New combined wind and solar in South Australia

I've talked before about the benefits of combined wind and solar in the grid.  The sun doesn't shine at night but the wind still blows.  Most demand is during the day, which is when solar produces its output.  So, combined, the output of wind and solar peaks during the day, is lower at night when demand is low, and because of this requires less storage or backup via gas peaking power plants.  If the wind and solar are co-located, that reduces costs and is useful for the grid operator, because the electricity flows out of the combined plant are more stable than either wind or solar alone. In South Australia, more than 51% of electricity is now sourced from renewables.

From The Guardian:

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola says it has decided to invest $500m in a wind and solar farm in South Australia as the first of a series of renewable power projects it hopes to develop in Australia.

Iberdrola’s head of renewables, Xabier Viteri, said that in the new year the company would also probably increase its target for renewable energy from the “ambitious” target of 10GW by 2022.

“Our ambition is going to be a little bit higher,” he told Guardian Australia.

Viteri seemed unworried by the hostility expressed towards renewables by some parts of the Morrison government. “All of us can work together and there’s not going to be any problem.”

Viteri said Australia was an ideal place to invest because of its high power consumption and stable market.

“It’s a place where renewables are going to play a much more relevant position in the coming years, clearly,” he said. “It’s a bit far away from where I am now, that’s the only problem.”

The project, the Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park, has been under development by the privately owned DP Energy.

DP Energy’s country manager for Australia, Catherine Way, said the project was now “shovel ready”.

She said DP Energy would assist in building the plant but it would ultimately be owned and operated by Iberdrola.

The plant is to be made up of a 210MW windfarm, designed to peak at the same time as demand at about 6pm to 7pm every day, plus photovoltaic solar to provide electricity during the day.

It will feed directly into the South Australian power grid, but Way said direct sales to industrial customers were also possible.

She said demand from business customers was based on both a desire to decarbonise their operations and economics.
“Renewable energy electrons are typically cheaper than electrons where you have to pay for the fuel,” she said.

Iberdrola’s country manager for Australia, Fernando Santamaria, said construction would start next year and the plant should be complete by the second half of 2021.

“The combination of those technologies, it’s a trend we are seeing globally,” he said. “The wind profile matches very well the South Australian demand, and the solar provides the perfect complement."