Borrego makes its first major push into utility-scale O&M

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The signing of two solar operations and maintenance (O&M) contracts for a pair of 50 MWac projects under construction in Ohio signals a new path for Borrego.

In May Borrego announced it was selling its development business to ECP, an energy transition-focused investor with an almost two decades-long reputation in the electricity, renewable and sustainable solutions sector. With it went Borrego’s project pipeline, which contained 8.4 GW of solar and 6.4 GW / 25 GWh of energy storage. ECP rebranded as New Leaf Energy and has continued to grow its presence in the solar and energy storage distributed generation (DG) space.

Now with the two deals signed, which are Borrego’s first utility-scale O&M contracts, the company now focuses on providing third-party O&M services for distributed generation and utility-scale solar plants, further establishing itself in the O&M and EPC market. Under the terms of the contracts, Borrego not only provide preventative and corrective maintenance, but will perform an unlimited amount of vegetation maintenance as well as aerial thermal inspection services. Borrego has also included a 98% availability guarantee for five years in conjunction with these services.

Borrego has upgraded its Operations Center to be North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) compliant and will be able to register as a NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection Generator Operator (CIP-GOP). In addition, Borrego O&M continues to add dedicated staff who are focused on growing utility-scale sector portfolio.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to operate and maintain these utility-scale projects in Ohio. Borrego‘s selection by one of the largest renewable IPPs in the world is a testament to the investments we have made in our O&M utility scale team and systems,” said Mike Hall, chief executive officer of Borrego. “The deals also reflect the recognition by our partners of the benefits of thinking strategically about O&M early in the project life cycle.”

The two Ohio projects are scheduled to reach their commercial operation dates in 2023, at which point Borrego O&M will begin operating the plants. The renewable energy developer and operator of the projects was not named.

Borrego currently manages the performance of over 1.6 GW and 1,050 solar operating assets, the majority of which were built by other EPCs.

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