Hybrid energy systems have higher initial costs than systems that are based on only one renewable resource, but allow for the fulfillment of the demands of consumer loads with lower values for the cost of energy. The possible complementarity between the resources used can contribute to a better use of the available energy. On a large scale, complementarity between power plants can serve as a tool for the management of energy resources. A complete evaluation of complementarity needs to consider three components: time complementarity, energy complementarity, and complementarity between amplitudes of variation. Complementarity can also be assessed between energy resources in one place (which may be termed temporal complementarity) and between resources at different sites (termed spatial complementarity). This paper proposes a method for quantifying spatial complementarity over time and for its expression through maps. The method suggests the establishment of a hexagonal network of cells and the determination of complementary roses for each cell that contains power plants. This article also applies the method proposed to some hydroelectric plants and wind farms in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil, and present the map of spatial complementarity in time obtained.

Homer Legacy software is a well-known software for simulation of small hybrid systems that can be used for both design and research. This dataset is a set of files generated by Homer Legacy bringing the simulation results of hybrid energy systems over the last seven years, as a consequence of the research work led by Dr. Alexandre Beluco, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in southern Brazil. The data correspond to twelve papers published in the last seven years. Two of them describe hydro PV hybrid systems with photovoltaic panels operating on the water surface of reservoirs. One of these twelve papers suggests the modeling of hydropower plants with reservoirs and the other the modeling of pumped hydro storage, and a third still uses these models in a place that could receive both the two types of hydroelectric power plant. The other simulated hybrid systems include wind turbines, diesel generators, batteries, among other components. This data article describes the files that integrate this dataset and the papers that have been published presenting the hybrid systems under study and discussing the results.

Effects of complementarity in time between wind and water resources on the performance of a wind hydro hybrid system in northeastern Brazil / Efeitos da complementaridade no tempo entre os recursos eólicos e hídricos no desempenho de um sistema híbrido eólico no nordeste do Brasil