The world’s largest PV-diesel hybrid power plant with battery storage system is currently being built in the Bolivian province of Pando. SMA is not only supplying photovoltaic inverters for this project, but is also providing an SMA Fuel Save Controller for demand-driven control of solar power feed-in, as well as four newly developed inverters for large-scale battery storage systems that use lithium-ion technology.
With an estimated output of 5 MW, this PV-diesel hybrid system is designed to generate enough clean solar power to cover about half of the energy demand in the provincial capital of Cobija and neighboring towns in northern Bolivia. The residents and companies of this area consume about 37 GWh of energy per year. Since the region is not connected to the public utility grid, power for the local grid has been produced exclusively with diesel generators.
A photovoltaic diesel hybrid system ordinarily consists of a PV system, diesel gensets and intelligent management.
SMA is supplying six Sunny Central 800CP-XT inverters, four Sunny Central Storage 630 battery inverters and an SMA Fuel Save Controller as the central component of the hybrid system. The general contractor (EPC) for the project is Isotron S.A.U. (ISASTUR Group). The Bolivian electric utility company ENDE (Empresa Nacional de Electricidad) owns the power plant, while Eléctrica Guarachi S.A. is tasked with project management.
“Thanks to our intelligent control engineering, we are able to integrate even large shares of solar power into diesel-powered grids,” says Volker Wachenfeld, senior vice president, off-grid and storage at SMA. “This reduces operating costs and CO2 emissions as well as dependence on diesel fuel. The SMA Fuel Save Solution acts as a demand-driven controller of solar power feed-in to the interface between the diesel generator, PV array and power load. It records the energy flows in the stand-alone grid and uses that information to determine the maximum permissible PV power. In this way, we can guarantee permanent system stability and ensure smooth control of the gensets.”
Previously only about 80% of the Bolivian population had access to electricity, which is why the government has embraced new methods of power generation and supply for its citizens. According to the statement made by the government spokesman Hugo Sosa last year, the main goal is to increase that share to 95% by 2015, and renewable energy will play an important role in achieving that goal. Due to a high degree of solar irradiation, Bolivia has significant potential for solar energy use.
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