Vattenfall’s Largest Hybrid Energy Park is Taking Shape in the Netherlands

In the south-west of the Netherlands, Vattenfall is currently constructing its largest hybrid energy park. Once operational this farm will consist of 6 wind turbines, 115,000 solar panels and 12 sea containers with batteries.

The wind turbines have been installed, the construction of the solar panels started in June and the batteries are currently being tested off-site, ready for delivery in August. The amount of green electricity that the energy park will produce corresponds to the annual consumption of 39,000 households.

Wind, solar and battery storage

“Here at Haringvliet we combine three technologies: wind, solar, and battery storage”, says Ross Williams, Project Manager at Energy Park Haringvliet Zuid. “Wind and solar complement each other very well in terms electricity production. Wind has its higher producing months during the darker, winter months when solar is less productive, and solar has its optimal months when wind is less productive during summer. This means by sharing a single grid connection, we can optimise the use of the full grid connection capacity more often throughout the year, increasing the overall production of the hybrid park for roughly the same investment in the grid connection. The battery facility then provides the additional service of maintaining a balance on the system when it comes to operating frequency and storage of excess electricity”.

The Haringvliet project is special as it is the first of its kind within Vattenfall. It is centred around maximising the use of renewable energy, reducing costs, and having as little impact on the environment as possible by optimising synergies between the technologies.