Russia's first hybrid solar-diesel power plant, with a rated capacity of 100 kW, was put into operation in 2013. The hybrid plant is located in the Yaylyu village in the Altai Republic, replacing an outdated diesel generator. It is designed for the autonomous uninterrupted supply of electricity to the settlement. It allowed village's annual consumption of diesel fuel to be reduced by 50%.
The power system in the village of Yaylu combines the advantages of solar and diesel generation, as well as the latest achievements in energy storage and intelligent control systems available at the time of construction, allowing the most efficient distribution of the load between the photovoltaic plant, energy storage, and the diesel generators.
The diesel-solar power system, the first one in Russia in terms of both its type and scale, has served as an effective foundation for scientific research and educational programs in the field of solar energy, whose development is of great importance in an isolated power grid and hard-to-reach regions.
Diesel-solar power plants are an efficient and economically viable solution for regions with high insolation and an isolated power grid. In Russia alone, over 20 million people live in such places. Globally, that figure reaches about 1 billion. Hybrid power plants can provide reliable, stable power supply to remote housing, utilities, as well as to social, industrial, and agricultural infrastructure.
Subsequently, similar hybrid power plants were built in the republics of Tyva and Altai, and the Zabaykalsky Territory. An autonomous hybrid power plant is in the implementation phase in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Chukotka.