Evaluation of the operating efficiency of a hybrid wind-hydro powerplant

Resumen

This paper analyzes the operating efficiency of a hybrid wind-hydro power plant located in El Hierro Island. This plant combines a wind farm (11.48 MW) and a pumped storage power plant (11.32 MW). It was built with the aim of supplying the island demand from renewable energy instead of using existing diesel units. The paper discusses several operational strategies and proposes an efficiency metric. Using 10 min data, the operation of this power plant has been simulated. From these simulations (more than 50,000 for a year), the operating efficiency and the percentage of demand covered from renewable energy is obtained. The difference between the worst and the best strategy is a twofold increase in efficiency. Moreover, the results of the simulations are compared with the system operational history since June 2015 (when the wind-hydro power plant started operation) until 2018. These comparisons show a reasonable agreement between simulations and operational history.