Hero future sets up first hybrid green power plant

BENGALURU: Hero Future Energies has commissioned the country’s first large-scale hybrid renewable energy project a combination of sun and wind power in Karnataka’s Raichur district.

The company has added a 28.8 MW solar project to an existing 50 MW wind project set up two years ago.

A hybrid project has several advantages over a standalone solar or wind project, including saving on land, company insiders.

“Many of the solar panels have been installed in the spaces between the turbines,” Rahul Munjal, chairman at Hero Future Energies, said while inaugurating the project.

Solar projects need about five to seven acres of land per megawatt depending on the technology used, and though Hero did acquire some additional land for the solar project, it was far less than it would have had to for a standalone project of similar size, officials said.

Also, both wind and solar are ‘infirm’ sources of power in that their supply varies according to the speed of the wind or the intensity of solar radiation. By combining the two the project can supply steady power for a longer period in a day than standalone wind or solar plants, and improve its overall plant load factor (PLF).