21 and counting - Framework for success with CNIM

Over the years, CNIM has been very successful in the waste-to-energy and biomass-to-energy market in Europe. To date, 21 of these plants have been built in partnership with Valmet, and 100 percent of the new build projects since 2010 have been carried out together.

Gilles Cappadoro, Manager of CNIM Process and System, first contacted Valmet in 1997. “From 1997 to 1999, Valmet supplied the DCS hardware and applications for two waste-to-energy plants built and operated by CNIM in the UK and one in Italy.” Again in 2002 and 2007, CNIM turned to Valmet for new waste-to-energy plants in Italy. At that time, CNIM began to develop the entire plant application internally.

Making collaporation count

“With the Energonut waste-to-energy plant in Italy in 2002, our partnership really started to solidify. The French Valmet team assisted and trained us with a very high level of cooperation, and Valmet’s technical support has turned these projects into a success.”

“Over the years, we worked with Valmet’s technical and commercial teams to optimize the DCS structure and procedure,” says Cappadoro. “To cooperate constructively, we needed to find an efficient way to do business together. Valmet teams are extremely adaptable, and its DCS product is very stable. Now that we know each other, trust is well established.”

CNIM’s Jean-Pierre Robin, head of DCS engineering and design, has been in charge of all projects since 2013: “Valmet has a valuable ability to listen and respond to specific requests. I appreciate the scalability and modularity of the solutions. Valmet has a powerful ability to stick to the notion of ‘remote and distributed.’”

Expanding into new territory

In 2017, CNIM remained one of the most successful EPCs in Europe, winning contracts and taking strong positions in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Anticipating an increasing workload, CNIM selected some partners with which to sign agreements to be more efficient during the procurement phase.

Jean-Francois Ache, Head of Environment Purchasing at CNIM, describes the decision: “The DCS fulfills the criteria for critical plant equipment – requiring efficient collaboration from both parties and high-level interface with other equipment.” He goes on to explain how he evaluates potential suppliers. “For a key package like the DCS, it’s all about performance: bid performance, realization stage performance, equipment reliability and after-sales service performance.”

“Valmet addresses urgent issues in ‘fast-track mode’, understanding our evolving needs, proposing innovations for mutual benefit and making decisions with us beyond the current project,” Ache says. “We signed the agreement with Valmet because of the performance of our long-lasting close business relationship. We took time to formalize it, enabling both parties to anticipate the challenges of executing projects beyond Europe.”

11 years of cooperation

“We are now celebrating our 11th year of cooperation. CNIM requires a high level of partnership in the extremely competitive EPC market,” says Etienne Guyon of Valmet France. “Valmet provides its state-of-the-art DCS technology. CNIM handles DCS project coordination, application and commissioning, while we handle hardware, system engineering and technical support for project execution. Syncing these roles requires a high degree of trust, teamwork and flexibility.”

“Because a ‘Shared Journey Forward’ is Valmet’s services approach, we have been working together to develop and create innovative solutions for our customers who operate power plants in challenging environments,” adds Hédi Azzouz, Country Manager at Valmet.

For more information: 

Etienne Guyon, etienne.guyon (at) valmet.com