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QX - 03 Case of Study

Quantify the Effect of Disconnections Across a Portfolio of 150 Assets to Prioritise Asset Management

Incident Resolution
Affected Capacity
Operator Control

This case presents the successful implementation of an innovative solution to calculate and notify the asset management team daily of the percentage of capacity affected by outages in a portfolio of 150 PV plants in multiple countries. The solution, which ranks plants from most to least affected capacity and estimates associated production losses, has improved decision making, optimised maintenance and maximised operational efficiency in the context of solar PV power generation.

CONTEXT

The client, a leading player in the renewable energy sector (Independent Power Producer or IPP), managed an extensive portfolio of 150 photovoltaic plants in various geographical locations. The stability and performance of these plants were critical to maximisng revenue and efficiency in solar power generation. However, periodic outages had a direct impact on generating capacity, and therefore revenues.

CHALLENGES

The client faced the following challenges:

  • Lack of Visibility for Disconnections:  The lack of a centralised tool made it difficult to quickly and accurately identify the plants affected by disconnections and to calculate affected capacity.
  • Prioritising Actions: The lack of clear information about plants with the highest capacity losses made it difficult to prioritise maintenance and repair actions.
  • Estimating Losses: The inability to estimate production losses associated with disconnections inevitably made 
    financial and operational planning difficult.

SOLUTION

The technical team developed and implemented a comprehensive solution that addressed the above challenges:

  • Data Centralisation: A centralised platform was established to collect and store production and disconnection data from all PV plants at the inverter level. 
  • Calculation of Affected Capacity: An algorithm was developed that calculated the percentage of capacity affected by disconnections for each plant, based on the data collected.
  • Plant Prioritisation: The solution automatically sorted the plants from most to least affected capacity, facilitating better decision making regarding maintenance action planning.
  • Loss Estimates: Using irradiation data, affected capacity and market prices, a model was established to estimate the production losses associated with disconnections, in terms of energy and economic potential.
  • Automatic Notifications: The solution that was applied sent daily notifications to asset managers and operators, providing detailed information about affected capacity and estimated losses.
QX 03 Case of use - Report

RESULTS AND BENEFITS

Implementing the solution had a positive impact on operational and financial management:

1. Improved Visibility: The centralised platform provided a detailed view of outages and affected capacity at all plants.
2. Informed Decision Making:  The automatic prioritisation of plants according to affected capacity and estimated production losses allowed for a more efficient allocation of resources and maintenance actions.
3. Revenue Optimisation: Estimating production losses and their economic effects enabled more accurate financial planning and the mitigation of financial losses.
4. Operational Efficiency: Automatic daily notifications enabled a faster response to disconnections and the optimisation of operational management.
5. Maximising Performance: The ability to quickly address disconnections and capacity losses helped to fully utilise portfolio performance.

CONCLUSIONS

The solution applied to calculate and report capacity affected by outages in a portfolio of 150 PV plants proved a success story for the management of unavailability in solar power generation. Data centralisation, affected capacity calculation, automatic prioritisation of actions and loss estimation provided essential tools for efficient and cost-effective management. This solution sets a valuable example for the management of similar projects in the field of solar PV.

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