Vacon was a Finnish manufacturer of
variable-speed AC drives for adjustable control of electric motors, and inverters for producing energy from renewable sources and was headquartered in
Vaasa
Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),[Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...](_blank)
. Vacon stands for Vaasa Control Ltd.
Vacon had production and R&D (Research and development) facilities in Europe, Asia, and North America, sales offices in 30 countries, and sales representatives and service partners in nearly 90 countries.
The shares of Vacon Plc (VAC1V) are quoted on the main list of the Helsinki stock exchange (NASDAQ OMX Helsinki). In 2013, Vacon’s revenues amounted to EUR 403.0 million, and the company employed globally approximately 1,600 people.
Typically, electric motors are equipped with variable speed AC drives as they help optimize process control and save electrical energy. Vacon has estimated that in 2013 its products helped save approximately 55 TWh of energy. This corresponds to approximately 22 hours of the world's annual electrical energy production. Also, the amount of energy produced from renewable energy sources with Vacon's AC drives was reported to be approximately 22 TWh.
[Vacon helped save 22 hours of global electricity production in 2013](_blank)
/ref>
In 2014, Danfoss purchased Vacon.
Other
Visit from President Obama
On January 15, 2014, former US President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
visited Vacon’s R&D facility at the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...
where he mentioned Vacon.[Remarks by the President on the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, The White House, 15 January 2014](_blank)
/ref>[President Barack Obama visits Vacon](_blank)
/ref>
Stuxnet Virus
Vacon NX frequency converter drives, also known as variable-frequency drives, were one of the two types of converters targeted by the Stuxnet Virus at the Iranian enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran. The worm would search a PLC for the specific identification number, in this case 9500h, that is assigned to the Vacon converter. Once found, the worm would continue to execute. [Symantec security response dossier to Stuxnet](_blank)
References
{{Reflist
Electronics companies of Finland
Companies based in Vaasa
Companies formerly listed on Nasdaq Helsinki