Russian energy firm RusHydro is to develop a pilot solar project on the Nizhne-Bureyskaya hydroelectric plant, helping to unlock additional output at the 320MW plant.
The 1.275MW solar plant will feature PV modules manufactured by Hevel with overall area of 6700m2. It will have an expected annual production of 1.4GWh and is expected to reduce cost of electricity for the hydro plant’s own needs thus unlocking additional output.
The Amur region where the hydro plant is located is ideal for the development of PV generation with 240 sunny days in a year, says RusHydro. The ground-filled dam of Nizhne-Bureyskaya has 30,000m2 of open unshadowed space and the tailrace slope of the dam is facing South-West, making it an optimal location for capturing solar energy.
The plant will use heterojunction solar modules manufactured in Russia with unit capacity of 370W. The new generation PV panels have an efficiency rating of over 23%, or 20% more efficient than traditional polysilicon panels and are equally operational under both, low and high outdoor temperatures.
Nizhne-Bureyskaya is the second plant of the Bureysky hydropower complex and acts as counter-regulator for Bureyskaya hydropower plant.
The solar plant is expected to be commissioned at the end of 2019.
