such as Neste Singapore. The development work will also continue in the future. Work done with reverence creates new development ideas and products that last a long time in use, Seppo Perätalo, VEO’s Key Account Manager, says. 

The refinery expansion was a massive project for VEO, which included design, manufacturing, supervision, and project management services. The scale of the implementation is emphasised by the fact that a team of VEO’s employees relocated to Singapore for two years to work on the project. All the main manufacturing and testing were done in Vaasa, Finland.

Production capacity doubled  

With the expanded refinery, Neste took a major step forward in replacing fossil fuels and reducing CO2 emissions in transport. Neste doubled its production capacity in Singapore from 1.3 million to 2.6 million tons per year. The amount equals the carbon footprint of 1,5 million road cargo transports from Rome to Stockholm.  

– At VEO, we work daily to enable the green transition, and thus we highly value clients like Neste who share our ambition. The Singapore project is a testament to our dedication to product development in the most demanding conditions and showcases how an electrification and automation system integrator can commit to enabling a sustainable future, says Jakob Lövdahl, VEO’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing.  

The Singapore project is a testament to VEO’s dedication to product development in the most demanding conditions and showcases how an electrification and automation system integrator can commit to enabling a sustainable future.