Hybrid power plants: picking up the decarbonisation baton

The pressing need to adopt clean energy is mainly due to the focus on decarbonisation. However, intermittent renewable energy generation further challenges the grid infrastructure. Hybrid power plants (HPPs) would, therefore, be a major breakthrough to achieve renewable energy targets and solve the grid infrastructure issue. Hence, we believe policymakers should brand HPPs under a new segment (as they require significant capital expenditure) and draw up regulatory frameworks to attract companies to invest in this segment. In this article, we discuss the additional functionalities of HPPs (in comparison to a single source of renewable energy), recent developments and regulatory frameworks in different geographies.

Key Takeaways

• We expect theglobal hybrid power solutions market to cross USD1bn by 2025, growing at a
  CAGR of more than 9% over 2017-25.
• The number of renewable HPPs is increasing in countries such as the US, Chile, the Netherlands,
  Spain, Greece, India, China and Australia, and is likely to do so also in countries such as the UK,
  Germany, France, Italy, Brazil and Kenya.
• HPPs have more functionalities than a single-source renewable power plant, and market growth is
  driven by the additional functionality and services offered by the power projects, and the decreasing
  levelised costs of electricity and storage.
• Global renewable energy companies are eyeing renewable source-rich regions such as Australia, Latin
  America and Africa.
• They are also planning to integrate green hydrogen production plants with their HPP facilities to boost
  the green hydrogen market.
• Policymakers should implement HPP-specific regulatory frameworks to drive the market.

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