Optimizing Hybrid Renewable Power Plants: A Comparative Analysis of Wind–Solar Configurations for Northeast Brazil

Isabella Branco Renolphi (), Walquiria N. Silva, Luís Felipe Normandia Lourenço (), Bruno Z. D. Malta, Thiago S. Andrade and Giovani G. T. Vieira
Additional contact information
Isabella Branco Renolphi: Institute of Energy and Environment (IEE), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo 05508-900, Brazil
Walquiria N. Silva: Institute of Energy and Environment (IEE), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo 05508-900, Brazil
Luís Felipe Normandia Lourenço: Institute of Energy and Environment (IEE), Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo 05508-900, Brazil
Bruno Z. D. Malta: Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo 05508-010, Brazil
Thiago S. Andrade: Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo 05508-010, Brazil
Giovani G. T. Vieira: Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo 05508-010, Brazil

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-25

Abstract: The transition to sustainable electricity grids, particularly in countries with high renewable potential, such as Brazil, requires integrated assessments of hybrid and single-source configurations. This study analyzed the technical and economic feasibility of hybrid plants and isolated wind and solar systems in the Brazilian Northeast, focusing on Macaíba (RN) and Casa Nova (BA), regions characterized by high resource availability. The work addresses a gap in the literature by integrating detailed technical modeling and financial analysis of hybrid configurations, considering both local and operational constraints. Hourly simulations were performed using the HyDesign software (v1.1.0), with optimization based on the ratio between net present value (NPV) and invested capital (CAPEX), covering seven different scenarios by location, including hybrid combinations and systems with solar trackers. The results indicated that systems with solar tracking achieved superior economic performance. In Macaíba, the optimal configuration was the hybrid scenario with trackers, which increased the NPV/CAPEX by 27.69% compared to the relevant baseline. In Casa Nova, the best solution was the pure solar plant with trackers, which increased the NPV/CAPEX by 50.0% compared to fixed solar. Hybridization showed moderate gains in scenarios without tracking. It is concluded that while solar trackers are highly beneficial, the optimal plant configuration (pure solar or hybrid) is site-specific and depends on the local renewable resource profile. Notably, battery storage was not economically justified under the evaluated cost assumptions. The study contributes to the planning of renewable projects in contexts of high source complementarity.

Keywords: hybrid power plants; renewable energy; wind energy; photovoltaic solar energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/20/5329/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/20/5329/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:20:p:5329-:d:1767741

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Cassie Shen

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().