The operations and management of large-scale solar and wind facilities have some similar and some quite different challenges. We will discuss a variety of considerations for developers and asset owners to keep projects running and performing to expectations over the long term. The recent surge in energy storage deployment adds another layer of challenges, especially when paired with either of the leading renewable energy generation technologies. Any plant surpassing 75 MW in capacity also has to become NERC-compliant, resulting in a higher level of interconnection complexity and the necessity of a certified operations center to maintain around-the-clock monitoring and control capabilities. This discussion will address some of the operational and technical issues and challenges of the growing renewables reality for solar, wind and hybrid projects.
