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Iberdrola develops Spain’s first hybrid hydroelectric project
28/2/2024
News
Iberdrola is looking to optimise operations at the Santiago Sil-Xares pumped storage power plant in Galicia, Spain, by installing a static starter and 5 MWh battery in a project that it claims is the first of its kind in the country.
The project aims to allow a ‘faster and more flexible’ coupling to the grid of the current hydroelectric pumping between the rivers Sil and Xares, with a difference in level of 230 metres, 50 MW of power and a hydroelectric storage capacity of almost 3 GWh.
The Sil-Xares hydroelectric power plant, with an average production of 100 GWh/y, is located in Vilamartín de Valdeorras and came into operation in 1969.
Iberdrola operates more than 3,000 MW of pumped storage power in Spain, more than 50% of the country’s total.
The company is also developing the Tâmega hydroelectric complex in northern Portugal, involving the construction of three dams and three power plants (Gouvães, Daivões and Alto Tâmega) with a combined capacity of 1,158 MW. Gouvães and Daivões started operation in early 2022 and Alto Tâmega will be operational in spring 2024. Two wind farms with a combined capacity of 300 MW are also to be connected, transforming the Tamega complex into a hybrid power plant and reportedly one of the largest energy storage facilities in Europe, with an energy reserve of 40 GWh.
