GE Leading Hybrid Wind and Solar Project in Turkey
Renewable energy in Turkey will get a boost from a hybrid wind and solar power installation led by GE Renewable Energy.
The project will integrate a 30-MW solar array with a 32-MW wind farm that was commissioned in 2020 by Sertavul, a Turkish energy company. Sertavul chose GE and Inogen, GE's regional partner, to build the hybrid system.
The wind farm and solar array, located near Mersin on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, will share the same grid infrastructure.
The International Energy Agency last year said Turkey's renewable energy capacity grew by 50% over the past five years. The agency said Turkey recently has had the fifth-highest level of new renewable capacity additions in Europe. The country is expanding and diversifying its energy portfolio, and expects to bring the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, featuring four VVER-1200 reactors, online next year.
Turkey's Energy TransitionPrakash Chandra, CEO of GE's Renewable Hybrids unit, said the wind-plus-solar project is another stepping stone for the growth of hybrid power plants in Turkey. The project will help accelerate Turkey's energy transition by optimizing scarce infrastructure and improving capacity factor of an existing plant, enabling intelligent dispatch of power and supporting our customer Sertavul to deliver more renewable energy."
The companies in a June 23 news release said that adding solar power to the existing wind farm will enable an overall higher capacity factor and availability for the plant while delivering dispatchable renewable energy into the grid, since the sun shines during the day and the wind often blows strongly at night."
We are proud to have implemented the first hybrid project in Turkey with the cooperation of Sertavul, GE and Inogen," said Kemal TA, chairman of the board for Sertavul. In recent years, investments in renewable energy sources for clean energy have increased worldwide. With this project, we aim to contribute to our country by using renewable energy sources to increase energy efficiency and reduce air pollution. We plan to increase our energy production with the support we receive from our partners."
Inogen will perform construction site work and deliver the systems that will track the sun for the solar array.
Potential for Hybrid PowerWe are very pleased to be a solution partner in one of the most important projects of our country and the world under the leadership of GE," said Ali Murat SOYDAN, Inogen's CEO. We believe that there is a great hybrid potential in our country. Here, our most important feature is our ability to implement projects very quickly with local production."
GE will deliver seven FLEXINVERTER solar power conversion units for the project, which marks the first installation of GE's 4.7-MW solar solution worldwide. GE has previously delivered 1.3 GW of its FLEXINVERTER technology in Turkey, in phases one and two of the Karapinar solar plant, and the Karapinar phase II-B solar plant.
According to GE, the FLEXINVERTER is an integrated containerized solution that combines a solar inverter, medium voltage power transformer, and an optional MV Ring Main Unit, all integrated in a standard 20-feet ISO high cube container. The technology is a smart solution that helps deliver a reliable, cost-effective, plug and play, factory-integrated power conversion platform for utility scale solar and storage applications. It helps reduce capital and operation costs and ensure a more reliable plant performance."
The FLEXINVERTER is a one component of GE's Renewable Hybrids FLEX portfolio, which also includes the FLEXRESERVOIR and the FLEXIQ technologies. Ge said the FLEXRESERVOIR is a systems integrated battery energy storage and power electronics solution for multiple configurations and market applications. FLEXIQ is a digital platform that provides design, operation, and fleet management solutions to enable grid compliance and maximize lifetime customer value."
-Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).
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