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  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 14,766 Forumite
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    Martyn1981 wrote: »
    So a massive step forward towards subsidy free off-shore wind power.

    Speaking of off-shore wind, I can't remember if I've mentioned this in the past but folk might be interested in the theoretical estimates of the amount of energy available from off-shore wind turbines in the UK North Sea.

    These are not capacity figures but the amount of generation averaged out as an hourly GW figure.

    Estimates of current UK average leccy demand are about 40GW, and with heating and transport switched to leccy, could be 80-100GW.

    UK North Sea potential is 1,200GW to 9,100GW, so a tad more than we need. Maybe we could export clean green leccy to Europe and earn a fortune. ;)

    The UK is the Saudi Arabia of wind energy
    Mart. Cardiff. 5.58 kWp PV systems (3.58 ESE & 2.0 WNW). Two A2A units for cleaner heating.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 14,766 Forumite
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    The big Tesla battery in Southern Australia not only works, but appears to be a show off. It reacted to a frequency drop outside of the state, and did it faster than the contracted responder.

    Quite a funny read:

    Tesla big battery outsmarts lumbering coal units after Loy Yang trips
    Last Thursday, one of the biggest coal units in Australia, Loy Yang A 3, tripped without warning at 1.59am, with the sudden loss of 560MW and causing a slump in frequency on the network.

    What happened next has stunned electricity industry insiders and given food for thought over the near to medium term future of the grid, such was the rapid response of the Tesla big battery to an event that happened nearly 1,000km away.
    Importantly, by the time that the contracted Gladstone coal unit had gotten out of bed and put its socks on so it can inject more into the grid – it is paid to respond in six seconds – the fall in frequency had already been arrested and was being reversed.

    Gladstone injected more than Tesla did back into the grid, and took the frequency back up to its normal levels of 50Hz, but by then Tesla had already put its gun back in its holster and had wandered into the bar for a glass of milk.

    So why did the Tesla big battery respond when not contracted?

    One reason is because it can, and so it did.

    The other reason is less clear, but more intriguing. It is contracted to provide such grid services by the South Australia government.

    The details of that contract are not released, but it wouldn’t surprise if that contract allowed, or even encouraged, such intervention – just to rub in the message about a cleaner, faster, smarter grid to the technology dinosaurs in the eastern states.
    Mart. Cardiff. 5.58 kWp PV systems (3.58 ESE & 2.0 WNW). Two A2A units for cleaner heating.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 14,766 Forumite
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    Looks like renewables may have provided about 30% of our leccy this year, up from about 25% the last two years. RE supplied about 5% of our leccy 10yrs ago.

    We got a double boost this year as 2016 was a relatively poor wind year, so the extra capacity installed only allowed it to match 2015, but this year has been better and also more capacity again has been commissioned.

    Nuclear and renewables provide record share of UK electricity, ONS says
    More than half of the UK’s electricity came from nuclear power stations and renewables between July and September, official figures show.

    The record high share of 54.4% of power from low carbon sources was a result of the rapid growth in solar and wind power, according to the Office for National Statistics.

    During the same period in 2016 the share for low carbon electricity stood at 50%, and in 2015 it was 45%.
    Mart. Cardiff. 5.58 kWp PV systems (3.58 ESE & 2.0 WNW). Two A2A units for cleaner heating.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • silverwhistle
    silverwhistle Posts: 3,791 Forumite
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    Martyn1981 wrote: »
    UK North Sea potential is 1,200GW to 9,100GW, so a tad more than we need. Maybe we could export clean green leccy to Europe and earn a fortune. ;)

    Are you including the English Channel? It wasn't until I visited Brighton in autumn 2016 that I became aware of the Rampion development. That's another potential 400Mw coming on stream probably next year. It's the steady incremental nature of all the different developments that I find heartening and, like this field, often near to population centres that will use the power locally.
  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 14,766 Forumite
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    silverwhistle wrote: »
    Are you including the English Channel? It wasn't until I visited Brighton in autumn 2016 that I became aware of the Rampion development. That's another potential 400Mw coming on stream probably next year. It's the steady incremental nature of all the different developments that I find heartening and, like this field, often near to population centres that will use the power locally.

    Hiya. I've checked back and looked at the conversation around it, and I think you are right, it's all UK waters, not UK North Sea waters, my confusion was due to references about North Sea Oil v's Saudi Oil, and the UK off-shore wind potential being far greater than even Saudi oil.

    I recall the Desertec initiative that suggested a well interconnected Europe and North African PV, with bio-mass from Germany, storage (hydro) from Norway, and off-shore wind from the UK, but to be honest, I hadn't realised how large the scale of UK wind actually was. It's certainly more than we'll ever find use for I suspect, so great news that costs are falling fast.
    Mart. Cardiff. 5.58 kWp PV systems (3.58 ESE & 2.0 WNW). Two A2A units for cleaner heating.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • Martyn1981
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    Higher Birth Weight, Lower Risk Of Premature Births After Coal Power Plant Shut Down
    The Portland Generating Plant played a critical role in the Clean Power Plan devised by the Obama administration. As a result of litigation brought by the EPA, a court found it was the sole source of pollution in nearby New Jersey and ordered it closed. In June, 2014, the plant was shuttered. By December 2015, sulfur dioxide emissions in nearby New Jersey had dropped by over 99%.

    Yang and Chou repeated their study after the shutdown. Their findings, published this week online in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and reported by Lehigh University, show that shutting down the plant reduced the likelihood of a low birth weight baby by 0.89 percentage points or about 15% and reduced the likelihood of a preterm birth by 2.83 percentage points or about 28%. The findings are based on medical data from New Jersey zip codes within 60 miles of the plant.
    Mart. Cardiff. 5.58 kWp PV systems (3.58 ESE & 2.0 WNW). Two A2A units for cleaner heating.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • Martyn1981
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    Wind Power Means Jobs in Texas, and Partisan Politics Isn't Going to Stop It
    Wind turbines bring jobs, tax dollars for new schools, income security for farmers and energy independence. To these Texans, climate change has little to do with it.
    Mart. Cardiff. 5.58 kWp PV systems (3.58 ESE & 2.0 WNW). Two A2A units for cleaner heating.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • Exiled_Tyke
    Exiled_Tyke Posts: 1,191 Forumite
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    I'm a little surprised nobody has posted this story yet. It's not the most insightful (especially to the 'experts' on here) but it was the lead headline story on the BBC which is significant in itself.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42495883
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  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 14,766 Forumite
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    The first graph on this link is worth a quick look at

    UK Energy Statistics, Q2 2017

    and then this article has a good review of 2017:

    Analysis: Low-carbon sources generated more UK electricity than fossil fuels in 2017
    For the first time in 2017, more than half of the electricity generated in the UK came from low-carbon sources, Carbon Brief analysis shows.

    The milestone means that, between them, nuclear and renewables generated more electricity in 2017 than all fossil fuels combined. Within this total, wind alone generated more than twice as much electricity as coal, supplying more power in every month except January.
    Mart. Cardiff. 5.58 kWp PV systems (3.58 ESE & 2.0 WNW). Two A2A units for cleaner heating.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • pile-o-stone
    pile-o-stone Posts: 396 Forumite
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    Martyn1981 wrote: »
    : Low-carbon sources generated more UK electricity than fossil fuels in 2017[/URL]

    Another nail in the coffin for those who are against Renewables. :)
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