Shell and Inaccess have partnered on a hybrid renewables project in the Netherlands, consisting of a 50MW photovoltaic power plant and a 50MW wind farm.
The project is designed to support Dutch grid operators in dealing with decreased grid capacity arising from increased renewable energy penetration. By maximising a single grid connection and decreasing the impact of intermittency of production, this project will ensure greater flexibility and reliability for the Dutch grid.
Shell will be building the plant at an unspecified location, however, the firm has announced in a statement that it will increase its focus on developing hybrid solutions: “Co-locating wind farms with solar assets provides more grid-friendly power that is necessary in today’s congested grids. This pairing has the potential to disrupt and transform many renewable energy markets globally that are facing similar challenges”.
In order to optimise operation of the renewable assets, UK-headquartered monitoring and control firm Inaccess will provide its Unity system. The system will offer Shell greater control with low-level distributed control architecture and grid interaction, as well as data acquisition to identify underperformance and eliminate inefficiencies.
According to Inaccess, the Unity system ensures “no-excuses accurate monitoring, control and optimisation and acts as the single version of truth among the EPC, O&M, Asset Management, and Market Management ecosystem, thus eliminating inefficiencies.”
According to Shell, co-locating solar and wind power is a key option for circumventing grid congestion. Furthermore, these generation types complement each other providing power throughout both winter and summer, during the day and potentially at night.
