Owner's engineering
We support during Design, Construction and Operation
The aim of this global or “à la carte” mission is to ensure your photovoltaic project is implemented with a high level of quality and rigour throughout the whole project lifecycle. Bluevolta is committed to putting your interests at the heart of all the decisions iin order to safeguard your investment.
Our level of involvement will be adjusted according your needs and whether the assignment is a full owner’s engineer scope or technical assistance and project management related tasks.
Design phase
Within this step, we will update and optimize further the conceptual design prepared at feasibility stage. The objective is to confirm the final choices in terms of capacity, technology, type of installation, budget, bidding strategy and implementation approach.
Based on the selected design, we can provide the technical documents and drawings required by the authorities for the administrative and permitting procedures.
Depending on the type and location of the project, the contract may be broken down into lots for equipment supply and works, or awarded to an EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) company offering a turnkey solution.
We assist you in selecting the most suitable procurement and contractual strategy.
Based on the selected procurement strategy, we prepare the tender documents containing in particular, the minimum qualification criteria and the technical specifications and requirements.
The administrative part of the tender documents is prepared in collaboration with the project owner. We assist you in launching your tender to the market.
Construction phase
We provide you with comprehensive support during the bidding phase once the tender has been released : organization of site visits, pre-bid meeting, clarification to the bidders.
We perform the technical and financial evaluation of the bids and assist during the contract negotiation up to the contract signature with the EPC company or with different equipment suppliers and/or installation companies.
We review and approve detailed engineering prepared by the selected contractor, this includes drawings, calculation reports, design criteria, etc.
We make sure that all contractual requirements are met to verify that project’s engineering complies with the state of the art and industry best practices.
This task aims to monitor progress on site and to ensure that the contractor executes the project based on the approved design and engineering documents and the contractual requirements. It is also verified that Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) measures are properly implemented.
Contractual and payment milestones are checked on site. The project owner is kept objectively and regularly informed through the preparation of progress reports. We adapt the site visit frequency to the complexity of the project.
This phase starts with the review and approval of the commissioning and testing procedure prepared by the Contractor. During the commissioning activities, we witness some of the activities to check that all steps are properly carried out by the contractor as per the requirements and applicable standards: visual inspection, mechanical verification of structures, electrical measurements and verification of the monitoring system.
Once commissioning step is successfully passed (including the related documentation), performance and functional tests are conducted.
Provisional acceptance is an important milestone for the project as it releases the contractor from its main obligations. It is therefore essential that before this milesetone is confirmed, all the project documentation (incl. As-built) is updated and available and that only minor items are remaining on the punch-list.
Operational phase
We review the O&M contract to ensure that the proposed scope (tasks and frequency) is suitable to the PV project characteristics.
We pay a special attention to the contract structure, performance guarantees and associated liquidated damages, response time, reporting content and frequency, spare part management, contractor experience and ressources.
This stage can be carried out annually or monthly depending on the project configuration and project requirements.
For the performance evaluation, we will calculate the plant’s Performance Ratio (PR) and availability based on the data extracted from the monitoring system (inverter output, meter readings at connection point, actual in-plane and global irradiation, etc.). Key performance indicators will be assessed vs. expected performance from the model and simulation results. This performance evaluation is essential in particular during the warranty period (typically two years after commercial operational date) as there are potential liquidated damages at stake. In case of under-performance, we are recommending further investigations or mitigations measures.
In addition to the independent performance evaluation, we review the O&M activities based on the monthly reports prepared by the contractor. We verify that activities are carried out as per the contract and best industry practices. This mission typically includes a site inspection.
For “old” projects, it may be beneficial to replace certain equipment such as PV modules for example to boost performance for the remaining years of operation.
This involves repowering (replacement of modules and/or inverters) or revamping (replacement of a specific component) operations which are designed to improve the plant’s profitability over the remaining years of operation.
