← Notes · November 2026 · Stephen Dictor
We joined the Databricks Partner Program. What changes, and what doesn't
Renewable Asset Partners is now a Databricks Consulting & System Integrator Partner. Here is why we did it, and why we will still tell you when Databricks is the wrong answer.
Why we joined
More of the owners and asset managers we work with are building on Databricks. The reasons are practical. Plant data is large, time-stamped and arrives late or out of order. SCADA, work orders, market data and contracts all need to be joined before a single availability number can be defended. A lakehouse handles that well, and Unity Catalog gives each table an owner and a lineage, which matters when a lender asks where a figure came from.
Joining the program gives us access to partner training and technical resources. It makes us better at work we were already doing.
What does not change
We do not resell Databricks, and joining the program does not change what we recommend. Our job is to help owners answer three questions they can stand behind: what is down, what did we lose, and what is our availability. The platform is necessary for that. It is not sufficient. The definitions, the status logic and the ownership of each number belong to the owner, whichever platform sits underneath.
How we choose between Databricks and Microsoft Fabric
Both can run a renewable portfolio's data. The choice usually follows the organization more than the technology.
| If this describes you | We tend to recommend |
|---|---|
| Large or fast-growing fleet, high-resolution data, an engineering team that writes code | Databricks |
| Your data is on AWS or Google Cloud, or on more than one cloud | Databricks |
| A Microsoft organization where reporting lives in Power BI and the data team is small | Microsoft Fabric |
| A working warehouse and a reporting problem, not a platform problem | Keep what you have and fix the logic |
The last row is more common than vendors would like. Many portfolios already have access to their data. What they are missing is agreement on what the numbers mean.
What we build on Databricks
- Plant and market dataSCADA and historians · work orders · market and settlement data · weather · contracts
- Lakehouse in your cloudOpen Delta tables · Unity Catalog for access, lineage and ownership
- Owner logicAsset model · status rules · loss accounting · availability definitions
- What people useMorning views · KPI reports · lender and investor packs · analyst tables
A governed model of sites, devices, events and contracts. Loss accounting that separates curtailment from underperformance from downtime. Availability under each definition the business reports against. Daily operational views that are ready before the morning review. More detail is on our Databricks page.
If you are weighing a platform decision for a wind, solar or storage portfolio, we are glad to talk it through.