Hybrid power plants, which combine various renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind and hydropower with battery storage systems, are becoming increasingly important. They make efficient use of grid connection points and energy infrastructure, and provide consumption-based feed-in. The generation profiles of the different energy sources complement each other – there is plenty of solar power in the summer and strong winds in the winter.
When combined with battery storage systems, excess electricity can be stored and fed into the grid on demand, which helps avoid grid congestion and reduces the risk of negative electricity prices due to oversupply of renewable energy. Storing electricity also ensures grid stability, especially when generation is high.
Another advantage of hybrid power plants is that they reduce CapEx and OpEx. By sharing grid connection points and thus speeding up the approval process, costs are lower than for separate systems. According to a study by the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE), the grid connection point utilization could be increased by up to 53 percent. By comparison, photovoltaic systems alone only achieve 13 percent and wind power sites 33 percent grid connection point utilization.
But hybrid power plants are not without their problems. They require more space and a more complex infrastructure and they are more difficult to finance because investors and insurance companies often remain skeptical. There also needs to be greater standardization of these systems.
In Germany, hybrid power plants are supported by the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and innovation tenders. Since 2023, the highest rate of remuneration for such systems is 9.18 euro cents per kilowatt hour. Solar Package I introduced regulations that allow installations with battery storage systems to change their operating mode several times a year, and to store grid-supplied electricity, provided it is profitable to do so.
Hybrid power plants offer a promising solution for increasing grid stability, reducing costs and promoting the integration of renewable energies into the grid. They are increasingly seen as a key technology for a successful energy transition – not least because their widespread use makes financial sense, as the combination of renewable power plants and battery storage systems can already provide cheaper immediate reserve capacity than gas-fired power plants.
