Can renewable energy plants be energized quickly?

The demand for energy from renewable sources is constantly increasing. This has led to a significant expansion in the share of RES within the Polish electrical system in recent years. However, this rapid development has highlighted challenges associated with outdated grid infrastructure and complex connection procedures. But time is money, so how can we achieve the swift energization of PV power plants? Nomad Electric has a method to accomplish this.

To achieve national and European Union targets for increasing the share of renewable energy sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, extensive work is required across all sectors. However, the energy sector is at the forefront of this transformation. To prevent the development of renewable energy sources from being halted, systemic and legislative solutions are crucial. This is a slow and complex process, more akin to a marathon than a sprint.

“Several factors make it difficult to connect RES to the electricity grid in our country. The infrastructure in place cannot handle large amounts of energy from utility-scale PV for instance. The administrative procedures for obtaining permits are complicated due to a lack of proper implementation in the various branches of the Distribution System Operator (DSO), which is also facing a shortage of staff. Furthermore, the lack of suitable interconnection points in certain regions delays or complicates the implementation of PV projects. In addition, growing demand for renewable energy is increasing competition for grid access, further prolonging connection delays.” explains Paweł Czaus, CEO of Nomad Electric.

Can the energization of utility-scale PV power plants be accelerated?

Under the current conditions, producing the first kilowatt-hours of green energy at a photovoltaic farm is a significant achievement, and the process of energizing PV installations can be tedious and time-consuming. To optimize and shorten this process, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the procedures, requirements and needs of each of the DSO’s branches. This requires a professional team of experts. Nomad Electric has a dedicated department for taking care of the energization process. The multi-disciplinary team is made up of experienced engineers and specialists who compile and review the documents required by the various DSO units across the country. As a result, in the last two years, Nomad Electric connected to the grid utility-scale PV plants with a total capacity of more than 164 MWp.

“During the construction of renewable energy power plants using the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) model, we prioritize professional documentation preparation, careful schedule monitoring, subcontractor selection, measurement protocol verification and internal substation audits. This ensures timely energization of PV installations. For systems up to 1 MWp it takes us an average of 35 working days, but we also have a record of 15 working days from the date of submission of complete documentation to the production of the first kWh.” says Łukasz Lech, CTO at Nomad Electric

Thorough documentation preparation by a professional team and meticulous technical verification are essential actions in overcoming procedural barriers and significantly accelerating the connection of facilities to the grid.