Ingeteam was chosen by Iberdrola as the technology partner to equip the Campo Arañuelo solar complex. For the Arañuelo I and II plants, the supply was standard for a photovoltaic plant: photovoltaic inverters, transformer substations, a power plant controller (PPC) system, and commissioning. The innovative aspect of the project lies in Arañuelo III, as, in addition to everything mentioned above, Ingeteam provided a turnkey supply of the energy storage system for this plant. In other words, Ingeteam supplied the lithium-ion batteries, integrated them into 45-foot containers, provided the converters, the SCADA monitoring system, carried out the civil works, installed the storage system on-site, and completed its commissioning.
In addition, Ingeteam has also taken charge of supplying the digital protection and control system for the Arañuelo III substation. The scope includes systems that control and protect the plant's power evacuation line, the 30/132kV step-up transformer, the collector circuits, and the connection circuit for the storage system, providing the CORE renewables control center with real-time information and access to any of the elements.
A New Battery Converter:
In addition to being the first large-scale solar plant to incorporate batteries in Spain, this project features a further innovation: the battery storage system has been integrated within the photovoltaic plant in a distributed manner, using a DC-Coupling configuration. In this approach, the batteries are installed inside the solar array, and the battery converters share the DC connection with the photovoltaic inverters. This offers the following main technical advantages:
- The ability to utilize the extra power from the photovoltaic panels that is not used during peak production hours (Clipping Recapture).
- Minimizing losses when charging the batteries from the photovoltaic array, since the connection between the panels and the batteries passes only through the DC/DC converter. Discharge is also more efficient, as it eliminates the need for a power transformer compared to an AC-connected solution.
This innovative technique of hybridizing photovoltaic generation with battery energy storage has been made possible by Ingeteam's development of a new battery converter: the INGECON SUN STORAGE Power series DC-DC. This converter operates in conjunction with the DC input of a photovoltaic inverter, effectively creating a hybrid central inverter with direct connection to both photovoltaic panels and batteries, and a single AC output for connection to the LV/MV transformer.
The Campo Arañuelo complex already generates clean energy to supply a population equivalent to 65,000 homes per year and will prevent the emission of 41,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere per year.
Scope of supply for the Campo Arañuelo photovoltaic complex
: - 29 power stations equipped with everything necessary to inject power at medium voltage: LV/MV transformer, medium voltage switchgear, auxiliary services transformer, and auxiliary services panel.
- 72 units of the INGECON® SUN 1640TL B630 solar inverter, with a nominal power of 1.64 MW.
- 2 units of the INGECON® SUN STORAGE Power DC-DC battery inverter, with a nominal power of 1.5 MW, for Arañuelo III.
- 2 fully integrated 45-foot battery storage containers, each with a capacity of 1.5 MW / 4.5 MWh, for Arañuelo III.
- 3 units of the INGECON® SUN Plant Controller.
- Hybrid plant control (solar + batteries) for Arañuelo III.
- SCADA monitoring system for Arañuelo III.
- Civil works and installation of the storage system at Arañuelo III.
- Commissioning of the three photovoltaic plants and the storage system in Arañuelo III.
- Digital protection and control system of the Arañuelo III substation.
