A study proposes new methodology for hybrid PV wind site selection

Researchers from Spain's Public University of Navarre have developed a new methodology to evaluate offshore sites for hybrid wind and floating PV power plants. Unlike traditional methods, this approach integrates complementarity criteria, assessing how wind and solar energy balance each other. This ensures more reliable energy production, reduces fluctuations, and improves efficiency. The methodology uses the CIWS_align index, an improved version of the Complementarity Index for Wind and Solar (CIWS), along with dynamic time warping techniques to synchronize energy output patterns. It utilizes long-term climate datasets from ERA5 (wind data) and CAMS (solar data) to identify optimal sites. The method provides more precise site rankings by combining wind and solar availability with complementarity scores. It significantly impacts ranking results, especially for offshore hybrid projects.