Renewables investor Ardian has partnered with Greenbyte and Pexapark to enable a “major upgrade” to the digital asset management systems for its 3500MW portfolio.
Ardian is working directly with the teams at Greenbyte, a renewables-focused software outfit, and Pexapark, a digital power purchase agreement platform, to implement an end-to-end renewable energy monitoring online platform.
The platform will help Ardian and the and the management teams of its renewable platforms, to create “additional value and monitor technical and market risks in tandem”, the investor said.
These risk management goals are growing in significance and urgency for investors and operators as the renewables sector worldwide transitions into a new phase of operation.
Ten years ago, most projects benefitted from long-term subsidies.
Today, the removal of subsidies across many markets means that asset revenues and price risk must be actively managed through PPAs and other revenue hedging mechanisms.
“Increasing exposure to the volatility of the ‘merchant’ power market is driving a fundamental shift in the way we look at and manage our portfolio for our investors,” said Mathias Burghardt, head of Ardian Infrastructure.
“On the one hand, we need to place greater emphasis on optimising production to extract as many megawatt hours of clean power as possible from our assets.
“On the other, we must build our energy sales and risk management best-in-class expertise to control and hedge our financial exposure and stay on top of market dynamics to capture the best windows of opportunity.”
By integrating Greenbyte’s asset monitoring and management platform, the Ardian Infrastructure team aims at being able to oversee and benchmark technical performance across its portfolio, covering three markets in Europe, five markets in the US and two in Latin America.
Jonas Corne, CEO, Greenbyte, added: “Full transparency on asset performance is a hugely powerful tool, and Greenbyte gives Ardian and its management teams a means of creating accountability, not only with its own investors, but also with regional Operations & Maintenance (O&M) teams and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
“This data will help Ardian incentivise performance and value creation activities across the portfolio, as well as hold other parties to account during contractual negotiations.”
For the European portfolio, production data from Greenbyte will feedd directly into Pexapark’s “operating system” of energy revenue and risk management tools.
This system provides a comprehensive and transparent view on the realised market value of Ardian’s renewables assets in Europe, while constantly assessing the long-term value, risk and performance of the entire portfolio, and energy contracts.
Pexapark chief operating officer Luca Pedretti said: “Ardian Infrastructure’s pioneering approach to building its arsenal of digital tools for post-subsidy energy sales and risk management is quickly setting it apart in the market.
“The Ardian team shows that, with the right ‘operating system’ in place, nimble renewable energy funds can reimagine their models to rival even the traditional utilities who benefit from decades of energy trading expertise.”