Gionata VISCONTI

There is a moment in every power project when someone around the table says: “We should internalize O&M” . With external O&M, the owner buys, at least on paper, experience and a balance sheet that absorbs surprises while still learning or busy elsewhere. At the same time, particularly in renewable applications, external companies can achieve economies of scale by servicing multiple assets. At an early stage, with no operating history, no failure database, a spare parts strategy existing only...

#project #returns A project becomes bankable long after it becomes interesting. Bankability is about surviving distrust from investors, not impressing them with a PowerPoint. A bankable project assumes that nobody believes you, that many things will go wrong, and it is built accordingly. What I am posting here is largely obvious, yet we all suffer from bias when we evaluate our own projects. The first filter is certainty of revenues. Returns matter only when they are defined, contracted, and...

Everyone loves reciprocating engine power plants on paper. They are sold as modular, flexible, fast to deploy, and tolerant. And, to be fair, they can be all of that. The problem usually starts after commissioning. When the EPC is gone, warranties begin to blur, and the plant is expected to deliver megawatt-hours every single day, without excuses. Operating a reciprocating engine plant is not difficult in theory. It is difficult in practice, because these machines are unforgiving to sloppy...