Portuguese developer EDPR and OEM Vestas are switching on a hybrid wind-and-PV demonstration project in Cádiz, Spain, as part of an ongoing strategic shift at the two companies toward developing renewables installations that can balance energy supply with grid demand.

The demonstrator wires together a V112-3.0MW turbine at the Janda III wind farm with 372kW of new-build PV - with the PV fed in to the turbine as direct current, which is then converted and transformed by an add-on power conversion system and then exported onto the the grid.

For the project, Vestas upgraded the turbine's controllers, converters and design as well as beefing up the machine’s hardware. By hybridising the wind and solar through the bespoke V112’s power electronics and using a full-scale conversion package, the number of converters is reduced, so lowering the technology’s levelised cost of energy.

“This project demonstrates the mutual benefits of collaboration between Vestas and EDPR and how wind and solar through their complementarity bring cost of energy further down and can deliver stable energy production,” said Bo Svoldgaard, Vestas' senior vice president for innovation and concepts.

“The learnings will accelerate the execution on our strategy of integrating and combining renewable power as the market looks to absorb more renewable energy in the future."

Bautista Rodriguez, technical director at EDPR, added: "The development and running of this demonstrator is an interesting opportunity to test some of our hypotheses on the hybrid power plants of the future. “Furthermore, it gives us an opportunity to explore wind and solar technology synergies in close collaboration with Vestas.

“This project fits in perfectly with our R&D strategy. Research under the framework of sustainable energy has always been part of the company's DNA.”

Vestas has been repositioning itself as a wind-led renewable energy solutions company, with chief executive Anders Runevad saying last June that the turbine-maker would increasingly venture into hybrid solutions that link electricity storage and/or solar to wind power, with a view to becoming the “global leader in sustainable energy”.

The OEM has among other initiatives in recent months joined up with Swedish technology start-up Northvolt to develop a lithium-ion battery platform and solar, and announced plans with developer Windlab to build what would be the world’s first utility-scale, on-grid wind, solar and battery energy storage project, the 60.2 MW Kennedy phase 1 development in Australia.

Wind

EDPR and Vestas in Spanish hybrid wind-solar pilot