The purpose of the proposed IEA Wind Task is to coordinate international research and development in the field of hybrid wind power plants. Technology to be considered within this Task will cover a broad range but will focus on the design and operation of wind-based hybrid power plants.
By gathering ongoing research results as well as state-of-the-art industrial practices, we aim to create an overview of best practices in hybrid plant design, operation, and regulation. We will explore how uncertainties affect the performance and potential for adopting hybrid power plants. Specifically, the aim is to support the strategic initiatives of IEA Wind TCP by:

• Maximizing the value of wind energy in systems and markets by increasing the capacity of hybrid power plants and the ability to play a role in grid services.
• Accelerating the development and deployment of hybrid power plants in various markets across the globe through the availability of data, advanced models and tools, and test methods.
• Determine viability of other end-use products powered by wind-based hybrid power plants including electricity, hydrogen, desalination, carbon capture, and other renewable-based alternative fuels.
• Foster collaborative research and the exchange of best practices and data by developing benchmarks and best practices for realistic hybrid power plants and ensuring easy access to the most up-to-date knowledge, algorithms, and ideas for hybrid power plants.

The task is aimed at the Advanced Technology priority area, but also affects Resource and Site Characterization by making flow conditions controllable and Energy Systems with High Amounts of Wind, and other resources such as solar, by making power production more controllable, predictable and dispatchable.
The result is guidance for the industry, lawmakers, regulators, and researchers on the current modeling efforts, control/optimization approaches, requirements, tests and standards, impediments to adoption, future directions, and expected benefits of hybrid power plants.

The task is divided into several work packages as following:

• WP0: Management and Coordination
  The Task will be managed within this work package. The OAs will ensure that the technical objectives and deliverables are achieved and will facilitate ongoing technical communication among the WP Leaders
  and the IEA Wind ExCo.
• WP1: Collection of research results, state-of-the-art and expert consensus
  This work will seek to collect, organize, and distribute the state-of-the-art in hybrid power plants. This includes developments in research, field trials, and commercial activities. The work package will additionally collect and report on the expert consensus on hybrid power plants, through repeated expert
  elicitation. The top overall goal will be to identify both the state-of-the-art, in research and in practice, and through expert consensus, an identification of best practices and areas in need of research and
  development.
• WP2: Design of a suite of reference hybrid plants
  This work package will design reference hybrid plants to perform specific objectives such as maximizing capacity, providing flexibility and dispatchability, and demonstrating the ability to provide grid services.
  This will include identifying technologies that pair well together to achieve these objectives and any modifications to the current technologies that may be required to optimize the hybrid power plant.
• WP3: Overview of design and operation technology/algorithms
  In this work package an overview will be generated of the required software/algorithms for hybrid power plants. The work package will be organized by characterizing the different building blocks which define
  the majority of hybrid power plant control algorithms. For each of these building blocks the aim is to get an overview of the available options, their specifications, their ability to work with uncertainty and
  their Technology Readiness Level (TRL). Combining the individual building blocks will result in a full landscape of the solution space, an identification of barriers and a roadmap.
• WP4: Electrical design, control, market and grid service provision from hybrid
  power plant
  This work package concerns with the capability of hybrid power plant for grid service provision and flexibility provision to power systems. The work package will be organized characterizing different connection concepts for connecting the assets inside the hybrid power plants. Scoping of hybrid power plants will be performed to identify the roles of hybrid power plants in ancillary service and flexibility provision to power systems. Not only traditional ancillary services such as frequency and voltage services will be considered but also futuristic services (such as fast frequency, damping of power system oscillations, voltage balancing (neg. sequence), damping of harmonics, black start capability) will also be evaluated.
  This work package will also consider different power management and control principles inside the hybrid power plant such as hierarchical control, distributed control, etc. Furthermore, grid codes, test methods and standardization of hybrid power plant’s capabilities will also be considered in this work package.
• WP5: Outreach and Collaboration with other ongoing TCPs and industry R&D
  activities
  The final work package is dedicated to collaboration and coordination with other IEA TCPs and hybrid
  power plant R&D activities in industry.