Three headed energy

According to the portal "Green Energy of the Balkans" in its January 2023 article, (https://balkangreenenergynews.com/half-century-old-hydropower-plant-in-albania-is-becoming-innovative-energy-hub/ ), something special is happening in Vaun e Deja: a project with three heads: energy from water, sun and wind. According to the portal, the Vau de Deja hydropower plant is turning into an integrated energy production center, i.e. a three-head production center. The hydro plant with an installed capacity of 250 megawatt-hours has recently added a 5.1 megawatt-hour solar panel power generation unit to its dam in Qyrsaq.

The site of the Qyrsaq dam with a surface area of ??3.2 ha, mostly paved with solar panels (2.5 ha)

This dam and this hydropower plant constitute the first example in the Western Balkans of the combination of hydropower plants and photovoltaics. So, of two heads, energy from water and from the sun. Again, according to "Green Energy of the Balkans", the Deputy Prime Minister of Albania, Belinda Balluku, stated that the system in Vaun e Dejës will also be powered by a wind power plant. So, a wind farm. According to the "Green Energy of the Balkans" portal, this would make the Vau de Deja hydropower plant the first hybrid hydropower plant in the world, with three different green energy production methods integrated into one production unit. Hybrid solutions are being offered today across the globe as an essential factor in efforts to reduce to zero emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which heavily pollute the environment. The US is at the forefront of innovation in these energy production systems. However, there are still relatively few power plants with hybrid solutions on the planet. Many of these include as base units diesel generators or power plants using fossil fuels. Turkey, which already has a massive portfolio of hybrid power plants, is experiencing another boom in energy production, with the government reaping the benefits of investing in energy storage. This is because these hybrid systems also serve as a good energy storage warehouse. Last summer, in Slovenia, a hydropower plant added production capacity with a solar panel production unit, similar to what is happening today in Qyrsaq. Meanwhile, KESH plans to build another unit with solar panels at the Zadeja dam at the Vaut Deja hydropower plant, with an installed capacity of 8.25 megawatt-hours, which will cover 40 hectares, out of 48.6 hectares of the dam's total area . And in Vaun e Deja, the state is not stopping only with the production of solar panels on the ground, on the surfaces of the dams. KESH has a floating solar park in the project, on the surface of the Vau i Deja lake. The floating solar park will have a maximum capacity of 12.9 megawatt-hours and will currently constitute the largest floating solar park in Europe. The advantage of photovoltaics over water is that they can be installed without property problems. In addition, the water cools the panels, and, in turn, they reduce evaporation. KESH intends to deploy the panels on 11 hectares or about 0. 5% of the total lake area of ??25 square km. The project is estimated at 13.9 million euros, of which 70 percent will be covered by a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The idea behind hydropower plants and modern hybrid thermal power plants is to balance an intermittent source such as hydropower (when there is no rain, the HPP is idle), with energy from other systems. The most suitable couple in hydropower plants are wind and solar energy, since the wind is strongest at night and in winter, while photovoltaics produce only during the day and peak in summer. These "three heads" of power enable a more predictable total output for the operator. Our country, with the hybrid energy project in Vaun e Dejas, is being profiled as a European pioneer of new technologies in green energy.