GE to supply equipment for first commercial U.S. wind-solar hybrid project

GE Renewable Energy announced this week it will supply equipment to the first commercial integrated wind-solar power-generating project in the United States, which is being developed by Juhl Energy in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota.

The project will utilize GE Renewable Energy’s Onshore Wind business’ 2.3-116 wind turbines and one megawatt (MW) of solar power conversion equipment from GE’s Current business.

The project will integrate the solar panels directly through the wind turbine’s converter using GE’s Wind Integrated Solar Energy technology platform. This will allow the wind and solar components to share energy delivery equipment and enable wind to provide peak energy in winter and solar to provide peak summer energy, which will increase system net capacity by 3 to 4 percent and annual energy production by up to 10 percent.

“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,” Pete McCabe, president & CEO of Onshore Wind, GE Renewable Energy, said.

According to a report by Global Market Insights Inc., the global hybrid solar-wind project market could increase to $1.47 billion by 2024. In 2015, the U.S. hybrid solar-wind market was valued at $195 million and is projected to reach more than $300 million by 2024.

“Most energy experts agree that distributed generation will play a major role in the implementation of renewable energy in the U.S. electrical market in the years to come,” Juhl Energy CEO Dan Juhl said. “Juhl Energy’s package design, with the GE hybrid technology, can economically blend clean, renewable energy into the grid at lower cost, plus add reliability to the system.”

The project is expected to enter commercial operation in August 2017.