Fife-based energy consultancy Everoze has launched its LEAF (Life Extension
Assessment Framework) to help project owners make better decisions about
the future of renewables assets and portfolios as they reach maturity.
Following initial trials, Everoze was engaged last month to carry out a
LEAF assessment by a UK developer which operates a large portfolio of
renewable assets, including a number of mature onshore wind projects.
The framework is used to progressively explore and short-list end of life
options in terms of feasibility, risk and economics. A cross disciplinary
perspective is applied throughout to ensure technical, commercial,
regulatory, finance and economic angles are recognised, within a holistic
framework.
Everoze partner, Joe Phillips explained: “It’s not simply a choice between
life extension, repowering and decommissioning.
“There are a myriad of options across this spectrum, some of which
challenge renewables assets and their owners to adopt very different
operational or business models.
“We’ve been surprised about the level of appetite and the economic case for
adding solar or storage capacity to existing wind farms, for example. The
lifetime IRR improvement comparing existing and rebooted assets can be well
in excess of 0.5%.”
Fellow partner, Colin Morgan added “The most valuable thing about an asset
might not be the turbines or modules, but rather hard-won local stakeholder
relationships and access to a firm grid connection.
“This is about working creatively to explore what a site could become,
before making a cold, hard assessment of risks and rewards. We are finding
that there is no one-size-fits all answer – every site is different.
“What is clear is that technology, regulation and markets have all shifted
radically over the last decade and these changes are due to shake-up the
size and shape of the operating fleet over the next.”
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