The Alternative Green Energy Thread

JKenH

Wind energy storage in the UK is posing problems, but long-term solutions are emerging

https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/wind-energy-storage-in-the-uk-is-posing-problems-but-long-term-solutions-are-emerging/

JKenH

With tight margins and high prices, was Winter 2020 a sign of things to come?

An article from back in June.

The other important trend is that of electrification. The Government is pushing hard for electric vehicles to replace petrol and diesel cars and vans, and is looking at ways to encourage the uptake of heat pumps as an alternative to gas heating. Either of these in isolation would have a major impact on electricity system demand, with electric heating driving higher use of electricity in winter – some 78% of British homes are currently heated with gas, so the potential impact on the electricity system of electricifation could be very material.

Although some of the capacity issues last winter might have been one-offs, the reality is that dispatchable generation is being increasingly replaced with intermittent renewable capacity, while demand is set to grow significantly. This means that although the specific drivers may differ in future, the overall outcomes may be remarkably similar, and winter 2020 may indeed provide an insight into a new market paradigm

https://watt-logic.com/2021/06/09/winter-2020/

ABrass

JKenH said:

With tight margins and high prices, was Winter 2020 a sign of things to come?

An article from back in June.

The other important trend is that of electrification. The Government is pushing hard for electric vehicles to replace petrol and diesel cars and vans, and is looking at ways to encourage the uptake of heat pumps as an alternative to gas heating. Either of these in isolation would have a major impact on electricity system demand, with electric heating driving higher use of electricity in winter – some 78% of British homes are currently heated with gas, so the potential impact on the electricity system of electricifation could be very material.

Although some of the capacity issues last winter might have been one-offs, the reality is that dispatchable generation is being increasingly replaced with intermittent renewable capacity, while demand is set to grow significantly. This means that although the specific drivers may differ in future, the overall outcomes may be remarkably similar, and winter 2020 may indeed provide an insight into a new market paradigm

https://watt-logic.com/2021/06/09/winter-2020/

It's odd that one of the evens in there included the deactivation of 2.3GW of gas plants because they weren't profitable. Even though the market was clearly demanding more production. It smells of cherry picked data.

https://www.energylivenews.com/2020/08/26/calon-energys-uk-gas-plants-put-in-dormant-state-by-administrators/

Did we discuss the closure of a 10 year old CCGT at the time? Because it's quite odd.

JKenH

Britain can't rely on France and Ireland to keep the lights on

A couple of paragraphs from an opinion piece from the Telegraph today.

First, the UK needs more back-up supply. A huge proportion of our electricity now comes from wind farms. That may well be great in the medium term but while the capacity is being created, we need to make sure there are plenty of alternative sources of supply, and they can be turned on at the flick of a switch. It might come as news to ministers, but the weather is, er, changeable, and always will be. We can’t be left at its mercy. If that means we have too much capacity, and we are paying for plants that sit idle most of the time, then so be it.

Finally, we need to build both resilience and self-reliance into the system. It is fine to trade power across the English channel and the Irish Sea. Especially with renewables, different countries can produce at different rates, and times, and trading to even out supply and demand makes a lot of sense. But energy is not exactly optional for an economy or, come to think of it, for the country. In a crunch, the UK needs to be able to generate its own power – and not rely on others.

https://www.dailyadvent.com/gb/news/01e947da2b614b22bcf66e97a4a3a14c-Britain-cant-rely-on-France-and-Ireland-to-keep-the-lights-on

michaels

I think someone has asked this question before but...

Like millions of homes we have a system boiler and a hot water storage tank with a back up immersion - and a smart meter which I think creates its own 'wifi network'.

How hard would it be to add a switch to the immersion circuit controlled by the smart meter to dump excess electricity into the hot water tank whenever supply exceeds demand?  Wouldn't this be a greener way of storing this excess than mucking about with batteries etc and directly reduce fossil fuel burn?

QrizB

michaels said:

How hard would it be to add a switch to the immersion circuit controlled by the smart meter to dump excess electricity into the hot water tank whenever supply exceeds demand?  Wouldn't this be a greener way of storing this excess than mucking about with batteries etc and directly reduce fossil fuel burn?

From a simple hardware perspective it's not difficult, the HAN is Zigbee like eg. Hue bulbs or Sonoff switches. However it's not under your control and the only people who can add a device to it are the DCC.

From an environmental perspective it's less clear. While there are still significant amounts of FF being burned to generate electricity, it could be lower-emissions for your surplus PV to be exported and you burn gas in your boiler instead, depending on what other generation it displaces.

Natural gas is 227g CO2/kWh (according to this page) while the UK's electricity network is currently 189g CO2/kWh but has varied over the past week from 132 to 266g CO2/kWh (both from this site).

JKenH

Power struggle with Europe as UK grid battles to keep the lights on

Ignore the headline, below was the interesting comment. 

Britain’s power grid has repeatedly fallen below its targeted frequency level this year, raising fears that it is struggling to cope with intermittent energy supplies.

It comes amid rising international energy costs and a recent drop in wind power due to particularly still weather. Earlier this week the UK was forced to bring a coal-fired power plant back online to boost the grid.

The grid’s level of frequency dipped to between 49.79Hz and 49.67Hz on 11 occasions between February and June, according to data analysed by The Sunday Telegraph from the Gridwatch database which measures frequency at five-minute intervals.

This is within the legal limit of 49.5Hz but outside what National Grid sets as its own operational limits of between 49.8Hz and 50.2Hz.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/09/11/power-struggle-europe-uk-grid-struggles-keep-lights/

QrizB

^^ That is interesting. I seem to recall there was a blackout a couple of years ago prompted by two generation sites tripping out, followed by automated load shedding to bring the grid frequency back within norms.

Here's an article: http://watt-logic.com/2019/08/12/august-2019-blackout/

Let's hope we don't have another of those!

JKenH

Norway's Fossil Fuel Reliance Is Going to the Ballot Box

But beneath its green veneer, Norway remains the most fossil fuel-dependent industrialized democracy in the world. Crude oil and natural gas account for 41% of exports, 14% of gross domestic product (GDP), 14% of government revenues, and between 6% and 7% of employment. Home to the largest hydrocarbon reserves in Europe, the country is the world’s third largest exporter of natural gas, and one of the top exporters of crude oil. Norway’s total petroleum production is forecast to increase until 2024 or so.

Even domestically, per capita energy demand and usage are higher than in the rest of Europe. Greenhouse gas emissions have barely decreased since 1990. And owing largely to its reliance on fossil fuel production, which is the country’s biggest source of emissions, Norway is currently on track to cut carbon emissions by only 14% to 21% below 1990 levels by 2030—far below the target reduction set in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of at least 50% to 55%.

https://time.com/6096977/norway-fossil-fuels-election/

JKenH

The Irish Independent‘s take on our electricity price troubles

The calm weather highlights the shortcomings of Britain's growing reliance on green energy at a time fossil fuels are also expensive

“It’s just like we are not receiving enough renewable production in the UK,” said Ogan Kose, a managing director at Accenture. “The expected case would be that renewable production would contribute up to 18-20pc of overall electricity generation, this is not happening at least nowadays.”

The calm weather highlights the shortcomings of Britain’s growing reliance on green energy at a time fossil fuels are also expensive. Wind generation is set to be low this week before finally increasing on Friday, which means “brutal” conditions for prices, according to Enappsys.

Soaring power prices are also being driven higher by surging costs on cross-border cables.

https://www.independent.ie/business/world/electricity-prices-in-uk-shoot-up-to-a-record-high-40847848.html