Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

QrizB

Martyn1981 said:

Germany 'could develop up to 82GW' of offshore wind

Research from the Fraunhofer IWES research institute has found that up to 82GW of offshore wind could be realised in the German North and Baltic Seas.

For some reason I'm reminded of this Monty Python link ...

michaels

Martyn1981 said:

Not just the UK with massive potential from offshore wind, the Germans are looking to generate a significant amount too.

Interestingly, the amount of generation the article suggests is only a cf (capacity factor) of 41%, whilst the current UK fleet is showing 42% over the last 12 rolling month period, and cf's are rising as newer, larger WT's roll out. Hence why I tend to use 50% when quickly working out the rough impact of a new windfarm in the news, or approved capacities in the CfD allocation rounds, eg the recent round 4 contracts for 6.99GW would be roughly equal to a constant 3.5GW.

Just a quick reminder of a very old article, but the estimate of UK potential for offshore wind in 2012, was between 1,000GW and 9,000GW's ...... but let's not brag!

Germany 'could develop up to 82GW' of offshore wind

Research from the Fraunhofer IWES research institute has found that up to 82GW of offshore wind could be realised in the German North and Baltic Seas.

This is significantly more than the 70GW of offshore wind energy planned by the German federal government by 2045.

The new study has calculated in various scenarios, concluding that the offshore wind power potential can be increased by using additional areas, for example, with new offshore wind power technologies.

These could be deployed in such a way that other users and important concerns such as nature conservation are not adversely affected.

With a total potential of 81.6GW of installed capacity, yields of up to 292.1TWh can be achieved with around 3.580 full-load hours of the wind farms in the German EEZ, according to the results of the investigations.

I suspect our wind is 'better' than theirs too in that it is more geographical spread so there is less likelihood of the whole fleet being becalmed.  Not sure if our winter weather patterns are also more mobile so we are less likely to under the prolonged influence of a blocking high.

70sbudgie

With 25.5GW of installed wind capacity and a cf of 42%, that gives us a typical contribution of 10GW from wind. 

UK solar has a total capacity of 14GW. I think it has a capacity factor of about 10%? 

I was going to say we still have a long way to go until renewables can reliably meet our circa 35GW demand. But I wonder how much (battery) storage can improve the capacity factors? I guess it comes down to how much "capping" there is on  industrial scale production.

Martyn1981

For fun, at the other end of the scale to Hornsea Two, we have one wind turbine, out of 114 being installed - well, all great journeys start with a single step.

Throwing the switch on Scotland’s largest offshore windfarm

The £3bn Seagreen project, a joint venture between SSE Renewables and France’s TotalEnergies, is located 27km (17 miles) off the Angus coast. The first turbine of 114 was connected to the electricity network in the early hours of Monday morning.

The project promises to generate 1.1 gigawatts of electricity – enough to power about 1m homes – in its first phase. That’s equivalent to about 60% of Scotland’s current offshore wind output.

Its debut provides a rare bright spot for Britain’s energy supply as gas shortages in Europe have threatened to spill over into blackouts in the UK this winter and even higher bills for consumers.

However, the windfarm will not be fully operational until some point in the first half of next year.
“It’s unfortunate it’s not a short-term fix, but the long-term fix really is to deploy as much low carbon generation as we can,” Wilson said.

Coastalwatch

That's great news Mart, bring it and more on asap I say!

Just back from a weekend away at a music festival and was delighted to spot a semi circle of Solar panels totalling 36 at ground level propped up against a scaffolding framework. To the rear was a horse box which I subsequently discovered housed storage battery's and a 10 kW inverter. Couldn't resist having a chat with the guy attending it who informed me that the organisers had purchased it outright so we shall no doubt see it there at future events too. Apparently it had been a difficult system to set up and it was only on that very first morning that it began functioning correctly, supplying much of the lighting and stalls from it's output.

Turns out he works for Trinity House, the company responsible for Lighthouses etc in the UK who have undertaken to replace all existing diesel generators and lighting with Solar, storage batteries and LED luminessence.

It was quite some investment so can only imagine they will be looking to hire it out to other outdoor events in the coming months in order to derive some ROI.

I found a second PV array of similar size on another section, this time accompanied by a converted double decker bus complete with Solar panels on the Roof. It was powering another area of the festival. Sadly I didn't get to chat with the owner so have no idea of it's background, but great to see all the same.

So change is coming, albeit slowly it would seem.

Martyn1981

I'm always a sucker for a good news battery story, and I think those that specifically state they are not suitable for automotive use, could help BEV costs by taking the strain off demand for certain minerals, such as lithium.

Of course, there are no shortage of breakthrough battery headlines, so all of them must be taken with a pinch of salt (or even include one, such as this technology). But given that MIT and Donald Sadoway are involved, and the long list of Universities carrying out the research (see para 1), I think this is worth a mention.

Also, I've always thought Donald Sadoway made an important point when he once stated - "If you want to make something dirt cheap, make it out of dirt–preferably dirt that is locally sourced.” - and the projections for these batts are very cheap (but don't forget those pinches of salt for now).

Probably also worth mentioning that cycle efficiency isn't given, so this technology may be a case of lower cost, but lower efficiency, but horses for courses as the World moves to RE and multi-layered storage solutions.

Aluminum-Sulfur Battery Promises Low Cost Energy Storage

Donald Sadoway has been a member of the faculty at MIT since 1978, where he has been teaching a course in solid-state chemistry for the past 16 years. In addition to his teaching duties, he has also been directly involved in research into how to make batteries that cost less than lithium-ion batteries. Recently, MIT announced that Sadoway and his research partners have created an aluminum sulfur battery that may do just that. The research was carried out by scientists at Peking University, Yunnan University, and the Wuhan University of Technology in China; the University of Louisville in Kentucky; the University of Waterloo in Canada; Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee; and MIT.

The new battery architecture uses aluminum and sulfur as its two electrode materials, with a molten salt electrolyte in between. As the price of lithium skyrockets due to increasing demand, the world needs inexpensive alternatives. Aluminum and sulfur are plentiful and cheap. Sadoway says aluminum-sulfur battery cells will cost about $9 per kWh, which is far less than the lithium-ion battery cells currently available. The new cells are not suitable for use in electric vehicles, but could lower the cost of small-scale storage batteries for homes and small business customers, which could make more lithium-based cells available for the transportation sector. The research has been published recently in the journal Nature.

Coastalwatch

$9 per kWh!!!  That'll take some beating Mart, perhaps you are right in waiting a bit longer before making a move on Storage!

And just like buses!

Interesting that Panasonic appear to be taking an existing technology forward and at the opposite scale to the tiny batteries used in Hearing aids. If I'm reading it correctly that is.

No idea what the timescale is or what cycle limitations might apply but with a higher density than Lithium Ion and lower fire risk it appears to have the right credentials so far.

Mind you, if they come across Sadoways possible costs above the incentive to continue may not have quite the attraction.

Panasonic begins developing zinc-air flow batteries for renewables storage

Panasonic is expanding the development of a zinc-air battery tech it currently uses for hearing enhancement equipment. It said the new devices, which will be designed for renewables storage, will be safer than their lithium-ion counterparts, with high energy densities.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/08/26/panasonic-begins-developing-zinc-air-flow-batteries-for-renewables-storage/

QrizB

As a one-time electrochemist, I always get twitchy when someone mentions the need for a "molten salt electrolyte".

NigeWick

Aluminum-Sulfur Battery Promises Low Cost Energy Storage

Wot?! No sand energy storage?

gefnew

Space power stations from European Space Agency.
Could we get energy from solar power in space? - CBBC Newsround