Mapping the True Cost of O&M and Asset Management for Utility Scale Solar

With record levels of utility-scale solar and energy storage on the grid, financiers, developers and owner/operators must understand costs and benefits of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Asset Management to implement best-in-class models optimizing asset life, production, and return on investment. Never has the role of O&M and Asset Management been more important.

This poster will walk financiers, developers, owners and operators through a Total Cost of Ownership model to understand the following seven key elements of the cost-benefit equation covering every lifecycle stage from development, construction, and interconnection to long term operation.
1. Project Modeling & Development: Project Financial Analysis & Investment Modeling
2. Pre-Construction & Engineering: O&M / AM Manual & Materials including Site Training, Documentation and Procedure Development, Data: Monitoring and Cloud Based Reporting Design / Recommendations, O&M/ AM Cost Modeling and Budget Development
3. Construction: Owner's Rep/ Contract Management & Oversight, Independent Engineering Review (IER), Commissioning
4. Operations: Full Scope Operations and Maintenance, 24/7 Real-time Cloud-based Local & Remote Monitoring, Onsite Staff Plant Management, Grid Authorities Interface and Compliance, Curtailment and Response Management
5. Maintenance: Predictive Maintenance, Performance Engineering, Analytics and Continuous Improvement, Extreme Weather Response, Emergency and Incident Management, Parts, Tooling and Supplies, Equipment Service, Repair, Inventory and Warranty Enforcement, Vegetation Management, Predictive Module Cleaning, Aerial Testing and Inspection, Environmental Health and Safety Procedures
6. Asset Management: Commercial, Finance, Tax, Technical and Asset Performance and Holdco/SPV Management
7. Retrofit/Repower: Asset Status Analysis, Retrofit Budgeting and Performance Projections, Retrofit / Repowering Engineering and Service

This information will help attendees understand how O&M Subject Matter Expertise can improve asset profitability from the start of asset development. The poster will outline, by phase, typical scope items and standard industry costs. It will also address O&M cost allocation and pricing models, a direct cost of ownership, lending transparency to what has been an area of widely varying costs and confusion. After analyzing the poster, attendees will have transparent information about the true costs of large-scale solar plant operations, maintenance and asset management to aid in the creation of long-term expected availability and profitability.