Sunny Central FLEX wins Top Innovation Award 2024 and is installed in a flagship project for the first time

"This award is a significant validation of our efforts and demonstrates that we are on the right track with Sunny Central FLEX toward revolutionizing the future of large-scale international renewable energy projects," said SMA CEO Jürgen Reinert. "Thanks to its leading inverter technology in grid formation, the platform solution not only provides clean energy but also ensures a stable energy supply. Given the strong interest from our customers at the U.S. premiere, our winning the Smarter E Award in June as well as the Top Innovation Award 2024 just recently, I’m confident that Sunny Central FLEX will contribute significantly to the future business success of SMA."

The Hydrogen Valley Wolfhagen project launches with wind and solar power; green hydrogen to follow

Sunny Central FLEX has now been delivered and installed for the first time for commercial operation. The “Hydrogen-Valley Wolfhagen” in Northern Hesse integrates a solar farm with approximately 97 megawatts (MWp) and two nearby wind farms with a total capacity of 72 megawatts at a substation. With the commissioning in early 2025, the electricity generated will initially be used to power the adjacent industrial park and operate charging stations for electric vehicles on the nearby highway. In the second stage, large battery storage systems will be added to store energy for use at night, for example.  The batteries will be connected to the inverters, which are already prepared for DC connection. In a later stage of the project, green hydrogen will be produced on demand. For the project, BLG Project GmbH is relying on German-made quality for solar power generation with 20 Medium Voltage Power Stations from SMA, along with the new Sunny Central FLEX.

"The flexibility enables all the use cases we need"

"We are very proud to be the first company worldwide to use and test this cutting-edge system. From both a technical and economic standpoint, the Sunny Central FLEX will lay the foundation for the success of our future large-scale projects. Thanks to its modularity and flexibility in terms of PV, battery storage systems, and electrolysis, we will provide a platform for all the use cases we need. We look forward to installing numerous other Sunny Central FLEX units in our projects. SMA is demonstrating the technical leadership in this segment that we expect," said Christoph Lübcke, general manager of BLG GmbH.

"The delivery of the first Sunny Central FLEX system is an important milestone for the integration of renewable energies into utility grids—both in Germany and worldwide," said Florian Bechtold, Executive Vice President of Large Scale and Project Solutions at SMA. "We are thereby increasing grid stability and storage capacities, and supporting a reliable and scalable energy transition. This perfectly aligns with BLG’s goals for the "Hydrogen-Valley," which include expanding capacities and integrating additional renewable energy sources such as storage and hydrogen. Sunny Central FLEX offers the necessary flexibility to achieve this. We would also like to thank our long-standing, trusted partner BLG for their commitment and trust."

Sunny Central FLEX production starts in 2025 at the SMA GIGAWATT Factory

Sunny Central FLEX is a flexible solution that covers all power plant applications n the energy sector—from solar energy generation and battery-assisted grid stabilization to hydrogen production. The modular system was specially developed to improve the integration of renewable energies into utility grids worldwide and to ensure precise control of plant behavior at the grid connection point. Production of the systems will start in mid-2025 in the new SMA GIGAWATT Factory and they will initially be delivered to large projects in the U.S. Additional markets will follow.

About the Top Innovation Award: pv magazine presents the Top Innovation Award to new products that significantly benefit the market, even if they do not always introduce brand new concepts. The jury believes these products deserve attention and a closer look.

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