Photovoltaics and wind power as an integrated power plant on the same area

Previous studies have shown that wind energy and photovoltaics complement each other excellently from an energy point of view due to their low simultaneity.Nevertheless, both technologies are still built almost exclusively as separate systems and are often even seen in competition with each other. At the same time, on the one hand, there are fewer and fewer areas eligible for EEG remuneration available for photovoltaics in Germany, while on the other hand, more and more PV systems are being built that are operated without EEG remuneration. In addition, the supply grids are reaching their absorption limits due to the strong expansion of renewable energies. Against this background, an efficient and cost-optimized use of the available space and network capacities is becoming increasingly important.

In the course of this master’s thesis, it is shown that a combination of photovoltaics and wind turbines as an integrated power plant can make much more efficient use of the land available for wind farms and ground-mounted PV systems as well as the existing grid infrastructure. The possibility of system curtailment when combining both technologies avoids short-term power peaks while at the same time significantly reducing downtime. In the medium term, additional methanation of solar and wind power will enable the previous unique selling points of biomass – control and storability – to be adopted with significantly higher land efficiency.

In addition to the consideration of the feed-in behaviour, an analysis of the technical aspects of the system combination – in particular the shading problem – is carried out. A detailed simulation and evaluation of the shading scenarios in combined cycle power plants of different sizes shows that the shading losses caused by wind turbines are generally overestimated and are significantly lower than assumed by most experts and planners. In addition, there are synergies at the technical level, including in the area of medium-voltage infrastructure and grid connection.

On the basis of the shading and curtailment losses as well as the determined savings potentials, a basic profitability analysis is finally carried out, which shows that a system combination based on good planning is already attractive from an economic point of view.

download