The Triple Hybrid Power Station demonstration facility combines solar generation, storage batteries, and an engine generating plant
Image: The Triple Hybrid Power Station demonstration facility in the US. Photo: courtesy of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine & Turbocharger, Ltd.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine & Turbocharger (MHIET), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), has developed a hybrid power supply system that integrates solar generation, storage batteries, and an engine generating plant.
The firm has commissioned the Triple Hybrid Power Station demonstration facility at it MHIET’s plant in the Japan, the location of its head office.
Named EBLOX, the Triple Hybrid Power Station comprises a 300kW-class solar power generating facility, a 500kW/0.5hr storage battery, a 500kW gas engine generator, auxiliary equipment, and the control system, which is named COORDY.
MHIET said that the system is capable of stabilizing the volatile output of renewable energy and allow for a high efficiency, low-cost power supply provided by distributed generation system.
Additionally, the station is integrated with variable load resistor to allow its separation from the power system line and provide and facilitate for various off-grid operations testing.
MHIET said in a statement: “Power derived from natural energy is highly susceptible to fluctuations in weather or other factors (variable renewable energy), so the higher the proportion of such energy, the greater the volatility in the power supply.”
The hybrid power system is capable of stabilising volatile renewable energy
Developed by efficiently using MHIET’s core technology, the triple hybrid power supply system is capable of stabilising volatile renewable energy and has potential to enhance the added value of renewable energy while contributing to the realization of a low-carbon society.
The system’s storage battery is designed to absorb the fluctuating power from variable renewable energy to level the supply, with backup from diesel or gas engines to generate power.
Additionally, the storage battery inverter offers stabilizing capability to help cope with load imbalances or sudden changes which can during parallel operation of the power source mix.
The firm, in a statement, added: “Further in case of parallel operation with the grid, utilizing the storage battery’s quick discharge and charge function allows the double hybrid system of engine and battery to provide shorter power feed times and the frequency containment reserve capabilities that will be needed for the balancing market in Japan going forward.”