Performance since project start-up
Figure 1 shows daily mean percent renewables generation since full operations began on June 27, 2015. The data are from Red Eléctrica de España (REE):
Figure 1: Daily average percentages of diesel & renewables (wind plus hydro) sent to the El Hierro grid since startup. The black lozenges show monthly means.
The Table below updates the monthly grid statistics since project startup on June 27, 2015 through December 31, 2018:
Fourth Quarter 2018 performance
Figure 2 plots the REE 10-minute generation data for October, November and December 2018:
Figure 2: Total generation by source, 4Q 2018, ten-minute REE data
During 4Q 2018 the 11.5 MW wind farm generated a total of 4,053 MWh, representing a capacity factor of 16.0%. But because of inadequate storage coupled with the tendency of the wind to blow in gusts only 64% (2,597 MWh) of this generation was delivered to the grid. The remainder was consumed in uphill pumping. Figure 3 shows total wind generation (wind to grid plus wind to pumping) during the quarter. There is no evidence for any significant curtailment of turbine output. The bimodal distribution of wind generation (either “on” or “off”) discussed in the previous report is again evident.
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In 3Q 2018 Gorona del Viento (GdV) supplied 74.2 % of El Hierro’s electricity (95.4% in July) and 17.1% of its total energy consumption, up from 64.2% % and 14.8% in 2Q 2018. Since project startup in June 2015 GdV has supplied 46.5% of El Hierro’s electricity and 10.7% of its energy. In 3Q 2018 GdV supplied 100% of El Hierro’s electricity for a total of 45.6 days, with 18 days of continuous 100% generation during a sustained period of high winds from July 15 to August 1. Hydro continued to underperform, contributing only 6.1% of total 3Q generation. According to GdV the plant is now performing at its optimum level but is still not capable of supplying El Hierro with 100% renewable electricity – an admission of failure. Adding solar panels, enlarging the lower reservoir and EV storage are among the options now being considered.
