EDP starts testing 36 MW/72 MWh battery at hybrid wind-solar-storage site

EDP has started testing the 36 MW/72 MWh battery energy storage system at its Las Lomillas renewable energy complex in Cuenca, Spain.

The project combines a 49.5 MW wind farm, a 36 MW solar plant and the battery system, for a total installed capacity of 122 MW. All three technologies share a grid connection with approximately 50 MW of export capacity.

With battery testing underway, the project has entered the final phase before commercial operation, completing a hybridization process that began with the commissioning of the site’s wind farm in 2005. EDP said it is the first project on the Iberian Peninsula to combine wind, solar and battery storage at a single grid connection point.

The company said an energy management system coordinates the operation of the three technologies using optimization algorithms and real-time instructions from its energy management teams and control center.

Depending on market and grid conditions, the system can export wind and solar generation directly to the grid, store renewable electricity in the batteries for later dispatch, or charge the batteries from the grid before discharging when market conditions are more favorable.

EDP said integrating battery storage increases the utilization of the existing grid connection while improving operational flexibility and supporting greater renewable energy integration.

The battery system forms part of a Spanish government program supporting innovative storage projects hybridized with renewable generation through the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE). The project has been awarded up to €6.2 million in funding through the EU’s NextGenerationEU recovery program.

EDP now operates more than 260 MW of hybrid renewable capacity in Spain across projects in Ávila, Segovia, Cuenca and Zaragoza. In Portugal, the company operates almost 700 MW of hybrid capacity combining technologies including hydropower, floating solar, wind and battery storage.

From pv magazine España