Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

paul991

just a shame that we 3.3%coal today to help  Europe out   

70sbudgie

I'm not entirely sure if it counts as being "in the news", but as an energy geek, I have been looking forward to this report with interest - one reason being that 2020 was an exceptional year and I'm interested what 2021 would look like.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-energy-in-brief-2022

One of my favourite pages is p28 and the following is from it:

Total electricity generated decreased by 1.4 per cent between 2020 and 2021, in contrast to a 1.1 per cent increase in demand. High net imports accounted for the difference, reducing the need for UK-based generation. 

The share of generation from renewables decreased from 43.2 per cent in 2020 to 39.7 per cent in 2021. This was still the second highest share of renewable generation recorded and came as less favourable weather conditions in 2021 decreased generation from wind, solar and hydro generators. At the same time, generation from nuclear continued its long-term downward trend, with its share decreasing from 16.1 per cent to 14.9 per cent.

The next few pages deal with renewables and are most relevant to this board (imho). I think it is the first time I've seen such comprehensive review of domestic scale generation capacity.

The other thing that caught my interest is the lack of 2021 data on fuel poverty. (Starting p.40) I've only skim read this, so may have missed the reason behind this (though the cynic in me thinks it is because it would ruin the narrative of reducing fuel poverty.)

ed110220

michaels said:

Coastalwatch said:

I know there is a long way to go and the 60.4% figure includes nuclear generation but the quarter figures continue to follow the trend set in recent years and surely must encourage further build out of renewables as each MW increase sees our reliance on gas reduce accordingly.

UK generation mix moves increasingly toward renewables

Power generation from low carbon sources secured more than 60% share of the UK’s total energy mix

Renewables continue to bring extra green juices into Britain’s grid pushing gas out of the energy mix.

Government data shows renewable electricity generation totalled 38.2TWh in the first quarter of the year, up 9.3% compared to the same period in 2021.

The report suggests this increase was primarily driven by wind farms – wind generation rose by 15%.

Solar increased its generation by 21% in the first three months of the year.

The analysis estimates that low carbon electricity generation represented a 60.4% share of the UK’s total generation.

Gas generation fell by 14% to 28TWh between the first quarter of 2021 and 2022.

Jess Ralston, a Senior Analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: “For every megawatt of renewable power this winter, that’s basically a megawatt less of gas power we have to source and pay for.

“This trend is only set to continue with recently commissioned wind projects four times cheaper than current gas and new farms coming online every year. This will protect us from gas price shocks in the long term particularly as the North Sea is a declining basin and fracking is so unpopular with voters.”

new research finds

https://www.futurenetzero.com/2022/08/01/uk-generation-mix-moves-increasingly-toward-renewables/?swcfpc=1

Just lost 3% of low carbon leccy today with the closure of HPB

A pity but this process has been going on since the 90s-early 2000s yet total low carbon generation has grown strongly. Nuclear generation peaked at 84 TWh in 1997 after Sizewell B opened but before most of the first generation of reactors closed, declining to 45.7 TWh in 2020. 

Martyn1981

70sbudgie said:

I'm not entirely sure if it counts as being "in the news", but as an energy geek, I have been looking forward to this report with interest - one reason being that 2020 was an exceptional year and I'm interested what 2021 would look like.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-energy-in-brief-2022

One of my favourite pages is p28 and the following is from it:

Total electricity generated decreased by 1.4 per cent between 2020 and 2021, in contrast to a 1.1 per cent increase in demand. High net imports accounted for the difference, reducing the need for UK-based generation. 

The share of generation from renewables decreased from 43.2 per cent in 2020 to 39.7 per cent in 2021. This was still the second highest share of renewable generation recorded and came as less favourable weather conditions in 2021 decreased generation from wind, solar and hydro generators. At the same time, generation from nuclear continued its long-term downward trend, with its share decreasing from 16.1 per cent to 14.9 per cent.

The next few pages deal with renewables and are most relevant to this board (imho). I think it is the first time I've seen such comprehensive review of domestic scale generation capacity.

The other thing that caught my interest is the lack of 2021 data on fuel poverty. (Starting p.40) I've only skim read this, so may have missed the reason behind this (though the cynic in me thinks it is because it would ruin the narrative of reducing fuel poverty.)

Many thanks, I've been looking forward to it too.

But, I'm really excited to see the 2022 figures, shame I have to wait a year. I think the poor wind last year, combined with the rapid capacity being deployed this year (and last), could result in quite a jump for 2022. Of course I may be disappointed, and turn to drink, but a figure in the high 40's possibly 50% would be nice to see.

You make a good point about fuel poverty. These are rough times, and could be a terrible winter for many with gas prices staying high. But at least now RE can be seen as a positive on all counts, by reducing emissions, but also reducing gas consumption which is the main driver of higher prices. So a push into RE, insulation and heat pumps can help with prices and foreign policy (Ukraine / Russia) too.

I may be wearing green tinted glasses, but I hope policy choices / decisions have now been simplified.

Martyn1981

Not my area of expertise (like most others), but I believe this is important news. If battery storage can offer frequency services, then the fear of losing steam turbines (whose enormous mass provides inertia) may wane a bit. So another positive step in the direction of 100% viable RE generation in the future.

World 1st: Tesla Batteries Providing Inertia Services At Scale

I’ll let the UK’s National Grid ESO explain:

“Many generators producing electricity for the grid have spinning parts — they rotate at the right frequency to help balance supply and demand and can spin faster or slower if needed.

“The kinetic energy ‘stored’ in these spinning parts is our system inertia. If there’s a sudden change in system frequency, these parts will carry on spinning — even if the generator itself has lost power — and slow down that change (what we call the rate of change of frequency) while our control room restores balance.

“Inertia behaves a bit like the shock absorbers in your car’s suspension, which dampen the effect of a sudden bump in the road and keep your car stable and moving forward.”

Tesla’s “Big Battery” in South Australia got approval from the Australian Energy Market Operator to provide inertia services for the National Electricity Market in Australia. Neoen, which owns and operates the 150 MW/193.5MWh Hornsdale battery (aka Hornsdale Power Reserve), claims that this is the first large-scale battery providing inertia services in the world. The Big Battery is able to provide ~2,000 “megawatt seconds” (MWs) of an inertia equivalency to help keep the grid stable. It does so via Tesla’s Virtual Machine Mode service.

Most of us don’t know anything about megawatt seconds. How much is this Big Battery helping by getting into the inertia services business in South Australia? According to Neoen, it will be able to provide ~15% of South Australia’s inertia shortfall.

70sbudgie

Martyn1981 said:

Not my area of expertise (like most others), but I believe this is important news. If battery storage can offer frequency services, then the fear of losing steam turbines (whose enormous mass provides inertia) may wane a bit. So another positive step in the direction of 100% viable RE generation in the future.

World 1st: Tesla Batteries Providing Inertia Services At Scale

I’ll let the UK’s National Grid ESO explain:

“Many generators producing electricity for the grid have spinning parts — they rotate at the right frequency to help balance supply and demand and can spin faster or slower if needed.

“The kinetic energy ‘stored’ in these spinning parts is our system inertia. If there’s a sudden change in system frequency, these parts will carry on spinning — even if the generator itself has lost power — and slow down that change (what we call the rate of change of frequency) while our control room restores balance.

“Inertia behaves a bit like the shock absorbers in your car’s suspension, which dampen the effect of a sudden bump in the road and keep your car stable and moving forward.”

Tesla’s “Big Battery” in South Australia got approval from the Australian Energy Market Operator to provide inertia services for the National Electricity Market in Australia. Neoen, which owns and operates the 150 MW/193.5MWh Hornsdale battery (aka Hornsdale Power Reserve), claims that this is the first large-scale battery providing inertia services in the world. The Big Battery is able to provide ~2,000 “megawatt seconds” (MWs) of an inertia equivalency to help keep the grid stable. It does so via Tesla’s Virtual Machine Mode service.

Most of us don’t know anything about megawatt seconds. How much is this Big Battery helping by getting into the inertia services business in South Australia? According to Neoen, it will be able to provide ~15% of South Australia’s inertia shortfall.

Imho, we have a completely different problem in the UK. We haven't just got rid of the large power stations, we've replaced them with smaller power stations connected to a different section of the network. So the transmission network may be struggling with low inertia, but the distribution network is also struggling with excessive inertia. Fixing the problem of low inertia at transmission level by adding "artificial" inertia, will severely exacerbate the issue of excess at distribution level. The whole network needs a holistic approach to finding a solution.  In my opinion.

There is only so much that can be squeezed out of the 1960s design.

zeupater

70sbudgie said:

Martyn1981 said:

Not my area of expertise (like most others), but I believe this is important news. If battery storage can offer frequency services, then the fear of losing steam turbines (whose enormous mass provides inertia) may wane a bit. So another positive step in the direction of 100% viable RE generation in the future.

World 1st: Tesla Batteries Providing Inertia Services At Scale

I’ll let the UK’s National Grid ESO explain:

“Many generators producing electricity for the grid have spinning parts — they rotate at the right frequency to help balance supply and demand and can spin faster or slower if needed.

“The kinetic energy ‘stored’ in these spinning parts is our system inertia. If there’s a sudden change in system frequency, these parts will carry on spinning — even if the generator itself has lost power — and slow down that change (what we call the rate of change of frequency) while our control room restores balance.

“Inertia behaves a bit like the shock absorbers in your car’s suspension, which dampen the effect of a sudden bump in the road and keep your car stable and moving forward.”

Tesla’s “Big Battery” in South Australia got approval from the Australian Energy Market Operator to provide inertia services for the National Electricity Market in Australia. Neoen, which owns and operates the 150 MW/193.5MWh Hornsdale battery (aka Hornsdale Power Reserve), claims that this is the first large-scale battery providing inertia services in the world. The Big Battery is able to provide ~2,000 “megawatt seconds” (MWs) of an inertia equivalency to help keep the grid stable. It does so via Tesla’s Virtual Machine Mode service.

Most of us don’t know anything about megawatt seconds. How much is this Big Battery helping by getting into the inertia services business in South Australia? According to Neoen, it will be able to provide ~15% of South Australia’s inertia shortfall.

Imho, we have a completely different problem in the UK. We haven't just got rid of the large power stations, we've replaced them with smaller power stations connected to a different section of the network. So the transmission network may be struggling with low inertia, but the distribution network is also struggling with excessive inertia. Fixing the problem of low inertia at transmission level by adding "artificial" inertia, will severely exacerbate the issue of excess at distribution level. The whole network needs a holistic approach to finding a solution.  In my opinion.

There is only so much that can be squeezed out of the 1960s design.

?????

Don't really follow that .... isn't it pretty much that as network load increases electrons become scarce, voltage drops & spinning generators start to struggle to maintain rpm causing frequency to drop, so someone in a large control room presses some buttons, calls around and has some additional generation capacity brought up to speed to rectify the situation - yes, much of this is automated these days but that's still the basic idea ...

... the issue with generation 'inertia' is purely frequency related ... with tonnes of metal spinning at high speed there's a certain degree of mechanical inertia which has historically ensured that sudden changes of load don't cause an immediate drop in rpm & reduce grid frequency .... however, in reducing the tonnage of fast spinning machinery, the mitigating effect of inertia has also dropped thus reducing the reaction time for frequency balancing, impacting the likelihood of brownouts or blackouts.

... the idea of the battery 'inertia services' is simply to react automatically to frequency change, inject/remove electrons at a matched frequency to raise/lower grid frequency to nominal levels thus maintaining the historical status quo & buying time for the network controllers to manage their normal activities ....

Seeing that 'inertia' is related (mainly) to mechanical generation connected to the transmission network, frequency is naturally maintained through voltage transformers, and that microgeneration (solar PV etc) connected to the distribution network has to match grid frequency with pretty tight allowable tolerances, I don't follow how there can be an inertial frequency disparity between transmission & distribution networks as described ...

... am I missing something??? 

HTH - Z

70sbudgie

zeupater said:

70sbudgie said:

Martyn1981 said:

Not my area of expertise (like most others), but I believe this is important news. If battery storage can offer frequency services, then the fear of losing steam turbines (whose enormous mass provides inertia) may wane a bit. So another positive step in the direction of 100% viable RE generation in the future.

World 1st: Tesla Batteries Providing Inertia Services At Scale

I’ll let the UK’s National Grid ESO explain:

“Many generators producing electricity for the grid have spinning parts — they rotate at the right frequency to help balance supply and demand and can spin faster or slower if needed.

“The kinetic energy ‘stored’ in these spinning parts is our system inertia. If there’s a sudden change in system frequency, these parts will carry on spinning — even if the generator itself has lost power — and slow down that change (what we call the rate of change of frequency) while our control room restores balance.

“Inertia behaves a bit like the shock absorbers in your car’s suspension, which dampen the effect of a sudden bump in the road and keep your car stable and moving forward.”

Tesla’s “Big Battery” in South Australia got approval from the Australian Energy Market Operator to provide inertia services for the National Electricity Market in Australia. Neoen, which owns and operates the 150 MW/193.5MWh Hornsdale battery (aka Hornsdale Power Reserve), claims that this is the first large-scale battery providing inertia services in the world. The Big Battery is able to provide ~2,000 “megawatt seconds” (MWs) of an inertia equivalency to help keep the grid stable. It does so via Tesla’s Virtual Machine Mode service.

Most of us don’t know anything about megawatt seconds. How much is this Big Battery helping by getting into the inertia services business in South Australia? According to Neoen, it will be able to provide ~15% of South Australia’s inertia shortfall.

Imho, we have a completely different problem in the UK. We haven't just got rid of the large power stations, we've replaced them with smaller power stations connected to a different section of the network. So the transmission network may be struggling with low inertia, but the distribution network is also struggling with excessive inertia. Fixing the problem of low inertia at transmission level by adding "artificial" inertia, will severely exacerbate the issue of excess at distribution level. The whole network needs a holistic approach to finding a solution.  In my opinion.

There is only so much that can be squeezed out of the 1960s design.

?????

Don't really follow that .... isn't it pretty much that as network load increases electrons become scarce, voltage drops & spinning generators start to struggle to maintain rpm causing frequency to drop, so someone in a large control room presses some buttons, calls around and has some additional generation capacity brought up to speed to rectify the situation - yes, much of this is automated these days but that's still the basic idea ...

... the issue with generation 'inertia' is purely frequency related ... with tonnes of metal spinning at high speed there's a certain degree of mechanical inertia which has historically ensured that sudden changes of load don't cause an immediate drop in rpm & reduce grid frequency .... however, in reducing the tonnage of fast spinning machinery, the mitigating effect of inertia has also dropped thus reducing the reaction time for frequency balancing, impacting the likelihood of brownouts or blackouts.

... the idea of the battery 'inertia services' is simply to react automatically to frequency change, inject/remove electrons at a matched frequency to raise/lower grid frequency to nominal levels thus maintaining the historical status quo & buying time for the network controllers to manage their normal activities ....

Seeing that 'inertia' is related (mainly) to mechanical generation connected to the transmission network, frequency is naturally maintained through voltage transformers, and that microgeneration (solar PV etc) connected to the distribution network has to match grid frequency with pretty tight allowable tolerances, I don't follow how there can be an inertial frequency disparity between transmission & distribution networks as described ...

... am I missing something??? 

HTH - Z

Wow, I don't know where to start. But in brief, no it doesn't work like that.

ABrass

It sounds like you're saying that the transmission system frequency fluctuates more readily than the distribution grids which due to distributed generation have more relatively higher inertia. Which doesn't make sense to me.

QrizB

To my mind, zeupdater is correct.

@70sbudgie please provide a link to a relaible source that supports your contention that:

70sbudgie said:

Wow, I don't know where to start. But in brief, no it doesn't work like that.

Thank you.