Leading investor in global renewable energy infrastructure Cubico Sustainable Investments (Cubico) has signed an agreement with Clir Renewables (Clir), a company dedicated to maximizing project returns from renewable energy assets, to optimize more than 500 MW across its Latin American wind power portfolio.
The Latin American markets for renewable energy have seen significant growth over the past five years, with several countries pledging 70% renewable energy use by 2030. While hydro power currently dominates Uruguay and Brazil’s energy mix, wind and solar projects are being developed to take advantage of strong resources and bolster the grid during periods of low rainfall. However, developers and asset owners in this region face many challenges when assessing the performance of their projects, from grid integration to the enormous scale and variation of data from disparate projects.
Following a 3-month trial period, Cubico has signed a deal for Clir to monitor, optimize, and report on performance for three projects in Brazil and two in Uruguay. Clir will assess performance on a per turbine and project basis, and then benchmark this data across the wider portfolio to support optimal asset operation.
During the trial, Clir proposed a number of actions based on analysis of the data leading to production gains and improved operation protecting asset health.
By using machine learning to analyze multiple data streams, including near real-time and historical SCADA data from the turbine and grid, geospatial, and weather records, Clir is able to pinpoint whether underperformance is due to low resource, environmental interference, or fixable technical errors. This insight can then be used to inform operations, model future revenue, and identify opportunities to negotiate existing terms on debt financing, or insurance, based on forecasts backed up by real project data.
Didier Frávega, Director, Latin America, Clir, said: “We are delighted to work with Cubico to provide them with a true understanding of project performance and value based on the data. Our initial trial provided Cubico’s teams, both on the ground and back in head office, with unparalleled insight into not just the occurrence of underperformance across largescale wind projects - but crucially, its causes.
“Latin America is a key market for renewables, and by breaking down the data of existing assets, our platform will provide Cubico with comprehensive analysis of their investments in the region, accessible anywhere in the world.”
Charlie Plumley, Performance Manager, Cubico, said: “At Cubico we are keen to apply innovative solutions and are fully invested in ensuring our projects are proactively managed to provide market leading results. Clir’s impressive data analytics capability and ongoing support provides us with rapid consultancy-level insight into project performance and value.
“With this in-depth understanding of asset performance accessible to all stakeholders, we will be able to more accurately predict future energy yield, validate decision-making, drive improvements, and ultimately create additional value for Cubico.”
About Cubico Sustainable Investments
Founded in May 2015, Cubico Sustainable Investments is a major investor in the renewable energy sector. The company is backed by the resources of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan, and PSP Investments, one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers. Cubico’s global portfolio in 12 countries has an installed gross capacity of around 3 GW, with a 2 GW development pipeline. Cubico is headquartered in London and has offices in São Paulo and Fortaleza (Brazil), Athens (Greece), Milan (Italy), Stamford (US), Mexico City (Mexico), Madrid (Spain), Bordeaux (France), Sydney and Melbourne (Australia), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Bogotá (Colombia).
