Hydro-PV microgrid in Patagonia

• In a national park in Chile, a hydropower plant has been incorporated with a planetary system as well as battery storage to change diesel generation.

The Patagonia National Park in Chile is one of the globe's biggest nature conservation projects. UNITED STATE people Douglas and also Kristine Tompkins relocated to Chile in the very early 1990s and also set up a structure to preserve the wild landscape. They purchased the national park in 2004 and also have given that handed it to the Chilean state.

Considering that the location is much from the grid, park centers were powered by diesel till a year back. The generators have actually been partially changed by a combination of hydropower, PV and also battery storage space. German battery supplier Tesvolt said the hybrid project is eventually meant to provide the national forest largely with electricity from renewables. A hostel, dining establishment, camping sites, an information center and also a museum are located on the site.

" Combining hydropower and photovoltaics is practically extremely demanding," claimed Gonzalo Rodriguez, engineer at SyR Energía, the Patagonian installation company which prepared and installed the project.

The hydro-photovoltaic power plant has total result of 115 kW, with the solar system paired with 2 hydraulic generators. In winter and also springtime especially, neighborhood rivers swell due to heavy rainfall and also Andes snowmelt. The microturbines convert the power of the water right into electrical power, claimed Tesvolt. In summer, the water level of the rivers goes down dramatically yet the photovoltaic or pv system products electrical power.

Excess power is kept in the battery storage space systems provided by Tesvolt, which have a 144 kWh ability. "The park is so remote that it was very vital to make use of system components that, thanks to their excellent quality, require little maintenance," said Rodriguez. The system has actually been running without problems for precisely a year.

" We are really excited regarding the building and construction of the most advanced hydro-solar microgrid in Chile, which will remain to offer tidy electricity for the park for a long time to find," said Carolina Morgado, executive supervisor of the Tompkins Conservation structure. "This alternative energy system reduces the park's carbon footprint and also thus contributes to the fight against climate modification."