Customers testimonies CorsicaSole

CorsicaSole and S4E Software – Real-time monitoring and storage management

Could you tell us about CorsicaSole?

CorsicaSole is an independent solar energy producer and one of Europe’s leading energy storage companies. Founded in 2009, the company develops, finances, builds, operates and maintains solar power plants and energy storage solutions in France and across Europe.

As a specialist in off-grid areas such as Corsica and Réunion, CorsicaSole operates over 150 MWp of solar power plants and more than 360 MWh of energy storage capacity. It is developing a portfolio of projects across Europe representing over 1 GW of solar power and 5 GWh of storage, of which nearly 3 GWh will be deployed by 2028. The company is also working on innovative projects involving green hydrogen to utilise surplus solar production.

What challenges do you face when monitoring and operating your storage systems?

In island regions, energy storage plays a key role in maintaining the stability of the electricity grid. We must constantly monitor solar power generation, battery behaviour and the grid requirements set by EDF.

This requires a high degree of operational responsiveness, particularly during periods of peak demand or in the event of an incident at a storage facility. Some facilities play a direct role in maintaining grid stability and must therefore be available at all times.

We also handle a very large volume of data, particularly regarding batteries, which requires rapid processing and analysis.

How did the migration of your assets to Energysoft go?

The migration went very smoothly and was completed quickly. Within just a few months, a large proportion of our power stations had already been integrated into Energysoft.

Low-voltage plants equipment with Webdyn are particularly easy to integrate. Once the control panel has been configured, commissioning is virtually instantaneous.

For more complex installations, particularly high-voltage power stations and storage sites, we make extensive use of generic connectors. Importing data via Excel, CSV or JSON has enabled us to automate a significant proportion of the integrations using our own scripts.

The fact that Energysoft automatically detects equipment also saves a significant amount of time when adding new sites.

Do you use our generic connector system? How has this made it easier to integrate your assets?

Yes, we make extensive use of generic connectors, particularly in large power stations and storage facilities.

Although we may not have a large number of them, they account for a significant proportion of our portfolio’s capabilities. They enable us to manage highly specific data from our SCADA systems and to quickly integrate different types of architectures.

The ability to easily create mappings via Excel and set up custom variables gives us a great deal of flexibility and significantly speeds up the integration of new power stations.

S4E Software’s support in this area has also been invaluable, particularly in helping us navigate various data formats and specific challenges.

How does your team use data on a day-to-day basis?

We use Energysoft on an ongoing basis for alarm monitoring, real-time supervision and the day-to-day operation of power stations.

Our operations teams start each day with a thorough inspection of our portfolio to identify any potential issues, plan maintenance work or prioritise certain tasks.

Then, real-time monitoring takes over, with near-nstantaneous alarm handling. When an alarm is triggered, we immediately assess the situation to determine whether a remote reset is possible or whether on-site intervention is required.

This responsiveness is particularly important for storage sites or during high-production periods.

How does centralising data make your operations easier?

Centralising our data gives us an immediate overview of the status of our portfolio.

From the home page, we can very quickly identify plants that are offline, critical alarms or abnormal behaviour.

This is particularly important in Corsica, where certain power stations may be taken offline by EDF in order to stabilise the electricity grid. We need to be able to distinguish between a routine shutdown and an incident requiring intervention.

The centralised data is also used by the performance teams to analyse plant behaviour, monitor the performance of our internal EMS and produce operational reports.

How would you describe the support S4E Software provides for your projects?

The support went very well and we have built a true collaborative relationship with the S4E Software teams.

We have projects and challenges that are sometimes very specific, particularly in the areas of storage and generic connectors. The teams have always been attentive and responsive, supporting us or adapting certain developments where necessary.

The support team is also highly valued for its prompt responses and its ability to quickly analyse technical issues.

A sentence to sum up your experience?

A partnership built hand in hand, driven by a solution capable of adapting to complex challenges in minitoring, storage and real-time energy management.