Green, ethical, energy issues in the news

Martyn1981

Martyn1981 said:

2nd_time_buyer said:

Indeed, great news. I often wonder if they “turn on” each turbine as it is installed? Or do they turn them all on at the end?

Hi. Depends? That's to say, with off-shore wind, they have to wait till they install and commission the electrical control thingymebob, which looks like a small oil rig. Once that's connected and commissioned, then the completed WT's (wind turbines) can put power through, I assume they are in strings, so perhaps once a string is complete.

Posting this article, just because it's current and has a pic of the electrical sub-station being assembled, to show the size of these 'thingymebobs'.

HSM rolls out Thor offshore substation

Martyn1981

'Just another' article on the Morocco - UK scheme. Hard to word this correctly, but I'm extremely excited by the idea, but also think it sounds somewhat crazy. However, the idea seems to check out, and PV, wind, sub-sea HVDC interconnectors etc, all exist today and work fine.

So, it would seem to all come down to cost, and if (big IF) the cost is acceptable, then it seems to be doable, and an excellent source of reliable clean leccy (thanks to a combination of extremely reliable PV and wind generation, backed up by a large amount of storage).

And speaking of cost, we get an update:

Although the project does not need government investment, it does require a contract that guarantees a stable price for the electricity it delivers, which would be paid for through energy bills. Lewis puts this contract price at between £70 to £80 per megawatt hour (MWh) which is less than the deal struck with the developers of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, and in line with the expected cost of future offshore wind farms.

For context, I assume the £70-£80 figure uses the standard 2012 baseline for comparison across all CfD projects. So that compares to the HPC contract of £89.50 (£128/MWh in today's money).

This year's CfD auction issued contracts at (2012 prices):
PV - £50.07
On-shore wind - £50.90
Off-shore wind - £58.87

[Edit - Floating off-shore wind got its first CfD at £140/MWh, but it is new, and off-shore wind originally got £150 many years ago. M.]

So the Morocco scheme, with predictable supply and in-built storage is certainly competive. Will it happen? No idea, but at least it's not 'crazy'.

Former Tesco boss wants to send power from Morocco to Great Britain using subsea cable

In the south-west of Morocco, a sprawl of wind and solar farms stretching across an area the size of Greater London could soon generate the green electricity powering more than 9m British homes.

The near-constrant stream of clean electricity could begin supplying the energy grid by 2030, he says, in time to power the government’s goal of creating a clean energy system by the end of the decade and meet its new ambition to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 81% compared with 1990 levels by 2035.

Lewis’s easy confidence in the project, and what it could mean both for the UK and for the Moroccan economy, has not translated into a speedy process of engagement with government officials. It has been more than a year since the government designated Xlinks a project of national significance but Lewis is still waiting for a green light.

Exiled_Tyke

I thought about posting that here and then thought, 'Nah it's old news'.  But actually you did the right thing (so thank you) because: 
1. This has been kicked along for a while but it's the first time I remember seeing national coverage which surely is very significant. 
2. Could this put Government under pressure to start moving it forward ? 
3. Pricing went through my mind too because it is fair to make a comparison with nuclear being a more constant supply than our current RE set up, and a you say appears far cheaper. 

So let's give this all the publicity we can. May be, just may be, it will actually happen? Let's hope so. 

Martyn1981

I'm certainly a bit more positive about its chances of actually happening. Certainly helps to see more and more interconnectors working. In fact testing has started today (I think) on the Wales/Ireland interconnector (Greenlink 0.5GW) which was recently completed.

If the Morocco scheme is viable, then that would be a good sign for the 2GW Iceland link that has been talked about for around a decade. Plus there's the trans-atlantic scheme (Canada - UK) but I think that's just an idea for now, but possibly 6GW, so nearly twice the size of the Morocco scheme.

Could be amazing, could be sub sea pipe dreams, but I'll follow with interest and semi-controlled excitement.

Coastalwatch

When compared to Xlinks the BESS aspect is by no means large but alongside current UK installations then it dwarfs most and designated a pathfinder project is likely to receive the thumbs up from authorities. So suggesting it to come online in 2026 may not be out of the question. Perhaps another incentive for NESO to ensure such installations are offered sufficient business to make their investment worthwhile and reducing N Grid emissions by a further 4% in doing so. 

Seems to tick most of the boxes.

 

Ørsted’s 300MW/600MWh BESS a ‘blueprint for the future’

Dubbed the Boudica Project, the BESS will be owned by Ørsted ICENI Energy Storage UK, the storage-focused branch of the Danish energy company and developer. It is a novel project in that the storage system will be co-located with an onshore substation, sharing a connection with an offshore wind power plant. The BESS site and substation are near Norwich in Norfolk.

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/orsteds-300mw-600mwh-bess-a-blueprint-for-the-future/

Martyn1981

Article comparing UK spending on RE, v's grid upgrades to manage the extra RE.

UK ‘needs to play catch-up’ in global race to rewire electricity grids

The UK is lagging behind in the race to rewire the world’s power grids by investing four times more on renewable energy projects than on the electricity cables needed to connect them to the grid and consumers, according to a new report.

For every pound the UK has spent on renewables it has spent only 25p on the cables and power lines, claims the report by Bloomberg NEF, which placed the UK eighth in an index of the world’s 10 biggest energy markets.

The findings were published days after it was revealed that the UK had spent about £1bn so far this year paying for wind turbines to be turned off during windy weather, in part because there is not enough grid infrastructure to carry electricity from where it is generated to areas of high power demand.

“It’s creaking at the seams,” he said. “We need to play catch-up. For every pound we invest in renewable energy we should be investing at least £1 in the grid. We need to increase the overall investment in the grid, and evolve our methodology for new grid connections. To be fair to the government and the regulator, they know what needs to be done.”

michaels

Perhaps being a small country with a more concentrated population the UK does not need to spend as much on the grids as other countries?

And what proportion of that 'big' number for non generation payments was due to a lack of transmission rather than a lack of demand?

Exiled_Tyke

someone was going to post this at some point. So I thought I might as well get on with it.  What's missing is the fact that whilst England hinders and complains Scotland has continued to push ahead with wind farm deployment. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx27wppegddo

Martyn1981

I've mentioned the idea of a trans-atlantic HVDC connector before. But to be clear, it really is just a thought exercise at the moment. But thought I'd post this article talking about the idea, authored by someone who has supplied input for the idea.

If nothing else, it's interesting to see the idea of connections across time zones, and how they may help, depending of course on the economics. Also 'fun' to imagine how much impact ~11GW of reliable power might have on the UK's plans. [11GW is a rough guesstimate of this scheme (6GW), plus the suggested HVDC connections to Morocco (3.6GW) and Iceland (2GW).]

HVDC Transmission Between Europe & North America Makes Fiscal Sense

Magnitio

Martyn1981 said:

I've mentioned the idea of a trans-atlantic HVDC connector before. But to be clear, it really is just a thought exercise at the moment. But thought I'd post this article talking about the idea, authored by someone who has supplied input for the idea.

If nothing else, it's interesting to see the idea of connections across time zones, and how they may help, depending of course on the economics. Also 'fun' to imagine how much impact ~11GW of reliable power might have on the UK's plans. [11GW is a rough guesstimate of this scheme (6GW), plus the suggested HVDC connections to Morocco (3.6GW) and Iceland (2GW).]

HVDC Transmission Between Europe & North America Makes Fiscal Sense

Might need to protect it from Russian/Chinese ship anchors being dragged along the sea bed.