The first off-grid hybrid photovoltaic power plant in the Russian Arctic

Hevel Solar, a Russian module and cell manufacturer, has built a 2.6MW solar-diesel off-grid project in Chukotka, an autonomous region on Russia’s east coast. The project is the first of its kind in the Russian Arctic, the company said.

The project, completed by Hevel’s Energy Services business, consists of two installations, a 550kW photovoltaic array and a 470kWh battery energy system. The Moscow company invested about $2.7 million in the initiative.

Hevel hopes the plant will help the city reduce diesel consumption by 30 percent, saving 2,130 tons of fuel over 10 years. The plant, which operates autonomously, is intended to supply 700 homes in two remote villages.

Previously, Hevel has built 2.8MW off-grid pv projects in Altay, Tyva and Zabaikalsky in Siberia. The company operates an off-grid portfolio of 40 solar power stations with a total capacity of 13.5MW in rural areas of Siberia and the Far East. The company also recently won a 40MW pv project in a renewable energy tender in Kazakhstan.

Igor Shakhray, CEO of Hevel, a maker of high-efficiency heterojunction (HJT) solar cells, told PV Tech in an interview last year that the cell has great potential.