Three hybrid solar-diesel power plants will be built in the Trans-Baikal region in 2014-2015

The project provides for construction of three hybrid solar-diesel power plants in the remote communities of the Trans-Baikal region in 2014-2015 where only diesel power generation has been used so far. Construction of power transmission lines in those areas makes no economic sense since they are way too far from the centralized networks.

The type project of AGEU enables to convert solar energy into electrical energy during the day time, which then is supplied to consumers, and the excess energy is stored in the battery unit. The generator starts working during the peak demand periods, usually in the morning and evening hours, or when it is required to charge the batteries on a dull day. At night, consumers use electrical energy that was previously accumulated in the batteries.

At this stage, the first regions are selected where the plants will be located. One of them is Menza village of the Krasnochikoysk region. The capacity of the existing diesel power plant here is 200 kW, and the distance to the centralized networks is 160 km. The other two spots are Tungokochen and Kyker villages of the Tungokochen region where there are two diesel plants operating with capacity of 300 kW each and distance to the centralized networks 121 km and 85 km respectively.

Taking into account the average cost of one ton of diesel fuel in the region, remoteness of these communities from the infrastructure facilities, and high wear rate of the existing equipment, construction of hybrid solar-diesel power plants will allow reducing the prime cost of energy and cutting back on the regional budget expenses for energy tariffs subsidies used for people residing in those communities.

As of today, technical solutions and economic models have already been developed for the first projects. It is assumed that the payback time will not be more than 5 years.