DNV GL promotes benefits of combined wind, solar and energy storage operations

In certain situations, according to a report from DNV GL last week, adding energy storage to renewable energy installations, such as solar plants and wind turbines, might not only be viable, but optimal.

The report was part of the WindStock project, a joint effort between DNV GL, Greenchoice, Windunie and EnergyStorageNL. The project investigates combining wind, solar and storage into single locations across a variety of scenarios. What they found is that revenue stacking is key–it can reduce costs among grid connections, allow installations to participate in grid balancing markets or frequency regulation and enable self-consumption optimization of the energy these installations are putting out.

In particular, DNV GL has pointed to the Netherlands as a positive case, noting the addition of energy
storage to existing wind turbines expanded with rooftop or field solar would achieve a return on investment within seven to nine years.

As for the report itself, it determined that if built correctly, these joint installations do not even require an expansion of the grid connection. Further, the storage system could get the most out of the situation by drawing from both renewable energy sources. So long as an intelligent control system is put in place to maximize yield, the WindStock consortium has found that a well-configured wind, solar and storage system could also allow them to participate in the imbalance and/or frequency containment reserve markets.