The Alternative Green Energy Thread

QrizB

JKenH said:

We have made a decision to shut our coal plants. That’s history now. This isn’t about coal it’s about what we replace it with because there will be gaps we struggle to fill. 

We are going to find gas filling the hole left by coal, not wind and solar.

I agree that, in the short term, we're likely to burn more gas to make up for the shortfall in coal. The Drax page doesn't seem to split out CCGT gas from OCGT but Gridwatch does and currently shows 280MW of OCGT, which (per Gridwatch's description) "are cheap to build but expensive to run".

The Norwegian interconnector is due to come online later this year and should give us access to 1.4GW of Norwegian hydroelectric power (they get access to British wind power, in return).

Longer term we need to build replacement generation capacity. Considering how much is already in the pipeline, I'm fairly confident the market will provide it - and if electricity remains at £100/GWh the business case will get stronger.

shinytop

Lucklily we kept some coal capacity on standby.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58469238

JKenH

Another bad day for wholesale electricity prices - £3400/MWh (that’s £3.40/kWh) at 6pm tonight. I don’t think this is caused by high gas prices, just the normal mechanisms of supply and demand in a market distorted by government policy. I doubt it will be the last multi £‘000 price/MWh we will see this year. https://electricinsights.co.uk/#/dashboard?start=2021-09-07&&_k=howle8 

QrizB

JKenH said:

Another bad day for wholesale electricity prices - £3400/MWh (that’s £3.40/kWh) at 6pm tonight. I don’t think this is caused by high gas prices, just the normal mechanisms of supply and demand in a market distorted by government policy.

I posted thsi link in the Agile thread which goves some context:
https://www.current-news.co.uk/news/the-perfect-shoulder-month-storm-power-prices-spike-to-record-highs
At £3.40/kWh it's worth running my worksite generator which gets about 2kWh/litre of unleaded. The neighbours might complain though (joke, before anyone thinks I'm being serious)

JKenH

Two energy suppliers go bust after surge in power prices

Almost 94,000 energy customers have been left in limbo after two suppliers went bust in the wake of soaring wholesale power costs, raising questions about the resilience of the industry. 

PfP Energy - which has around 80,000 domestic customers and 5,000 business customers - is ceasing to trade, as is MoneyPlus Energy, which has around 9,000 domestic customers. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/09/07/two-energy-suppliers-go-bust-surge-power-prices/

JKenH

Britain forced to fire up coal plant amid record power prices and winter squeeze

Andrew Crossland, a fellow at Durham Energy Institute, said the situation highlighted questions over the country’s energy resilience as intermittent sources such as wind and solar take on a bigger share and domestic production of oil and gas is set to fall.

He said: “We can’t install enough wind to meet our needs. We’re going to need something else. I really think that debate needs to be not that coal is going away, but what and how are we going to replace it with, what mix of solutions?”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/09/06/britain-forced-fire-coal-plant-amid-record-power-prices/

ABrass

Coal and gas will run for fewer and fewer hours as RE increases. Batteries will smooth out the peaks and troughs so there will be fewer occasions when electricity can get to extortionate numbers.

The telegraph will continue to clutch at pearls and the world will move on.

JKenH

ABrass said:

Coal and gas will run for fewer and fewer hours as RE increases. Batteries will smooth out the peaks and troughs so there will be fewer occasions when electricity can get to extortionate numbers.

The telegraph will continue to clutch at pearls and the world will move on.

Great Britain faces rising risk of winter blackouts, system operator warns

The Guardian was saying much the same a few weeks ago.



https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/22/great-britain-faces-risk-of-winter-blackouts-system-operator-warns


and even the GMB are on board

National Grid winter blackout warning 'shows how close we are to cliff edge'

https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/national-grid-winter-blackout-warning-shows-how-close-we-are-cliff-edge

Coal power plant fire up shows no net zero without new nuclear

GMB, the energy union, says the UK firing up an old coal power plant to meet electricity needs shows there can be no net zero without new nuclear. 

National Grid ESO - which is responsible for balancing the UK's electricity supply - confirmed yesterday coal was providing 3% of national power. [1] 

Andy Prendergast, GMB National Secretary, said: 

“This is cast iron proof – if it were needed – there can be no net zero in the UK without new nuclear. 

“Firing up belching coal power plants makes a mockery of the UK’s claim to be a world leader in green energy.” 

“It’s simple stuff – we need a balanced energy mix to make sure we can keep the lights on when renewables don't generate as much power as normal. 

https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/coal-power-plant-fire-shows-no-net-zero-without-new-nuclear

This is not a Left vs Right thing. The government made a decision to close all our coal plants by September 2024 and whether or not that was the right decision we need a reliable source of energy to replace them. Electricity demand is going to increase as new gas CH will soon be banned and electric vehicle use grows. 

I don’t really care what it is as long as the lights stay on. I love the idea of RE but it is just too intermittent to make up much more of our grid without accompanying storage and the build out of storage just isn’t happening rapidly enough. 

JKenH

New nuclear jobs now needed to meet net zero

It seems the promise of all the new jobs in RE is not being fulfilled, at least according to this article from the GMB.

Renewables alone cannot meet the 2050 target as a Labour Party report shows a steep fall in low-carbon and renewable energy jobs since 2014

https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/new-nuclear-jobs-now-needed-meet-net-zero

JKenH

Electric car charging firm backed by Terry Leahy eyes £500m London listing

Lincolnshire-based Myenergi makes Zappi electric vehicle charging systems that utilise homeowners' solar panels

I wasn’t too sure where to post this- electric cars or investment thread - so went for here. I am particularly fond of Myenergi as not only do I have a Zappi charger but they are a local Lincolnshire company operating in the tech arena. (That endorsement should be enough to put most people off😀).

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/08/05/electric-car-charging-firm-backed-terry-leahy-eyes-500m-london/