Etrion Continues to Reduce O&M Expenses for Italian Solar Projects

Etrion Corporation announces the renegotiation of its Operations & Maintenance contracts with ABB, the global power and automation technology group, for the Helios ITA and Helios ITA-3 projects in Puglia, Italy, representing a total capacity of 16.4 megawatts.

The Helios ITA project consists of seven ground-mounted solar photovoltaic parks with a total capacity of 6.4 MW. Six of the solar parks were connected to the electricity grid in December 2009, and the last park was connected in December 2010. The Helios ITA solar parks were built by Solon, a German solar panel manufacturer and installer. Etrion recently renegotiated the Helios ITA O&M contract with ABB effective May 1, 2015, to reduce the annual fee by more than 20%, to eliminate the previous revenue sharing provision and to increase the level of service.

The Helios ITA-3 project consists of two ground-mounted solar PV parks with a total capacity of 10 MW. Both parks were completed and connected to the electricity grid in August 2011. The Helios ITA-3 solar parks were built by ABB. Etrion recently renegotiated the Helios ITA-3 O&M contract with ABB effective June 1, 2015, to reduce the annual fee by more than 20% and to increase the level of service.

Marco A. Northland, Etrion’s CEO, commented, “We are pleased to announce continued cost reductions with the renegotiation of the ABB O&M contracts in Italy for 16.4 MW of installed solar capacity. We previously announced the renegotiation of our SunPower O&M contracts in Italy for 35.8 MW, and we are currently in discussions with the remaining O&M provider for the balance of our 60 MW Italian solar portfolio. This initiative reduces our expected O&M expenses with ABB and SunPower by approximately US$1.5 million per year while securing a higher level of service.”

Photo: courtesy of Etrion Corporation