Spatio-temporal complementarity between solar and wind power in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

This study addresses the task of identifying optimum locations for solar and wind power plants so that the wind-plussolar power generation meets certain conditions of efficiency and stability, thus allowing to overcome the downside that the natural variability of these renewable resources represents. The method was based on a simulated annealing algorithm and applied over the Iberian Peninsula, a region whose commitment to renewable energy is growing relatively fast. Obtained results are encouraging since a number of different sensitivity experiments support the spatio-temporal complementarity between solar and wind power, at least at the monthly time-scale, in this region. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.