RES keeps the lights on for 600,000 homes during lockdown

RES’ staff have been working around the clock during lockdown to ensure the continuous supply of clean, green electricity for more than 600,000 homes in the UK. The news comes during a record-breaking week for the energy sector which saw the first 20 days of consecutive coal-free electricity generation since 1882.

Reacting to faults and defects RES’ 24/7/365 Control Centre has booked more than 2000 key workers onto wind and solar sites over the previous month, with specialist engineers bringing wind turbines and solar arrays back online.

In one call out the O&M team attended a site to rectify a blade pitching fault, bringing a turbine capable of generating enough electricity for 3,000 households every hour back online in less than a day. Elsewhere following an external grid issue, which caused the solar farm to trip its High Voltage supplies, an engineer was dispatched to safely re-energise the site within four hours.

While following Government guidance on social distancing RES’ teams have also proactively carried out ‘major works’, including the replacement of gearboxes and transformers at the some of the 520 turbines and 19 solar farms managed by the business.

Their resilience has not just benefitted consumers in the UK. The company has also used a mobile phone app to enable a technician in the UK to carry out a live inspection of a wind turbine located more than 1,000 miles away in Sweden.

Simon Deacon, RES’ Operations and Maintenance Director, said: “We’ve got a duty to keep the lights on for the nation at this critical time. To do this we’ve adapted quickly and found new ways of working which will stay with us long after lockdown.”

Reacting to the news that coal only accounted for 1% of electricity generation across the UK in April.

Simon added: “We’ve seen again this week that renewable energy is no longer the future but the here and now. Our industry can provide low cost electricity for consumers and we stand ready to deliver the energy needed to power the green economic recovery ahead.”

RES is the world’s largest independent renewable energy company, active in onshore and offshore wind, solar, energy storage, transmission and distribution. In its 38-year history, RES has delivered more than 17GW of renewable energy projects across the globe.

Last October RES announced that their Value Improvement Plans (VIPs) had helped 33 wind or solar assets in the UK add an extra £21m in forecast revenue since 2017.