Brazil’s government-run energy agency Empresa de Pesquisa Energética has conducted a study to assess the country’s potential for hybrid solar-wind power installations. EPE’s study intended to assess the potential of these kind of renewable energy projects after several developers expressed the desire to see a hybrid wind-solar category included in the national power auctions.

The study includes, among other things, an analysis of the advantages of these projects in North Eastern of Brazil, where the transmission grid has a limited capacity compared to the volume of the proposed wind and solar projects.

This region is the first in Brazil to see the construction of hybrid wind-solar power stations. Italian developer Enel Green Power, a unit of the Enel Group, build an 80 MW wind power plant incorporating 11 MW of solar in the state of Pernambuco.

The technical report analyses the capacity of several locations with different transmission grid capacity, and the level of curtailment that these new plants could cause.

The study concludes that the particular characteristics of every geographical area must be taken into account, and that the benefits of every wind-solar project must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. The report also highlights that these projects are particularly beneficial for the optimal use of the required land. The study, however, does not contain information about legislative aspects.