VALEMO’s Operation Department, made up of technical experts, guarantees the good performance of the plants entrusted to it. Thanks to the local teams deployed throughout the country and the internal synergies existing between each VALEMO department (operation – engineering services – maintenance), a state-of-the-art service and multi-energy expertise are provided to meet the specific needs of each customer.
About twenty experts working all over the country
Composed of about twenty asset managers and technicians, the department can rely on this solid and experienced staff to support its customers in the proper management of their facilities. 75 farms, all energies combined (wind, solar, hydro, marine energies), spread over the whole territory (metropolitan France and Guadeloupe) are operated by VALEMO, for a total of more than 700 MW. Historically a wind power operator, VALEMO has diversified its scope of activities by incorporating more and more references in hydroelectricity (18 power plants) and photovoltaic installations (72 MWp).
Diversified missions
A true asset manager, the VALEMO operation manager, with solid technical skills (electrical training), is a conductor coordinating all activities in line with the optimized management of the plants. From HSE issues to site inspections and audits, from improving performance by tracking key indicators to environmental monitoring issues, the operation manager is the main point of contact for stakeholders in connection with the asset.
Internal synergies for a state-of-the-art service
The asset manager can rely on internal resources offering a real synergy between the different activities and creating added value. The maintenance teams are organized into bases (7) spread throughout the country, which are true field relays, favour proximity and reactivity. The engineering department is called upon when complex problems arise or when an expertise is required following an anomaly identified during a technical audit. Supervision of the control center obviously plays a strategic role in detecting malfunctions.
Capitalizing on these internal resources, the operation managers are reactive, dynamic and adapt to each situation to offer a state-of-the-art service to each customer. They follow market developments and are highly adaptable; for example, VALEMO has been managing wind farms under aggregation since 2017 and is currently involved in issues of life extension or repowering on several wind farms.
Solutions to go further
Asset managers are able to respond to multiple and diverse issues on specific plants. For example, VALEMO Operation Department manages a wind farm in Guadeloupe, which is subject to more complex constraints than in mainland France and requiring extensive involvement of the operation manager and advanced performance analyses: island network, extreme weather conditions (hurricanes), energy management system (EMS), storage, improving the turbulence management strategy, etc.
On another wind farm, an operation manager is currently facing major structural problems on the wind turbines, in a period when the maintenance contract is coming to an end, and for which organizational dysfunctions of the maintenance provider have been identified. An in-depth and tailor-made audit of the wind turbines has been carried out by the operation manager and technical auditors. After an exhaustive documentation work, a monitoring plan for the sensitive components has been established and assistance to the turbine operator has been proposed. Thus, Valemo Operation Department, with the support of internal services and its partners, is able to propose solutions and assistance that go beyond the classical Operation service in order to optimize the performance of the assets and to support the interests of its customer, the SPV.