MAN Diesel & Turbo, in collaboration with wind turbine manufacturer Enercon and planning and consulting firm Econcern, is building the world’s largest wind-diesel hybrid power plant on the Caribbean island of Bonaire. The plant comprises a wind park with twelve wind turbines and a (bio-)diesel power plant that will produce electrical power with five MAN Diesel & Turbo engines of type 9L27/38. The hybrid power plant will function as an independent base load power plant from the end of 2009 onwards, supplying the entire island with a total of 25 MW of eco-friendly energy. The customer is Water en Energie Bedrijf Bonaire (WEB), the state-run energy provider in the Dutch Antilles.

The wind park will be the primary source of electricity generation. During calm periods, tropical storms or peaks in demand, the engines in the diesel power plant will also kick in quickly to ensure a constant and reliable supply of power to the population. Compared to conventional power plants, such as the large steam turbine systems used to generate electricity, MAN Diesel & Turbo engines have the advantage that they require only a very short start-up time and therefore are available virtually at the press of a button. This flexibility makes them the ideal assembly for environmentally-friendly wind hybrid power plants. Intelligent control electronics ensure that the MAN Diesel & Turbo power plant is able to even out the inconstant electricity generation from wind energy and the fluctuations in demand.

The extremely high efficiency of diesel engines also ensures the maximum possible yield from the fuel used. This – according to the plans – will be switched over within the next three years entirely to bio-fuel, which is to be obtained from seaweed. The wind-diesel hybrid power plant will then sustainably provide the entire island with CO2-neutral electricity and thus save around 70,000 tonnes of the greenhouse gas a year compared to the current power plant, which runs on fossil fuels.

The wind-diesel hybrid power plant is not funded by the state, but instead is being built exclusively on the basis of economic considerations. The result is a very environmentally friendly and autonomous supply of energy to the Caribbean island that is also cheaper than before.