Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

70sbudgie said:

Martyn1981 said:

Large grid expenditure, accepting all recommendations. Sounds good, but a little (dare I say) political, but hopefully it's real and positive.

Though I don't quite understand the cheap shot at imports - afterall, we're massively expanding interconnectors this decade (from ~5GW to ~15GW), and hoping long term to sell a vast amount of excess wind to mainland Europe.

‘UK grid measures to unleash £90bn of investment’

Measures that include reforming connections and creating capacity on the UK power grid are expected to bring forward £90bn of investment over the next 10 years.

The plans have been set out in the Autumn Statement alongside £960m of investment in green industries. 

Launched by the Chancellor and the Energy Security Secretary, the government has published its response to Electricity Networks Commissioner, Nick Winser, accepting his recommendations in all areas.

Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho (pictured) said: “As we move away from unreliable imports to cheaper, home-grown energy, we’re boosting the grid so that it can meet our expanding electricity needs which are expected to have doubled by 2050.

Isn't the reference to unreliable imports because we import a lot of the gas used in electricity generation? Rather than the electricity interconnectors?

That would make sense, thanks.

Martyn1981

Yet more big battery news from Aus, this time for grid firming in the state of New South Wales. Aus does seem to like its batteries.

2,800MWh of battery storage projects win New South Wales firming infrastructure tender

Three large-scale battery storage projects and one virtual power plant were the winners of a recent competitive tender held on behalf of the government of New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Hosted by AEMO Services, the services arm of the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the tender was the second in a series of four through which NSW is seeking firming capacity, under the state’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.

Winners receive a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) through AEMO Services, a financial support contract for which competitive bids were placed. The LTESA contracts have been designed in such a way that the state pays a revenue top-up to replace projects’ ‘missing money’, in the form of annuity payments.  

This time out, there were no long-duration energy storage (LDES) winners. Instead, two of the three selected BESS projects were 2-hour, and the third a 4-hour duration resource. Total output of winning BESS projects was 980MW and capacity 2,790MWh.

Martyn1981

Martyn1981 said:

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.

Strange post, but thought it worth posting a counter to the above news piece from a fortnight ago. The article said that it was hoped China might turn the corner as soon as next year, regarding carbon emissions, which are currently still rising:

“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.

But two weeks later, we get a less optimistic article, from the same source (The Guardian), talking about the expansion of coal power stations in China. Although to be fair, it also mentions falling capacity factors.

This doesn't mean China can't turn the corner in 2024/25, but does, at least for me, make for very interested viewing. As this will be a huge milestone, as and when it happens.

As I said, strange post, but I thought the two articles together give a better overall picture, and the second article does seem to still hold the door open for a peak in coal consumption (if not capacity) in the near future. 

China’s coal addiction puts spotlight on its climate ambitions before Cop28

China’s addiction to building new coal-fired power plants is becoming increasingly entrenched, even as the country is on track to reach peak CO2 emissions before its 2030 target.

But 2021 was also the year in which severe power outages blighted many parts of China, leading to rationing, closed factories and cold homes as local authorities struggled to cope with sudden shortages of energy.

In 2022, further energy crunches in south-west China underlined the importance of stable energy supplies to Chinese officials. That has put the commitment to reduce reliance on coal-fired energy in direct tension with the new emphasis on energy security.

Despite growing demand for energy, China still has far more coal power capacity than it needs. Last year the average utilisation rate for coal power plants was just over 50%.

Experts say that the way to ensure China’s energy security is to improve the technological infrastructure of the grid to make it more stable and efficient, not build new dirty generators.

Wen added that some smaller and more inefficient coal power plants have been closed in recent years, partially offsetting the surge in new approvals.

Recent policy developments suggest that China is doubling down on coal, even as the rapid construction of green energy infrastructure means that the average annual increase in China’s energy demands can be serviced entirely by low-carbon energy. China’s solar capacity now exceeds the rest of the world combined, but coal still accounts for more than half of total energy consumption.

In November, the Chinese government released a long-awaited coal capacity compensation mechanism. The policy, which comes into effect on 1 January, guarantees payments to coal-fired power producers based on their installed capacity. This could incentivise the building of more coal, according to Hove. Other analysts say that the policy will allow more renewables to enter the energy mix without compromising stability.

michaels

Not sure the two stories are in any way inconsistent. 

China is using coal for what we do with gas and with expanding energy demand they need more capacity available for 'when the wind isn't blowing' and coal works better for this than nuclear as it can simply be turned off when lower marginal cost renewable generation is available.  It is easy to imagine both increased coal capacity and reduced coal burning overall.

Martyn1981

Yep, I think the two stories may differ slightly in optimism, but both seem to be pointing in the same general direction. So fingers crossed for that news headline that China emissions have peaked.

But that said, it may take a year or so to measure and confirm (or at least get opinions from outside of China that it's true), so maybe we won't hear till 2025/26 at the earliest?

Coastalwatch

Good to see some positive news on tidal energy generation, even if only 4MW's, but recognition at least!

Nova consortium wins €20 million of EU funding to install 16 turbine SEASTAR project in Orkney

Nova Innovation has won EU funding for a 4 MW tidal energy farm that will be home to the largest number of tidal turbines anywhere in the world. Nova will lead a pan-European consortium that will kick-start mass manufacturing of tidal turbines in the tidal industry at Nova’s headquarters in Edinburgh. The trailblazing project, unveiled at COP28, marks a crucial step in unlocking a new global source of renewable energy in the battle against climate change.

https://novainnovation.com/news/nova-consortium-wins-20-million-of-eu-funding-to-install-16-turbine-seastar-project-in-orkney

Exiled_Tyke

Coastalwatch said:

Good to see some positive news on tidal energy generation, even if only 4MW's, but recognition at least!

Nova consortium wins €20 million of EU funding to install 16 turbine SEASTAR project in Orkney

Nova Innovation has won EU funding for a 4 MW tidal energy farm that will be home to the largest number of tidal turbines anywhere in the world. Nova will lead a pan-European consortium that will kick-start mass manufacturing of tidal turbines in the tidal industry at Nova’s headquarters in Edinburgh. The trailblazing project, unveiled at COP28, marks a crucial step in unlocking a new global source of renewable energy in the battle against climate change.

https://novainnovation.com/news/nova-consortium-wins-20-million-of-eu-funding-to-install-16-turbine-seastar-project-in-orkney

Yeah they have talked this one up:  'the largest number of  (TINY) tidal turbines'.   Compare this to Simec and the MeyGen project currently with 4 1.5MW turbines installed (so 6MW) and they are hoping to have another 28MW running in 2027.  

zeupater

Hi

The issue that articles like these tend to miss is that tidal flow turbines are limited very much like their wind counterparts in that positioning is a key component .... okay, there's a very strong argument that tidal flow conditioning (eg flow restriction to force flow acceleration) can achieve vastly better results than attempting to do this for wind, but no-one seems to even be considering this .... 

Remember, double the velocity gives 8x the available energy for any swept area, therefore natural tidal funnelling locations that increase flow should be targeted first, so that's appropriate narrows, headlands & estuaries. After this it's possible to concentrate flow artificially, for example shaping the flow between man-made islands & other obstacles ... yes it initially seems more costly than a single turbine, but when the cost results in the same generation as (say) 8 or more turbines with associated reductions in maintenance etc, does it then make sense? ... and that's before integration into other projects such as bridges, harbour walls, coastal defences etc. !

Windmill at sea vs joined-up thinking .... mmmm .... I know which path I'd follow ... 

HTH - Z  

Exiled_Tyke

zeupater said:

Hi

The issue that articles like these tend to miss is that tidal flow turbines are limited very much like their wind counterparts in that positioning is a key component .... okay, there's a very strong argument that tidal flow conditioning (eg flow restriction to force flow acceleration) can achieve vastly better results than attempting to do this for wind, but no-one seems to even be considering this .... 

Remember, double the velocity gives 8x the available energy for any swept area, therefore natural tidal funnelling locations that increase flow should be targeted first, so that's appropriate narrows, headlands & estuaries. After this it's possible to concentrate flow artificially, for example shaping the flow between man-made islands & other obstacles ... yes it initially seems more costly than a single turbine, but when the cost results in the same generation as (say) 8 or more turbines with associated reductions in maintenance etc, does it then make sense? ... and that's before integration into other projects such as bridges, harbour walls, coastal defences etc. !

Windmill at sea vs joined-up thinking .... mmmm .... I know which path I'd follow ... 

HTH - Z  

I like your thinking. I wish we'd get a move on with tidal as it's got a huge way to go.  CFD's are very high compared to other forms of RE (especially wind) and the environment is incredibly hostile to the equipment but as you say the potential is enormous with loads of opportunities to put relatively cheap (and probably inefficient) turbines in place.    And the predictability of power from tidal is another great positive: it may be very expensive but on those occasions where the tides match peak consumption periods it might not matter so much from a cost perspective and a massive benefit v's gas (and coal) burning. 

Coastalwatch

Plenty of demand in Europe for new jobs in the Solar industry where the likes of Poland, Spain & Germany amongst others are making considerable contributions to there respective jobs markets. Not surprising I guess seeing the amount of new Solar farms being installed over there. Sadly the UK doesn't get a mention but no doubt demand does exist here, or will do eventually given the hard economics of it being the cheapest and quickest means of installing energy generating plant.

As the article suggests suitable training and efforts in rewarding those employees are required to retain them so wouldn't it make sense for us to train and recruit from residents here rather than simply rely on workers from abroad to fill the void as in other sectors.

With energy storage batteries also now offered at very competitive rates then in combination with Solar they can make a formidable contribution to the growing energy and jobs market here.

Casting the net for solar recruits

As global demand for renewable energy continues to surge, the European solar industry stands at the forefront of this transformative wave. The European Union added 41.4 GW of solar power generation capacity in 2022, enough to power 12.4 million homes, and is expected to more than double the scale of its solar market in the next four years, according to a report from trade body SolarPower Europe.

Of course, such a massive transition requires a lot of additional resources, not least skilled workers. SolarPower Europe's recent “EU Solar Jobs Report 2023” revealed a staggering 39% growth in the solar workforce, reaching an impressive 648,000 employees by the end of 2022 and up from 466,000 in the previous year. While initial estimates projected 1 million solar jobs by 2030, the industry now anticipates achieving this milestone as early as 2025, underscoring the rapid pace of solar market expansion.

In 2022, Poland emerged as an epicenter of the solar workforce, boasting the highest number of solar workers in Europe. Spain and Germany closely followed while Dutch, Italian, Greek, and French workers also contributed significantly to the continent's solar employment landscape. This geographical diversity emphasizes the pan-European nature of the solar revolution.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/11/28/casting-the-net-for-solar-recruits/