The Anonymous Widower

Suffolk: Sizewell C To Explore ‘Innovative’ Waste Heat Lido

The title of this post, is the same as that, of this article on the East Anglian Daily Times.

This is the sub-heading.

The developers of the new Sizewell C nuclear power station have expressed an interest in an “innovative” plan to use waste heat from the plant to heat a new lido.

And this is the first paragraph.

Creating the outdoor pool was one of a number of ideas contained within the Leiston masterplan – a blueprint for transforming the Suffolk town – and now the Sizewell C company has pledged to explore the proposal with the town council.

This map shows the town of Leiston and the Sizewell power stations site.

Note.

1. Leiston is in the South-West corner.
2. The power station site is in the North-East corner.

I have a few thoughts.

Pink Hydrogen

Pink hydrogen is zero-carbon hydrogen produced using nuclear power.

The production of hydrogen is already part of the plans for Freeport East, which I wrote about in Ryze Hydrogen’s Suffolk Freeport Hydrogen Vision Takes Shape.

In that article, I said this.

This would mean that Sizewell’s 6 MW electrolyser could be producing around a thousand tonnes of hydrogen per year or 2.6 tonnes per day.

The more efficient high temperature electrolysis can be used, using some of the waste heat from the nuclear power station. I wrote about this in Westinghouse And Bloom Energy To Team Up For Pink Hydrogen.

I also suspect that it may be more efficient to use seawater to produce the hydrogen.

Could high temperature electrolysis be used at Sizewell?

District Heating

The waste heat can also be used for district heating.

A Train Service To Ipswich

This Google Map shows the railway through Leiston, which is currently used to bring fuel to Sizewell B power station and remove waste.

Note.

1. The railway starts in the North-West corner of the map.
2. The green dot in that corner marks Leiston cemetery.
3. The railway then goes East before turning to the South-East corner of the map.
4. In that corner, there are two sidings for loading and unloading the flasks.

Surely, Leiston also needs a new railway station, with at least an hourly service to Saxmundham, Wickham Market, Woodbridge and Ipswich. And possibly even Aldeburgh!

 

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the route of the Aldeburgh branch.

Note.

1. The North-South yellow line is the East Suffolk Line.
2. Their were three stations; Leiston, Thorpeness Halt and Aldeburgh.
3. Leiston station was in the North of the town.

The intact section of the branch is shown in yellow.

There would be no need for any electrification, as Stadler, who built Greater Anglia’s Class 755 trains, are the masters of battery-powered trains and could convert these trains to battery operation. Recently, one of the smaller metro trains, that Stadler are building for Liverpool, ran for nearly 90 miles on battery power alone, which I wrote about in New Merseyrail Train Runs 135km On Battery.

An hourly train service would double the frequency of the train service between Saxmundham and Ipswich.

Does the Leiston masterplan include a train service?

And if it does, does it terminate at a new Aldeburgh station?

Conclusion

Integrating development around a nuclear power station could be a way of levelling up.

It would bring electricity, heat, a rail link and jobs to an area.

Will Rolls-Royce use these benefits to sell one of their SMRs to those living around a site?

January 24, 2023 - Posted by AnonW | Energy, Hydrogen | Aldeburgh Branch Line, Class 755 Train, East Suffolk Line, Freeport East, Greater Anglia, High Temperature Electrolysis, Leiston, Leiston Station, Pink Hydrogen, Rolls-Royce SMR, Sizewell, Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station, Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station, Swimming