The Anonymous Widower

The Southern Entrance To London City Airport

I entered London City Airport by a different route today, taking these pictures as I walked.

Note.

  1. The route is level.
  2. It is on the Southern side of Hartmann Road, which is the main entrance road for the airport.
  3. There is a pedestrian tunnel under Hartmann Road into the airport.
  4. There are stairs and lifts into the Docklands Light Railway station at the airport.
  5. The lifts so all the way to the platforms of the DLR.
  6. The route is level from the lifts to the airport.

This Google Map shows the walk.

Note.

I walked along the path, that runs NW-SE on the Northern side of the various courts and playgrounds.

The entrance to the DLR station is at the South-East end of the path at the junction of Drew and Saville Roads.

This Google Map shows a 3D visualisation of the entrance.

Note.

  1. The path runs on the North side of the football pitch.
  2. The Southern entrance is to the right of blue play area.
  3. Drew Road runs across the entrance.
  4. It looks like there is a drop-off point for passengers, where the car is parked by the football pitch.

Would it be possible to create a waking route from this Southern entrance to a rebuilt Silvertown station on the Elizabeth Line?

This Google Map shows the area between the Southern entrance to the airport and the footbridge over the Elizabeth Line.

Note.

  1. The Southern entrance to the airport is in the North-East corner of the map.
  2. The footbridge over the Elizabeth Line is in the South-West corner of the map.
  3. The large building in the middle is Drew Primary School.
  4. Whytes Road, Saville Road and Leonard Street lead between the Southern entrance to the airport and the A112.

I took these pictures of the A112 and the footbridge a few days ago.

I think it would be possible to run a fleet of small electric shuttle buses on the route.

Elizabeth Line Trains From Silvertown Station

Currently, the following trains pass through the site of the original Silvertown station.

  • Reading and Abbey Wood stopping at Twyford, Maidenhead, Taplow, Burnham, Slough, Langley, West Drayton, Hayes & Harlington, Southall, Ealing Broadway, Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House and Woolwich.
  • Maidenhead and Abbey Wood stopping at Taplow, Burnham, Slough, Langley, Iver, West Drayton, Hayes & Harlington, Southall, Ealing Broadway, Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House and Woolwich.
  • Heathrow Terminal 4 and Abbey Wood stopping at Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3, Hayes & Harlington, Southall, Hanwell, West Ealing, Ealing Broadway, Acton Main Line, Paddington. Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House and Woolwich.
  • Heathrow Terminal 5 and Abbey Wood stopping at Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3, Hayes & Harlington, Southall, Hanwell, West Ealing, Ealing Broadway, Acton Main Line, Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House and Woolwich.

Note.

  1. All four services have a frequency of two trains per hour (tph).
  2. Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House and Woolwich have a frequency of eight tph.
  3. Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 has a frequency of two tph and it has extra connections to Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5.

The number of services will increase in May 2023.

 

December 30, 2022 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , | 2 Comments

Vestas 15 MW Prototype Turbine Produces First Power

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the introductory paragraph.

Vestas’ V236-15.0 MW prototype wind turbine has produced its first kWh after being fully assembled at the Østerild National test centre for large wind turbines in Western Jutland, Denmark.

The first of the four wind farms in the Hornsea wind farm complex to be developed is Hornsea One.

  • It has a capacity of 1218 MW.
  • It is comprised of 174 Siemens SWT-7.0-154, which each have a generating capacity of 7 MW.

If 15 MW turbines could have been used on Hornsea One, it would have more than doubled the generating capacity to 2625 MW.

But obviously, larger turbines have longer blades, so they may need to be placed further apart.

In Vattenfall Boosts Capacity For Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone, I write about how Vattenfall are increasing the size of their Norfolk wind farms, by proposing to use larger turbines.

Conclusion

Turbines will get larger and 15 MW turbines will be commonplace.

A possible advantage is that you only need sixty-seven turbines for a GW, as opposed to a hundred 10 MW turbines, so there are possibilities to optimise the most profitable way to build a wind farm.

December 30, 2022 Posted by | Energy | , , , , | 4 Comments

Neptune Energy, Ørsted And Goal7 Explore Powering Integrated Energy Hubs With Offshore Wind

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Neptune Energy.

These four paragraphs outline the agreement.

Neptune Energy today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ørsted and Goal7 to explore powering new integrated energy hubs in the UK North Sea with offshore wind-generated electricity.

Integrated energy hubs have the potential to combine multiple energy systems, including existing oil and gas production assets, carbon storage and hydrogen production facilities. They could extend the life of producing fields and support the economic case for electrification with renewable energy, to keep carbon emissions low.

The agreement will see the companies examine the potential to supply renewable electricity from Ørsted’s Hornsea offshore windfarm projects to power future Neptune-operated hubs in the UK North Sea.

Goal7 will provide project management support and technical input.

Note.

  1. Neptune Energy has three oil and gas fields in the UK North Sea; Cygnus (operational), Isabella (exploration) and Seagull (development)
  2. Gas from Cygnus comes ashore at the Bacton Gas Terminal.
  3. Ørsted owns the Hornsea wind farm, which when fully developed will have a capacity of around 6.5 GW.
  4. Cygnus and Hornsea could be not much further than 50 km apart.
  5. Seagull and Isabella are further to the North and East of Aberdeen.
  6. Ørsted has an interest in the Broadshore wind farm, which was numbered 8 in the ScotWind Leasing round.

These are my thoughts.

The Cygnus Gas Field And The Hornsea Wind Farm

This could be like one of those stories where boy meets the girl next door and they hit it off from the first day.

This page on the Neptune web site says this about the Cygnus gas field.

The biggest natural gas discovery in the southern North Sea in over 30 years is now the largest single producing gas field in the UK, typically exporting over 250 million standard cubic feet of gas daily. Cygnus contributes six per cent of UK gas demand, supplying energy to the equivalent of 1.5 million UK homes. It has a field life of over 20 years.

Two drilling centres target ten wells. Cygnus Alpha consists of three bridge-linked platforms: a wellhead drilling centre, a processing/utilities unit and living quarters/central control room. Cygnus Bravo, an unmanned satellite platform, is approximately seven kilometres northwest of Cygnus Alpha.

In 2022, we plan to drill two new production wells at Cygnus, with the first of these expected to come onstream in 4Q. The second well is due to be drilled in the fourth quarter and is expected onstream in the first quarter of 2023, with both wells helping to maintain production from the field and offset natural decline.

Gas is exported via a 55 km pipeline. Cygnus connects via the Esmond Transmission System (ETS) pipeline to the gas-treatment terminal at Bacton, Norfolk. Neptune Energy has a 25% minority interest in ETS.

Note.

  1. Cygnus with a twenty year life could be one of the ways that we bridge the gap until we have the two Cs (Hinckley Point and Sizewell) and a few tens of offshore wind gigawatts online.
  2. The two extra wells at Cygnus will help bridge the gap.
  3. The gas field has a pipeline to Bacton.

So what can the gas field and the wind farm, do for each other?

Hornsea Can Supply The Power Needs Of Cygnus

Typically, ten percent of the gas extracted from the wells connected to a gas platform, will be converted into electricity using one or more gas-turbine engines; which will then be used to power the platform.

So, if electricity from the Hornsea wind farm, is used to power the platform, there are two benefits.

  • More gas will be sent through the pipeline to Bacton.
  • Less carbon dioxide will be emitted in recovering the gas.

Effectively, electricity has been turned into gas.

Electricity Can Be Stored On The Sea-Bed

The Hornsea One wind farm has an area in the order of 150 square miles and it is only one wind farm of four, that make up the Hornsea wind farm.

I would argue that there is plenty of space between the turbines and the wells of the Cygnus gas field to install some form of zero-carbon underwater battery to store electricity.

But does this technology exist?

Not yet! But in UK Cleantech Consortium Awarded Funding For Energy Storage Technology Integrated With Floating Wind, I described a technique called Marine Pumped Hydro, which is being developed by the STORE Consortium.

  • Energy is stored as pressurised water in 3D-printed hollow concrete spheres fitted with a hydraulic turbine and pump.
  • The spheres sit on the sea-bed.
  • This page on the STORE Consortium web site, describes the technology in detail.
  • The technology is has all been used before, but not together.

I think it is excellent technology and the UK government has backed it with £150,000 of taxpayers’ money.

I also believe that Marine Pumped Hydro or something like it, could be the solution to the intermittency of wind farms.

Excess Electricity Can Be Converted Into Hydrogen

Any spare electricity from the wind farm can drive an electrolyser to convert it into hydrogen.

The electrolyser could be mounted on one of the Cygnus platforms, or it could even float.

The hydrogen produced would be blended with the gas and sent to Bacton.

Carbon Dioxide Can Be Stored In The Depleted Cygnus Gas Field

As the gas field empties of natural gas, the gas pipes to the Cygnus gas field can be reversed and used to bring carbon dioxide to the gas field to be stored.

The Cygnus gas field has gone full circle from providing gas to storing the same amount of carbon that the gas has produced in its use.

These are two paragraphs from the press release.

Neptune Energy’s Director of New Energy, Pierre Girard, said: “The development of integrated energy hubs is an important part of Neptune’s strategy to store more carbon than is emitted from our operations and the use of our sold products by 2030.

“Neptune has submitted three applications under the recent Carbon Dioxide Appraisal and Storage Licensing Round, and securing the licences would enable us to develop future proposals for integrated energy hubs in the UK North Sea.

I can envisage a large gas-fired power-station with carbon capture being built in Norfolk, which will do the following.

  • Take a supply of natural gas from the Cygnus gas field via the Bacton gas terminal.
  • Convert the hydrogen in the gas into electricity.
  • Convert the carbon in the gas into carbon dioxide.
  • Store the carbon dioxide in the Cygnus gas field via Bacton.
  • I also suspect, that if a Norfolk farmer, manufacturer or entrepreneur has a use for thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide, they would be welcomed with open arms.

Would the ultra-greens of this world, accept this power station as zero-carbon?

The Isabella And Seagull Gas Fields And The Broadshore Wind Farm

Could a similar set of projects be applied to the Isabella and Seagull gas fields, using the Broadshore wind farm?

I don’t see why not and they could work with the Peterhead power stations.

December 30, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments