Operational excellence within utility solar
P R O J E C T PA R T N E R S
ENERGY
Powering the US solar agenda THE DEMAND FOR SOLAR PROJECTS CONTINUES TO GROW APACE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. JOE BROTHERTON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, DISCUSSES HOW CYPRESS CREEK RENEWABLES DELIVERS A ONE-STOP-SHOP WITHIN THE UTILITYSCALE SOLAR INDUSTRY
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CY P R E S S C R E E K R E N E WA B L E S
T
he solar energy market is booming across the United States. Americans are increasingly demanding access to cleaner sources of energy, driving utilities and large corporate electricity consumers to turn their attention towards renewable energy projects.
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built,” explains Joe Brotherton, Executive Vice President of Operations and Maintenance. “Because we have this integrated approach to project development, construction and operations, our Operations & Maintenance team is able to be involved in the upfront work, whereas a traditional operator would not be.”
Upgrading facilities
With such high demand, inte-
In April, Cypress Creek opened its
grated utility-scale solar
national solar control center at its
developer Cypress Creek
flagship Research Triangle Park,
Renewables has been behind
North Carolina office. The new con-
the development, construction
trol center marks a significant
and operation of an array of pro-
milestone for Cypress Creek as the
jects across a dozen states,
company expands its operations
including North Carolina, New
and maintenance services for third-
York, and Oregon. The company
party customers and signals its
has placed focus on working
unique ability to operate secure
alongside community, utility and
solar sites and maximise produc-
commercial clients to undertake
tion.
all the required work.
The C4 is just one of a handful of
“Cypress Creek is unique. While
North American Electric Reliability
we find and develop land for
Corporation (NERC) – Critical Infra-
solar farms, we also have a
structure Protection (CIP) compliant
group that builds projects. I run
control centres in the country oper-
the operations team. Projects
ated by a solar-only company. The
are handed to us after they are
C4 was designed to meet North
“Cypress Creek is unique. While we find and develop land for solar farms, we also have a group that builds projects” — Joe Brotherton, Executive Vice President of Operations and Maintenance
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American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC’s) most stringent cyber security and reliability requirements. To meet the new compliance level, Cypress Creek hired 22 people over the past three months. Partnering with Power Factors to implement a robust data collection system across its 230 operating power plants, data is now pulled from each plant and centralised into one core platform inside of Cypress Creek’s new control center. Through this investment, the business has gained w w w. c c r e n e w . c o m
GridSME is a team of subject matter experts who work collaboratively with clients to reduce risk and adapt to an ever-changing power industry. Think of us as your insurance policy for NERC, cyber security, engineering, and wholesale electricity markets. LEARN MORE 1847 Iron Point Rd, Suite 140 Folsom, CA 95630 P: 916-800-4545 E: customerservice@gridsme.com
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FACT
increased visibility across its entire portfolio. Additionally, it
CULTIVATING SMALL UTILITY SCALE, GROUND-MOUNTED SOLAR FARMS HAS ADHERED TO CYPRESS’ AMBITION TO SUPPORT COMMUNITIES WHEN DEVELOPING LAND
has allowed teams to gain direct access to a site to look at any potential issues.
in the operation centre.
“We want to undertake as much
“When an alarm goes off, it generates a work
work ahead of time so that we
ticket which automatically goes to a techni-
can tell a technician where to go,
cian. As we have undertaken all this upfront
take the required parts and rele-
work, the responsible technician will reach it
vant tools to undertake a specific
in (almost) real time and fix the issue,” he
repair,” says Brotherton.
continues.
“Reducing plant or component
“We’ve automated our entire monitoring pro-
downtime is our O&M team’s
cess. From a data analysis standpoint, we
main goal; to produce as much
can get into granular detail around site per-
as we can so smart repairs and
formance.
efficiency all starts with my team
“With data analysis we can see that the plant w w w. c c r e n e w . c o m
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“We have this integrated approach to project development, construction and operations, so our Operations & Maintenance team is able to be involved in the upfront work” — Joe Brotherton, Executive Vice President of Operations and Maintenance
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Operations and Maintenance team member at Tracy solar farm in in Nash County, NC
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FACT
CULTIVATING SMALL UTILITY SCALE, GROUND-MOUNTED SOLAR FARMS HAS ADHERED TO CYPRESS’ AMBITION TO SUPPORT COMMUNITIES WHEN DEVELOPING LAND
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Cypress Creek’s Control Center in its Research Triangle Park office
is on, but it’s not performing as best
solar is popular and there are a lot of
that it could be. We can see what
projects. Having qualified personnel
we can gain by either fixing some-
allows us to build cheaper, quicker
thing; being predictive in our
and more efficiently.
maintenance, analysing data and
“From construction jobs to the oper-
seeing trends to resolve issues
ations side, we have licensed
before they happen.”
electricians, medium and high voltage experts, which all come with a
Enhancing opportunities for communities
level of training. We’re moving so
With extensive experience in both
can partner and build a curriculum
operations and maintenance (O&M)
to create more opportunities,” com-
and the semiconductor space,
ments Brotherton.
Brotherton is aware of how partner-
“If we know labour is available,
ing with communities can benefit all
that’s great from a construction
parties.
standpoint. From the operation side,
“When we go into a new area, we
having people that know electrical
show the community how we’re
or solar-specific components ben-
going to build these projects and
efit my group specifically. We also
illustrate how a solar project will
have an internal training pro-
benefit them,” he says.
gramme where we can bring
One of the ways that Cypress Creek
individuals up to speed,” he contin-
shows its commitment to the com-
ues.
quickly and have looked at who we
munity is through workforce development. The company has
Supporting industry growth
collaborated with five community
By operating across the entire life
and technical colleges across the
cycle, Cypress Creek offers excep-
country, including Cape Fear Com-
tional, seamless performance
munity College in North Carolina to
across its development, construc-
train future solar workers.
tion and O&M capabilities. With all
“We’re doing this in areas where
three groups working in sync, any w w w. c c r e n e w . c o m
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Cypress Creek’s Control Center in its Research Triangle Park office
FACT
• CYPRESS CREEK HAS PARTNERED WITH POWER FACTORS TO IMPLEMENT A ROBUST DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM ACROSS ITS 230 POWER PLANTS • CYPRESS CREEK HAS COLLABORATED WITH A NUMBER OF COLLEGES TO PROVIDE AN ARRAY OF PROGRAMS
Tracy solar farm in Nash County, NC
issues can be mitigated or reduced,
Such is the company’s success, it
guaranteeing world-class results.
has now looks to incorporate differ-
“If a project is going to have high
ent initiatives at its solar farms.
operational costs or it’s in the terri-
“We now have our first project in
tory that we have some special
Maryland where we’re putting in
vegetation requirement, we can
pollinator habitats and beehives on
start those conversations at the
site as part of our pollinator pro-
front end,” adds Brotherton.
gram,” he concludes. w w w. c c r e n e w . c o m
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