Siemens Energy will build climate-neutral hybrid power plant using hydrogen to supply 10,000 households in French Guiana

Siemens Energy will build a state-of-the-art hybrid power plant on a turnkey basis in French Guiana in northeast South America, near Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. The plant will supply 10,000 households around the clock with electricity generated solely from the power of the sun in a climate-neutral process. This will be possible using an intelligent combination of a photovoltaic field with a battery, an electrolyzer, and a fuel cell. In addition to the turnkey construction, Siemens Energy will also provide operation and maintenance services over a period of 25 years, including remote control services for the plant. The Siemens Energy client is Centrale Electrique de l'Ouest Guyanais (CEOG), a project company owned by Meridiam as majority shareholder, HDF, and SARA. The new plant is scheduled to be commissioned in the fall of 2023. 

The new hybrid power plant includes a photovoltaic field with an installed electrical capacity of ~55 megawatts (MW). Depending on demand, part of the electricity will be delivered directly to consumers, part will be stored in a battery and part will be converted into hydrogen in an electrolyzer to be converted back into electricity using the fuel cell, for a total storage of 128 MWh. Thanks to this combination of photovoltaics, battery, electrolyzer, and fuel cell, the hybrid power plant will provide an electrical output of 10 MW during the day and evening and three MW at night. For hybrid power plants, the key to success is the integration of the different technologies. Intelligent control technology will ensure that the plant will have an optimal dispatch based on the interaction of the various components. The hybrid controller will use the weather forecast as an important input parameter for dispatch optimization. 

“Turning the energy transformation strategy into a reality is the other name of this project in French Guiana” said Karim Amin, Executive Vice President Generation at Siemens Energy. “The CEOG power plant will supply half of the current energy needs of the population of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and Mana. It will produce clean and reliable electricity that will be fed into the national grid 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Without fuel imports, without greenhouse gas emissions and without noise, the residents of French Guiana shall be looking forward to an economical, reliable and clean supply of electricity.”

“We’re glad that CEOG has put its trust in Siemens Energy. By combining our expertise in power generation with our power transmission know-how in safely integrating renewables into the grid, we’ll strive to make CEOG a success story,” said Volker Hild, Vice President Grid Stabilization at Siemens Energy. “We thank CEOG for this order and are excited to be working together to create an important worldwide reference for hybrid power plants.”

Julien Touati, Corporate Development Director of Meridiam, stated: “This project is a new illustration of Meridiam's concrete initiatives in favor of innovative ecological transition and of its capacity to develop, finance and operate sustainable and resilient infrastructures over the long term. It stimulates local economic activity by catalyzing the development of the hydrogen sector and responds to multiple sustainable development objectives defined by the United Nations, such as access to clean energy at an affordable price, the fight against climate change, technological innovation and access to education.”

Damien Havard, CEO of HDF, said: “We are very proud that Siemens Energy was awarded by CEOG to build our first Renewstable® power plant. We are very enthusiastic to pursue further discussions with the team on other continents to duplicate this innovative green power plant and to open the new era for renewable energy.”

Siemens Energy's scope of supply also covers the grid connection and the hydrogen storage system. The digital services include data analytics for plant performance optimization, including power forecasting using weather forecasts, equipment and plant performance benchmarking, component and plant state-of-health degradation projection, and an optimal component replacement plan. In addition, there will be 24/7 support from Siemens Energy’s Remote Control Center.