CX-102099: Increasing Renewable Generation and System Reliability through Coupling PV and Hydropower

Award Number: DE-EE0009342
CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.6
Solar Energy Technologies Office
Location(s): MD
Office(s): Golden Field Office

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to provide funding to Eagle Creek RE (ECRE) to develop and install an integrated control solution for photovoltaic-hydropower hybrid systems (PHHS) in order to allow such plants to operate as one power source. The functions of the hybrid plant controller would include automatic generation control (AGC), variability management, islanded operation, and restoration. The developed solution would be validated via a Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop (CHIL) simulation. MW scale field demonstration at a grid-connected facility will be used to validate and quantify the performance of the plant controller. The project would be completed over three Budget Periods (BPs) with a Go/No-Go Decision Point between each BP. This NEPA determination applies to all three BPs.