Annual Report 2020

Amid a global pandemic, Team VEO delivered one of the best results in the Group’s history. 

By working together, we secured several of our most significant deals to date and managed both new and in-progress projects in an excellent manner. 

The pandemic had an uneven impact on our respective business units.

As a Group, however, we had each other’s backs, and together we exceeded all expectations. 

For VEO’s Power Generation unit, 2020 can be described as a victory – a victory played on the defence, but a victory none the less. 

2020 was going to be record-breaking, in every way. However, when the pandemic hit globally in Q2, operations moved into survival mode.  

For our hydropower business, 2020 was, in fact, historically record-breaking. 

VEO commissioned nine hydro projects, connecting a total of eleven turbine generators to the grid. The execution of these demanding international projects was complicated by the travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus.

Many customer projects were delayed or pushed forward by factors outside of VEO’s influence, which resulted in renewed time schedules and resource allocations. 

But through all this, VEO kept its promises. 

One of last year’s highlights came from the Swedish hydropower market, where VEO signed contracts for two large hydro plant modernisations, with expectations for more. 

For VEO’s largest customers in engine and hybrid power, 2020 was a challenge, which reflected on VEO’s business both in terms of orders and turnover.  

Our Power Distribution unit had a remarkable year, with an all-time high result. The business unit secured several of the largest wind energy deals in VEO’s history. 

To name a few:  

In Finland, Fingrid chose VEO to deliver the largest substation in Finland’s grid so far, a project in which VEO will also work with a voltage level of 400 kV for the first time. 

In Sweden, VEO was awarded an EBOP contract for the Markbygden wind cluster, Europe’s largest onshore wind farm cluster to date. 

The high number of large-scale projects set our personnel to test. 

Which they passed splendidly.  

In all large-scale wind projects, we utilised our increasingly popular modular building solution. 

Thereby offering our clients efficiently decreased installation and testing times on site as well as safer working conditions.  

One of our greatest achievements was the successful integration of TT360 as part of VEO AB. 

In its first year of operation as an extended team, VEO AB developed from being quite a small VEO Power Distribution player to stand for almost 50% of the business unit’s sales figures.

For VEO’s Power Utilisation unit, the year got off to a great start with a record-breaking order book, which carried the unit through half a year of low sales, when the pandemic hit with full force in Q2.  

A bright highlight of VEO’s Power Utilisation business was carrying out a vast expansion project for Neste in Singapore.  

The oil & gas project kept both project personnel and the factory busy throughout the year and was successfully delivered on time.

While the coronavirus pulled the rug under most of VEO’s Q2 and Q3 heavy industry sales, the marine sector continued steadily with its investments in hybrid solutions. 

VEO also saw a rising demand in e-house solutions for the industrial segment and delivered e-houses to the Finnish mining industry and sold them to the forest industry. 

When it comes to production in VEO’s switchgear factory, we succeeded in securing both employee resources and components during the year.

VEO’s production teams showed extreme flexibility when facing a constantly altering workload, and their efforts paid off.

Security of supply was maintained throughout the year and orders were finished on time. 

VEO had prepared for the extensive workload, and some of the special arrangements made turned out excellent, also in terms of maintaining a high level of personnel and customer safety.

As non-critical travel came to a halt, we also accelerated the development of our remote Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs). They turned out to be a very efficient and appreciated alternative and are here to stay.  

When the pandemic hit the UK with full force, our UK-based branch I.C. Electrical Ltd. (ICE) saw its promising order book quickly dissolving.

After the first shock had settled, the team levelled up. And everyone’s safety was the number one priority. 

By working tirelessly together, the ICE team managed to turn a quite significant deficit into a modest profit by the end of year 2020. 

All of the above events have contributed to where we are now as a company.

What’s more, the journey just keeps getting better. 

At the beginning of 2021, the order book is even stronger than it was in 2020. We see a trend where we are invited into increasingly larger projects – at increasingly early stages.  

This shows that our clients trust us and count on us. Which goes very well with our vision, where we see VEO as a full-scale project house, which can take on an even more prominent role in the critical transition to carbon-free energy.