Effective ways to accelerate the deployment of hybrid renewable energy (RE) plants were the focus of an expert panel at the recent Africa Energy Indaba conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The session ‘Hybrid Renewable Solutions’ saw contributions from Santesh Pillay (AON), Ad Dankers (GET.invest) and Des Muller (NuEnergy Developments) and GET.transform and examined the potential role of hybrid energy systems in strengthening national grids and regional power pools.
Hybrid RE power plants do incorporate at least two different renewable energy resources. By integrating hydropower, solar, wind, or storage systems, hybrid plants provide an innovative way to enhance and optimise energy production. Combining different resources can render the energy supply more stable and reliable and offers efficiency gains by two technologies sharing the same grid infrastructure and spot of land.
In his panel input, Gildas Siggini, Advisor Long-Term Energy Planning and RE Grid Integration at GET.transform, pointed out that not all RE technologies combinations are beneficial and in general complementary production profiles are required to unlock the full potential of higher utilisation./generation output.
With a view to fast-track the deployment of hybrid RE plants, the panel agreed on three key aspects. Power system planning should not only apply the national lens but analyse regional zones more granularly to identify conditions that lend themselves to a combination of resources. A greater number of pilot projects is required to deepen the knowledge and derive best practices. And regulatory frameworks will have to be adapted to define new metering/feed-in solutions that help establish sound business models for these plants.
As the African energy landscape evolves, hybrid renewable energy plants offer a viable way to help advance the path to a cleaner, more resilient, and efficient power system.
