Hydro-Solar Hybrid Power: The Alqueva Case for 24/7 Renewable Energy Supply

Recording of Wednesday, June 19, 2024 | The smarter E Europe Conferences 2024 | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 9:44 .

EDP Produção Explores Hybrid Hydro-Solar Energy Solutions at Alqueva Dam to Maximize Renewable Integration and Efficiency

Pedro Oliveira, Head of Innovation at EDP Produção, discusses the innovative energy project at Alqueva in southeast Portugal. The Alqueva dam forms Europe's largest artificial lake and includes a hydropower plant with a reversible turbine, functioning as a large-scale battery with 10 gigawatt-hours of storage capacity. Due to water scarcity and constraints on net electricity production, integrating renewable sources like solar power is vital. EDP focuses on hybridization to expedite renewable deployment by combining hydro and solar technologies, which conserves capital expenditures (capex) and operational expenditures (opex), eases permitting processes, and enhances project business cases. They tested this concept through a floating solar project with five megawatts of DC power capacity paired with lithium batteries. Challenges included adapting non-variable speed turbines for efficient grid charging during pumping mode. Participation in the European XFlex Hydro project enabled testing low-capacity solutions such as extending operation ranges from 0-100% in turbine mode without significant issues using hydraulic short circuits or advanced control systems that improved efficiency by 2.9%. Next steps involve scaling up to a 250-megawatt onshore PV hybrid system near the dam while developing new dispatch strategies based on virtual power plants for better market integration.

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Speaker

Pedro Oliveira
Head of Innovation
EDP Produção
Portugal

Talk of session: Hybrid PV Power Plants II: Business Models for 24/7 Renewable Power Plant Supply

24/7 renewable power supply is a fairly new concept that ensures that the amount of green electricity companies require is met every hour of the day. 24/7 renewable power supply leads to increased transparency and trust in energy procurement, and it promotes the installation of new renewable power plants. Some world-leading IT companies have already opted for 24/7 green energy matching.This session will discuss: The concept of 24/7 renewable energy supply and energy matching 24/7 green power demand trends Real-time renewable 24/7 power production and consumption case studies The potential of 24/7 RES matching (executive panel discussion)

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