Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

zeupater

Coastalwatch said:

A welcome announcement from National Grid today following horror stories in recent times about decades long delays in connections to the Grid for many energy projects. It would appear ESO are finally prepared to take into account the ability of battery storage to respond to the needs of the grid in smoothing out demand rather than exacerbating the issue as previously projected. After all when generation is high and energy price low battery storage ideally charges in order to sell it back when demand and prices are higher rather than export at considerable loss. 

I wonder why it has taken so long for them to come to this conclusion. Hopefully good news for commercial battery storage operators along with other renewable energy projects.

UK grid operator streamlines 10 GW of battery storage

Plans to connect around 10 GW of battery energy storage projects in England and Wales are now in the fast lane. This comes on top of 10 GW of capacity unlocked at distribution level, including shovel-ready solar farms, onshore wind, and battery storage projects.

Traditionally, National Grid carries out network reinforcements before a project plugs in – sometimes adding years to a connection – based on the assumption that batteries could charge at peak times and export when generation is high, exacerbating system peaks and constraints.

Following detailed technical analysis by electricity transmission engineers, National Grid will now offer selected battery projects a transmission connection before network reinforcements are made, on the agreement that the ESO can adjust the battery’s behavior in certain operating conditions to reduce system impact.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/11/07/uk-grid-operator-streamlines-10-gw-of-battery-storage/

Hi

Re: "I wonder why it has taken so long for them to come to this conclusion. Hopefully good news for commercial battery storage operators along with other renewable energy projects" ... it's highly likely that they've finally realised that it's a bottom line issue and they're cornered ....

Either they need to react to large scale distributed renewables generation & linked storage requirements and address grid integration in a timely manner (as mandated), thus encouraging added value within their business model .... or .... accept that smaller scale distributed generation & storage will happen anyway through DNO level connectivity and the formation of distributed virtual storage networks achieves the same goal without their input ....

If my ramblings are anywhere near correct, it simply looks like technology has provided a form of competition that was unexpected by short sighted management teams ... don't you just love the inability of legacy-type businesses to recognise disruptive technologies until some bean-counter spots a trend buried somewhere in the accounts ... 

HTH - Z

70sbudgie

This is the link to the information from the NG website: https://www.nationalgrideso.com/document/281171/download

Interestingly there doesn't appear to be a date associated with this. (Unless I missed it because it is in tiny text and I read it on my phone)

It has been rumoured since the beginning of the year that NG were going to do this, so it has taken a while to materialise. 

For information, NG controls all generation (and energy storage) connections from 1MW up, even those connecting to the distribution networks, through a register system that the DNOs have to submit. There are 10s of TWs of generation and storage on that register waiting for NG's approval, so it isn't just transmission connections that they are holding up from lack of infrastructure investment. 

Coastalwatch

Thank you. 3rd June '23, so quite some delay. It was in very small print so not surprising you didn't come cross it on the phone!

Martyn1981

Huge news, that China's RE deployment may now be close to exceeding their annual increase in energy demand. That means that emissions could start to decline, and possibly next year, but if not, hopefully very close.

[Just for clarification, as the article mentions new coal powerstations - It's common to report new coal buildouts in China, but often missing, is that the newer ones are more efficient, older ones get decommissioned, and the fleet as a whole, which has seen rising total capacity, is seeing falling capacity factors, as they are used less.]

China’s carbon emissions set for structural decline from next year

China’s carbon emissions could peak this year before falling into a structural decline for the first time from next year after a record surge in clean energy investments, according to research.

Emissions from the world’s most polluting country have rebounded this year after the Chinese government dropped its Covid restrictions in January, according to analysis undertaken for Carbon Brief.

However, this rebound in fossil fuel demand emerged alongside a historic expansion of the country’s low-carbon energy sources, which was far in excess of policymakers’ targets and expectations.

Beijing’s solar and wind installation targets for the year were met by September, according to the report, and the market share of electric vehicles is already well ahead of the government’s 20% target for 2025.

“These record additions are all but guaranteed to push fossil-fuel electricity generation and CO2 emissions into decline in 2024,” Lauri Myllyvirta, a lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and the author of the report.

Myllyvirta said the boom in clean energy generation could trigger a decline in China’s emissions from next year despite a wave of new coal plants across the country.

“This is because – for the first time – the rate of low-carbon energy expansion is now sufficient to not only meet, but exceed the average annual increase in China’s demand for electricity overall,” he said.

“If this pace is maintained, or accelerated, it would mean that China’s electricity generation from fossil fuels would enter a period of structural decline – which would also be a first. Moreover, this structural decline could come about despite the new wave of coal plant permitting and construction in the country,” Myllyvirta added.

Exiled_Tyke

Is this huge news too? Well may be but may be not. I don't see this one happening and if it does it probably won't be on the kind of scale proposed. But at least there are now conversations about on-shore wind.  May be we will start to see some progress but don't hold your breath. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-67405200

70sbudgie

Is peat bog the right place for wind turbines? The area of ground that needs to be disturbed for the infrastructure vs the land area that will then be protected seems very small. And if electricity generation displaces grouse farming, surely the overall net environmental impact is beneficial? 

This is something I have wondered about a lot and my musings have increased since reading various reports about the measured improvements to wildlife around solar farms.

Exiled_Tyke

70sbudgie said:

Is peat bog the right place for wind turbines? The area of ground that needs to be disturbed for the infrastructure vs the land area that will then be protected seems very small. And if electricity generation displaces grouse farming, surely the overall net environmental impact is beneficial? 

This is something I have wondered about a lot and my musings have increased since reading various reports about the measured improvements to wildlife around solar farms.

Yep. And even if land is disturbed (during construction perhaps) it will be able to recover.  Any way if wind farms = protecting peat bogs (i.e. making the land less useful for other purposes) then fantastic: two environmental benefits in one. 

zeupater

Exiled_Tyke said:

70sbudgie said:

Is peat bog the right place for wind turbines? The area of ground that needs to be disturbed for the infrastructure vs the land area that will then be protected seems very small. And if electricity generation displaces grouse farming, surely the overall net environmental impact is beneficial? 

This is something I have wondered about a lot and my musings have increased since reading various reports about the measured improvements to wildlife around solar farms.

Yep. And even if land is disturbed (during construction perhaps) it will be able to recover.  Any way if wind farms = protecting peat bogs (i.e. making the land less useful for other purposes) then fantastic: two environmental benefits in one. 

Hi

... but don't forget, the last colonies of those pesky rare newts will probably thrive in wet heaths & bogs ... funny, claimed to be as rare as rocking-horse droppings but are found literally anywhere anyone wants to dig a hole in the ground ... well, they seem to be around here!

Probably find that some would claim that since kids became too precious to be allowed to carry an old jam jar and enjoy themselves getting wet & filthy in mud & water the population has either exploded or imploded, whilst others would expect that one of the the last survivors, Norman the newt, is the most long lived and well travelled amphibian in the history of the universe  ....

HTH - Z 

70sbudgie

I'm not actually sure that newts would impact this sort of construction. It's not that you can't build if you find them, you just have to make provision for them ( I've seen a newt hotel that was a solution on one project). I imagine that would be pretty easy in the middle of a peat bog, as the disturbed land would be surrounded by suitable habitat.

QrizB

70sbudgie said:

I'm not actually sure that newts would impact this sort of construction. It's not that you can't build if you find them, you just have to make provision for them ( I've seen a newt hotel that was a solution on one project).

I met someone once who worked as a newt wrangler. They were licensed and everything.