Technology group Wärtsilä has appointed Luke Witmer as Vice President of Software Engineering for its Energy Storage business, marking a key step in the company’s ongoing investment in software innovation and leadership. Witmer, who has been with Wärtsilä since 2015, will lead the software team in advancing the company’s proprietary GEMS Digital Energy Platform.
Witmer has played a central role in Wärtsilä’s technology development for over a decade, including before the company acquired Greensmith Energy. He has been instrumental in developing GEMS, Wärtsilä’s platform for monitoring, controlling, and optimizing complex power systems. The platform manages all assets—batteries, renewables, thermal generation, and balance of plant—enhancing uptime and efficiency, forecasting energy dispatch, and unlocking full revenue potential. Under his leadership of the Data Science division, GEMS’ forecasting, optimization, and analytics capabilities have advanced significantly, enabling customers to maximize performance and manage diverse assets efficiently.
“Software is at the heart of today’s energy transition,” said Witmer,Vice President, Wärtsilä . “Energy storage is enabled by advanced software, and the renewable transition is not possible without energy storage. In an analysis of our hybrid power plants globally, every 100MWh of energy storage capacity we install enables an average of 340 GWh/year of renewable energy to enter the grid. A small amount of energy storage goes a long way, helping to keep energy affordable and reliable. The key is in the software; enabling scale, reducing risk, and optimising the operation of our customers’ assets in a world that is continuously changing.”
Witmer’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for Wärtsilä Energy Storage, which became an independent reporting segment in April 2025. The company currently has more than 130 projects and over 19 GWh of energy storage capacity globally and is recognized as a leader in energy storage solutions. The GEMS Digital Energy Platform, now in its sixteenth year of development, is considered one of the most mature and advanced control platforms on the market.
“Luke brings deep expertise and proven leadership that will help customers optimise performance and adapt to an increasingly complex energy landscape,” said Tamara de Gruyter, President of Wärtsilä Energy Storage. “By expanding the GEMS platform and guiding its evolution with foresight into future market opportunities and challenges, Luke will position Wärtsilä and our customers for long-term success.”
Under Witmer’s leadership, the software team will continue building on Wärtsilä’s industry-first innovations while strengthening a customer-first focus designed to deliver value at scale.
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