Didactic Platform for the Study of Hybrid Wind-Hydro Power Plants

This paper presents a study regarding the implementation of a Platform for the studying of hybrid wind-hydro power plants. The hybrid wind-hydro power plant uses the storage capacity of hydro power plant to store the wind energy in the form of hydro-energy of water when the wind exists but lacks the electric load. The Didactic Platform is to be placed in a building belonging to the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca. A wind turbine will be placed on the top of the building, which place being favourable regarding the average wind speed. The wind energy will be converted in electric energy, which will be stored in an electric accumulator battery. This energy is similar with the energy stored in a superior water basin of a hydro-power plant. The hydropower plant will be further simulated by a hydro-turbine, operating in closed circuit with an electric pump and a lower water basin. From the accumulators the stored wind energy will be converted in water pressure by means of an inverter and an electric pump and further again in electric energy by means of hydro-generator. Such an arrangement is combined with measuring devices: anemometer, electric energy measurements devices, flow-rate and pressure water measuring devices, which allows evaluating the performances of the simulated hybrid wind-hydro power plant. The paper presents the design of this didactic platform together with an estimation cost.