MUNICH & PFORZHEIM, GERMANY -- The era of hybrid power plants has arrived. By combining solar, wind, and hydropower with smart storage, these plants integrate renewable electricity efficiently into the grid. As the global solar industry gathers at Intersolar Europe, discussions will focus on the latest advancements, regulations, and future prospects of hybrid power plants.

Huge hybrid power plants are being built across Europe: Upon completion, a project in Portugal will comprise a 365 megawatt (MW) PV system, a wind farm with 264 MW, a 168 MW battery storage system and a 500 kilowatt (kW) electrolyzer for producing green hydrogen. A project in Spain combines photovoltaics and hydropower in a hybrid power plant. In Bulgaria, a hybrid power plant is under construction consisting of 238 MW PV, 250 MW wind power and a 250 MW battery storage system.

Exponential growth of photovoltaics

Solar power continues to grow rapidly. In 2015, global PV capacity was 200 GW; by 2024, it reached 2,000 GW—a tenfold increase. The International Energy Agency estimates that by 2030, PV capacity will hit 6,000 GW. With this expansion, integrating renewables efficiently is critical, making hybrid systems combining solar and storage increasingly standard.

Imploding costs, dropping electricity prices

A key driver of the comprehensive boom of hybrid projects are the virtually imploding prices for components. Photovoltaic components are now 85 percent cheaper, battery storage systems are even 90 percent cheaper than 15 years ago. According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) published in July 2024, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for German solar farms is between 4.1 and 6.9 eurocents/kWh. When free-standing PV installations are combined with battery storage systems it is between 6.0 and 10.8 cents/kWh. The production costs of fossil fuel power plants are considerably higher now: Electricity from brown coal-fired power plants costs 15.1 to 25.7 cents, hard coal-fired power plants 17.3 to 29.3 cents. Electricity from nuclear power plants costs 13.6 to 49.0 cents/kWh. This shows that with hybrid power plants, in addition to protecting the environment, we will also save a lot of money. They will be a guarantor for low electricity prices for industry, SMEs and private households in the long run.

Hybrid power plants serve the grids

Battery storage plays a key role in hybrid power plants by enhancing energy management. Batteries enable energy arbitrage—storing electricity when prices are low and feeding it back when demand is high. They also provide grid stability services, making power networks more resilient and flexible. Advanced control systems will allow these plants to optimize profitability while supporting the grid.

Making the most of connection points

Grid connection points are often a limiting factor when it comes to deploying photovoltaics and wind power. Connecting both solar and wind power generation and overbuilding by 250 percent, the capacity utilization of a grid connection point could be increased to 53 percent. In contrast, PV-only power plants have a utilization rate of 13 percent on average, wind-only power plants 33 percent. The German Renewable Energy Federation refers to this approach as “low-hanging fruit”.

Intersolar Europe - meeting point of the international solar industry

Intersolar Europe, happening earlier this year from May 7-9, will showcase the latest trends in PV hybrid power plants. Both sessions will be in English. On Wednesday, May 7, the accompanying Intersolar Europe Conference will be holding a session on Hybrid PV Power Plants II: Strategies for Matching Energy Generation & Power Demand from 2:00pm to 3:30pm, and on Thursday, May 8, a session at the Intersolar Forum (hall A3, booth A3.150) will discuss hybrid power plants from 3:00pm to 4:30pm. As part of The smarter E Europe alliance, the event expects over 3,000 exhibitors and 110,000 professionals across 19 exhibition halls and an outdoor area at Messe München.