Hybrid power plants serve the grids
The hybrid power plant trend will be spurred on by the global battery storage boom. Battery storage systems can help optimize marketing green electricity through various business models, such as feed-in tariffs or direct marketing. Batteries also enable energy arbitrage, i.e. storing electricity when prices are low, and feeding it back into the grid when demand – and thus prices – are high, as well as operating reserve and grid stability services. In future, grid stability services provided by hybrid power plants will contribute considerably to making the grids more stable and more flexible. Smart control concepts and processes will allow them to switch between operational modes for an ideal balance between profitability and grid-serving capability.
Making the most of connection points
Grid connection points are often a limiting factor when it comes to deploying photovoltaics and wind power. Contrary to current practice, they could be used to connect a higher generation capacity than they are actually able to transmit. This kind of overbuilding of renewable capacity would make sense for hybrid power plants because the generation profiles of PV and wind power plants are very different and actually complement each other. Connecting both solar and wind power generation and overbuilding by 250 percent, the capacity utilization of a grid connection point could be increased to 53 percent. In contrast, PV-only power plants have a utilization rate of 13 percent on average, wind-only power plants 33 percent. The German Renewable Energy Federation refers to this approach as “low-hanging fruit”.
Intersolar Europe – meeting point of the international solar industry
Intersolar Europe, taking place a little earlier than usual this year, from May 7–9, offers a comprehensive overview of the latest products, technologies and solutions, as well as the major trends in PV hybrid power plants. On Wednesday, May 7, the accompanying Intersolar Europe Conference will be holding a session on Hybrid PV Power Plants II: Strategies for Matching Energy Generation & Power Demand from 2:00pm to 3:30pm, and on Thursday, May 8, a session at the Intersolar Forum (hall A3, booth A3.150) will discuss hybrid power plants from 3:00pm to 4:30pm. Both of these sessions will be held in English. Intersolar Europe is part of the alliance of exhibitions The smarter E Europe. The organizers are expecting more than 3,000 exhibitors and over 110,000 industry professionals – from manufacturers, suppliers and distributors to installers, service providers, project developers, planners and start-ups – to attend the four exhibitions across 206,000 square meters over 19 exhibition halls and the Outdoor Area of the fully booked Messe München.
Intersolar Europe, and the parallel events ees Europe, Power2Drive Europe and EM-Power Europe, will take place from May 7–9, 2025 as part of The smarter E Europe, Europe’s largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry, at Messe München.
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