SOLV Opens Renewable Energy OCC in San Diego
By Rachel Leber
SAN DIEGO — System Operations Live View (SOLV), a Swinerton company that provides full-service operations and maintenance and real-time performance monitoring for over 3,650 megawatts (MW) of solar facilities in North America announced on May 22 the completion of its new Operations and Control Center (OCC) in San Diego.
The new facility is 7,000 square feet, and will allow the company to continue to expand its services to include other renewable energy resources including wind, geothermal, and battery storage, which require 24/7 monitoring capabilities. Construction on the facility began in December 2016 and was designed for medium-impact facility compliance under the regulatory protocols created by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
The newly renovated office has three levels of secure access, a separate IT server adhering to Generator Operator (GOP) protocol, backup power, and various additional procedures and processes that meet NERC obligations to mitigate risks associated with increased generation consolidation. The new facility is located next to Swinerton’s San Diego office.
The new OCC will enable the SOLV team to operate and monitor renewable projects across the country, with twenty-four large connected screens that will allow for the extensive monitoring of these projects. Additionally, the new facility will have ergonomic workstations, standing desks, skylights, LED lighting, a community kitchen area and back patio for its 25 to 30 employees.
OCC will enable timely communication between on-site technicians and their clients, according to Reegan Moen, business development manager for SOLV in a recent statement. “We are proud to offer added value of around-the-clock service to both current and future clients.”
Expansion has been on the rise for Swinerton over the past few years, as their Bend, Ore.-based SOLV office also completed an expansion in January 2016. The Bend office serves as the central hub for their SCADA engineers, product management and project management. This Bend office expansion brought state-of-the-art network systems and equipment to the facility, and was designed with engineering productivity and a collaborative work environment in mind, to create better communication and workflow.