Ethical Power has announced that its performance monitoring team has just signed a contract with renewables company Lodestone Energy in New Zealand.
This contract is for the monitoring of Kaitaia and Edgecumbe, 33MW each. As Lodestone increases its renewable asset portfolio, Ethical Power’s team will take on another three solar parks under the same contract. Ethical Power’s team in Devon will soon be remotely monitoring performance of five solar farms in New Zealand.
“Lodestone is delighted to have Ethical Power monitoring our solar farm SCADA systems around the clock,” says Richard Pearce, COO of Lodestone Energy. “Since day one, the Ethical Power team has proactively alerted us to any irregular operating conditions or plant status alarms. This enables the Lodestone team and our operations and maintenance contractor to respond promptly and efficiently.”
This contract differs from Ethical Power’s UK contracts and adaptions have been made to accommodate the agreement. Henry de Viell, Ethical Power’s Performance Manager, commented, “Clients in New Zealand use different systems and assets that operate in tandem with the grid, unlike the ones in the UK. These differences meant that we needed to introduce some changes to our operational manuals. Our portfolio in the UK is primarily managed through InAccess and other cloud solutions, whereas the new New Zealand sites have a bespoke local solution which we have been able to adapt our processes to support. Working closely with Lodestone Energy, we have been able to roll out a comprehensive training package to our staff, to ensure that all aspects of the systems are covered and that we can promptly and accurately respond to everything happening on site.”
This is an exciting opportunity for Ethical Power’s performance monitoring team and it’s a continuation of Ethical Powers global expansion within the renewables industry.
