Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Exiled_Tyke

A shame they are jumping on the bandwagon without addressing the equally important grid structure and storage issues as well.  Looks like they are looking for an easy vote winner.

Martyn1981

I think this big batt has been mentioned before, but the new news is that planning permission has been granted and construction may begin soon(ish).

UK developer Alcemi wins planning permission for 500MW/1,000MWh battery storage project

Network solutions company Alcemi has been granted planning permission to develop “one of Europe’s largest energy storage facilities”.

The 2-hour 500MW/1,000MWh energy storage facility could begin construction in the coming months, subject to a final investment decision.

The project will be developed in partnership with renewable energy investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) via its Flagship Funds and is planned to be situated in Coalburn, Scotland, just to the southeast of Glasgow.

ed110220

South Australia has just broken through the 70% solar+wind barrier for the last 12 months. What's remarkable about this I think is that SA has no hydro for balancing (it has no large, fast flowing rivers) and little battery storage so far. It has the Hornsdale big battery but that is mainly for stabilisation rather than storing energy from the day to use at night, or to use on days with little sun or wind. 

Posting some screenshots of https://opennem.org.au/energy/sa1/?range=1y&interval=1w because it will probably drop below 70% then go above etc quite a bit before it stays permanently above 70%. That site has some great data presentation, much better than any of the sites showing GB grid data I have seen!

Coastalwatch

Exiled_Tyke said:

A shame they are jumping on the bandwagon without addressing the equally important grid structure and storage issues as well.  Looks like they are looking for an easy vote winner.

Agree with everything above, although the door was left wide open to take advantage of.

While advocating for new Nuclear the Labour party certainly won't be attracting my vote either.

Martyn1981

Hiya CW, fingers crossed it's just a play for some pro-nuclear voters, similar to the Conservatives previously chasing those against wind. From now on, the finances will be closely considered, so nuclear's inability to compete economically, may make it hard to complete any deals. Also, of course, no new nuclear now (after HPC) will help to displace FF's, as we should be at net zero before they can be commissioned, so will instead be competing head to head with RE and storage solutions, for the growing leccy demand business. But who knows?


On a lighter note we get a tidal/wave energy BOGOF deal:

Jones Bros completes onshore works for Morlais

Civil engineering outfit Jones Bros has completed the onshore works for the £36m UK tidal energy project Morlais in north Wales three months ahead of schedule.

Jones Bros secured the main contract, worth £24.6m, to build the onshore infrastructure for Anglesey marine energy project, which has the potential generating capacity of 240MW.

California Senate passes wave, tidal bill

California State Senate has unanimously passed a wave and tidal energy bill.

California Senate Bill 605 – Wave and Tidal Energy (SB 605) was unanimously approved in three separate policy committees: the Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee; the Natural Resources and Water Committee; and the Appropriations Committee.

The bill now moves to the State Assembly for consideration.

The legislative initiative directs the California Energy Commission to work with the relevant California state agencies to study the feasibility and potential for wave and tidal energy development in California and sets deadlines to report its findings to the California Legislature and Governor.

Martyn1981

Milestone on the way for offshore wind in the US.

I believe, as this tech is new for the US, that their costs are higher than Europe for now, but just like us, expect the costs to fall rapidly. Only my guess, but unlike the UK where offshore wind is now cheaper than onshore wind (thanks to far larger WT's being deployed), I'd suspect this may not happen in the US, as they are able to deploy larger onshore wind WT's than we typically do.

In the US and Aus, they seem to be deploying 5MW and 6MW onshore wind, whereas we typically deploy ~3MW. We just don't have the roads and access in hilly areas for the necessary kit to reach site economically. But US and Aus have large flat areas with easier access*. UK has deployed larger onshore wind WT's at near shore/dockside locations where acess via ships is easy.

*I think these are typically further from the coastal areas, so offshore wind will be a good compliment for other RE generation on the coast.

The US’s first commercial offshore wind farm just got its first foundation

South Fork Wind, New York State’s first offshore wind farm, has achieved its “steel in the water” milestone with the installation of the project’s first monopile foundation. 

South Fork Wind will next install the first US-built offshore substation. Hundreds of US workers and three Northeast ports will support South Fork Wind’s construction through late fall. The project, which is expected to complete on time, will power around 70,000 New York homes when it comes online at the end of 2023.

The 132-megawatt (MW), 12-turbine project, which is being built by Danish wind giant Ørsted and New England energy company Eversource (a 50/50 partnership), is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the US.

Martyn1981

Some nice news on the divestment side which sits under the G&E heading. Church of England has finally taken the step, and globally, it appears that the eventual economic collapse in value of the FF industry, will have a minimal impact on most of the population.

C of E divests of fossil fuels as oil and gas firms ditch climate pledges

The Church of England is divesting from fossil fuels in its multibillion pound endowment and pension funds over climate concerns and what the church claims are recent U-turns by oil and gas companies.

The church said it was abandoning oil and gas companies and all firms primarily engaged in the exploration, production and refining of oil or gas by the end of 2023, unless they were in genuine alignment with a 1.5C reduction pathway.

The church has previously rejected calls to sell off fossil fuel holdings in its £3.5bn pension fund.

Responding to the announcement, Jennifer Larbie, Christian Aid’s head of global advocacy, said: “It is telling that the Church of England, which has worked tirelessly to engage with the oil and gas industry and shift it on to a sustainable approach, has decided that these companies are beyond the pale.

“If ever there was a sign that the UK government needed to step in and tax fossil fuel profits to pay for the damage they have caused, this is it. It’s only right that the polluters should pay.”

Charlie Kronick, an oil finance adviser to Greenpeace UK, said: “After years of trying to change these companies from within, the Church of England has clearly lost faith in Shell and other oil giants’ ability to redeem themselves. This should be a moment of moral reckoning for other investors and for our government.”

Loss of fossil fuel assets would not impoverish general public, study finds

A rapid reduction in fossil fuels, essential to avoid devastating climate breakdown, would have minimal financial impact on the vast majority of people, new research has shown.

Urgently cutting back on fossil fuel production is essential to avoid the worst impacts of climate breakdown and the economic and social turmoil that would ensue. However, some opponents of climate action claim it is too expensive. They argue that rapidly scaling back fossil fuel production would leave billions of pounds of “stranded assets”, leading to an economic slump that would impoverish the public through a fall in the value of savings and pension funds.

The study, published in the journal Joule, found that in high-income countries two-thirds of the financial losses would be borne by the most affluent 10%. In contrast, governments could easily compensate for the minimal impact on those on middle and lower levels of wealth.

Chancel said: “These latter groups have nothing to fear from rapid action, in particular if governments decide to compensate for their losses, which can be done at relatively low cost.”

The study found that in the US, two-thirds of the financial losses from lost fossil fuel assets would affect the top 10% of wealth holders, with half of that affecting the top 1%.

When the researchers repeated this analysis for the UK and continental European countries, they found similar results.

silverwhistle

Martyn1981 said:

In the US and Aus, they seem to be deploying 5MW and 6MW onshore wind, whereas we typically deploy ~3MW. We just don't have the roads and access in hilly areas for the necessary kit to reach site economically. But US and Aus have large flat areas with easier access*. UK has deployed larger onshore wind WT's at near shore/dockside locations where acess via ships is easy.

Bear in mind that even some of the earlier offshore turbines were fairly small. From memory Rampion off Brighton has 3.4MW in the first phase.

As for nuclear, I don't think any more will be developed beyond HPC, once the costs are examined. I wish Labour would just accept that anything they do will be attacked by the right wing media. The latter have no shame as the support for our recent ex-prime minister(s) shows.

Martyn1981

Here's yet another article on Eco Wave. I really hope the fact that they keep rolling out new installs, is a good sign, and that the technology is viable. Such a great additional RE tool for the toolbox if it works.

Eco Wave Power eyes Taiwanese potential

Eco Wave Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with maritime engineering outfit Lian Tat Company (LTC) to develop wave energy in Taiwan starting with a 20MW project.

According to the terms of the agreement, Eco Wave Power and LTC will enter into negotiations regarding the establishment of a joint venture to develop projects in Taiwan.

The partnership will leverage Eco Wave Power’s wave energy conversion technology, which has been deployed in several locations worldwide.

The first stage of the project will be the development of a 20MW wave energy power station in Taiwan, which would begin with a 100kW pilot and then expand in stages to a total installed capacity of 20MW. 

Coastalwatch

A compelling report upon Japan's potential as a renewable energy generator being able to produce far more than it needs from renewable sources competitive or more so than those already in existance. It just requires the necessary get up and go to make it happen. Not too disimilar to many other countries around the globe.

Apparently it's potential is considerable and the country could easily transition to net zero well before 2050!

Japan’s vast wind and solar resources

To achieve its 2050 carbon neutrality commitment, Japan must eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, as they comprise nearly all of its emissions. Fortunately, Japan has everything it needs to become energy self-sufficient, in the form of solar, wind, and pumped hydro energy storage.

By far the fastest energy change in history is underway. Solar and wind generators comprise three quarters of global electricity generation capacity additions (Figure 1). This is compelling market-based evidence that solar and wind are cheaper than fossil fuel generation. Solar has been the leading technology since 2016 and may reach 60% of new generation capacity in 2023.

Japan could produce all of its electricity from wind and solar for $86/110 MWh, which is competitive with current market prices. This includes the cost of transmission and storage needed to balance 100% renewable electricity. Japan could set an example for the world.

Importation of clean hydrogen for energy production (for example from Australia) is expensive because about three-quarters of the energy is lost in compression, shipping, storage and conversion which triples the effective energy cost. It’s cheaper for Japan to produce its own electricity from wind and solar than to import clean hydrogen.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/06/19/japans-vast-wind-and-solar-resources/