Background
Almer Oil & Chemical Storage AB is headquartered in the city of Gävle in Gävleborg county on Sweden’s Baltic coast, and is one of Northern Europe's largest privately-owned cistern storage companies. It owns eight terminals strategically located around the country, from Örnsköldsvik 360 kilometers to the north of Gävle to Landskrona 750 kilometers to the south. It provides storage for petroleum and chemical products with total capacity of over 600,000 cubic meters, comprising insulated, uninsulated, stainless steel, and conventional steel tanks. The company also provides logistics services, including daily unloading, loading and from ships and tankers.
Sundsvall 
Gävle 
Oskarshamn
Customer challenge
Almer Oil & Chemical Storage AB wanted to modernize and streamline its control function and reduce operational costs related to the eight terminals. Each has previously been operated as a single entity which compromised optimal business efficiency. The company also wanted to be able to update software for all its locations from a central point.
Scope of ABB delivery
ABB was commissioned to remotely connect all nine eight terminals to one central control room in Gävle using System 800xA, including for reporting. The Gävle center is also connected to the ABB Collaborative Operations Centre (CoC) in Västerås, from where ABB operators handle cyber-security monitoring and the back-up of security patches. Almer Oil & Chemical Storage AB also has entered into a service agreement with ABB, with support delivered remotely and in person when required.
Why ABB?
Almer Oil & Chemical Storage AB selected ABB for the contract based on their good working relationship of over 12 years. The company already has an installed base of automation and instrumentation provided by ABB. ABB is a trusted partner, says managing director Lars Almer. ABB also matched the project specifications with compatible pricing.
Four of the storage sites had been finished at time of writing, with the project ongoing. Almer Oil & Chemical Storage AB has one client on site to supervise incoming and outgoing oil and chemicals, with every transaction monitored from Gävle by a handful of personnel. There is only one remote entry point for all data through an encrypted VPN connection.
Benefits to the customer
Full remote control for Almer Oil & Chemical Storage AB has resulted in improved safety and efficiency for staff while also providing improved economic oversight and operational control. In addition to the expected cost savings, Lars Almer also expressed strong confidence in the way the project has been executed, the dedication of the ABB team, and excellent client-relationship management by the project leader.
