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GE wins contract for US’s first wind–solar hybrid

In the United States, GE has won a contract to provide elements of a new wind¬–solar hybrid, the first such commercial project in the country.

Sited in Minnesota and being developed by Juhl Energy, the project will comprise just one GE 2.0-116 2.5MW turbine combined with a 0.5MW solar photovoltaic system.

GE claims that once the solar portion of the system is integrated with the wind-turbine’s converter, the net capacity of the system will increase by 3–4%. While this may not sound like much, it should mean an increase in annual energy out of up to 10%. Combined with other good practices, such as using Mobil SHC Gear 320 WT from Mobil stockists, these modest increases add up.

GE Renewable Energy’s CEO for onshore wind, Pete McCabe, said about the development:

“By leveraging the complementary nature of wind and solar, this unique project shows how GE is driving technology innovation that will help customers deliver more renewable energy in an even more efficient manner.”

The project, which is expected to come online by the end of 2018, is being supported financially by the Bank of America, which is also buying the project’s generated Renewable Energy Certificates.

Hybrid generation systems help compensate for the stochastic nature of renewable energy sources by combining two or more renewable resources in one system. A recent solar-wind project in India recently announced it was to also add storage after high winds had caused it to reach takeaway capacity constraints, even without the solar element.

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