Vattenfall to build large scale wind-solar-storage plant in the Netherlands

In the Goeree-Overflakkee region of the Netherlands province of South Holland, Vattenfall will realize its first full-renewable hybrid power plant, combining solar and wind power generation with a large storage facility.

The energy company will invest around €35 million in a 38 MW solar power plant – its largest PV project to date – and another €26 million in a 22 MW wind farm. The two facilities will be combined with a 12 MW storage system, Vattenfall said in a press release.

Ground work for the Haringvliet Zuid Energy Park wind facility has already begun. Once the wind turbines are up, Vattenfall will begin building the PV ground-mounted system and 12 shipping containers will host the storage aspect of the scheme in the final phase of development. The energy company expects the facility to be operating in the second half of next year.

“Complementary wind and solar generation profiles reduce the load on the grid compared to a single generation technology,” said Claus Wattendrup, head of the solar and batteries unit at Vattenfall. “Hybrid systems provide less pronounced peaks and we see fewer periods of time with no power generation. This leads to a more efficient use of the network infrastructure.”

Additional revenue streams

The three elements of the project can share a grid connection, reducing costs according to Wattendrup who added the hybrid nature of the facility opens up different business models. “In addition to energy generation we can also provide network services such as energy control,” he said. “In addition, the battery can help offset forecasting inaccuracies [associated with] generating weather-dependent renewable electricity.”

Vattenfall intends to use the project as a test bed for its German plans. “We believe that economies of scale in this context have a very positive impact on the economics of such assets,” added Wattendrup.

From next year, large solar, wind and hybrid power plants could be realized without subsidy in Germany. Vattenfall plans to deploy similar facilities on coal mining sites, the reuse of which offers great potential for PV and wind power as emphasized in a recent study published by the Federal Ministry of Economics.