NAES Corp., an independent operations, maintenance and repair services provider for the energy industry, has announced its partnership with the CIM Group‘s Aquamarine 250 MW AC solar photovoltaic project at Westland’s Solar Park in Fresno and Kings counties in California.
“NAES is proud to partner with CIM Group to provide O&M services for their utility scale solar park and generation tie in California,” says Norm Escover, NAES’ president and CEO. “This is a significant advancement in the clean energy sector and one NAES Corporation is uniquely prepared to be a part with our combination of experience and services.”
NAES is currently supporting CIM Group’s first 125 MW phase of the solar park, which reached commercial operation October 1, with the management of Westland’s transmissions lines, substation and interconnection. In addition, the NAES team is providing quality assurance and quality control assistance, operations and maintenance and an engineering review of the photovoltaic field.
“NAES brings a proven facility management approach that has been honed over four decades backed by a responsive operations, safety and compliance organization that is second to none,” says Charlie Hoock, NAES’s senior vice president of power services and renewables. “Our differentiation is our customer service mindset and broad capability under one roof.”
Aquamarine’s second 125 MW phase will be complete and operational by the end of the year. This total 250 MW AC park will have an estimated 880,000 solar panels on 1,843 acres of farmland which was deemed unfarmable and is now being repurposed for clean energy. Testing has concluded, and NAES has begun providing full power services to the first phase of the solar park, with services for the second phase estimated to go live and begin by the end of this year.
Photo by MICHAEL WILSON on Unsplash
Definitely a step in the right direction with this partnership. Maintenance is definitely needed depending on the areas in California and this goes to show that they are ready for anything O&M.
I’m curious to see if more companies will follow this style and partner with more O&M type companies.