Adding Rose Hill Marple And Manchester Piccadilly To The Bee Network
This article on the Railway Gazette has a list of the lines, that will be transferred between Northern Rail and the Bee Network.
Included in the list is this line.
Rose Hill Marple And Manchester Piccadilly
I think this route would be the following.
- The Eastern terminus would be Rose Hill Marple.
- The Western terminus would be Manchester Piccadilly.
- Intermediate stations would be Romiley. Woodley, Hyde Central, Hyde North, Guide Bridge, Fairfield and Gorton.
- The route is partially-electrified with 25 KVAC overhead between Hyde North and Manchester Piccadilly.
- Most of the route has a range of operating speeds, up to 90 mph.
- The distance is 13.3 miles
- Trains take 34 minutes
- Trains are often two-car Class 156 trains.
The route is the same as the current Northern Trains service.
This is my thought.
Trains
This route is a classic for battery-electric trains, as only 6.8 miles at the Marple end is not electrified.
Merseyrail’s Class 777 trains or something similar would surely do nicely.
There would be no need for charging at the Marple end.
Adding Glossop/Hadfield And Manchester Piccadilly To The Bee Network
This article on the Railway Gazette has a list of the lines, that will be transferred between Northern Rail and the Bee Network.
Included in the list is this line.
Glossop/Hadfield And Manchester Piccadilly
I think this route would be the following.
- The Eastern termini would be Glossop and Hadfield.
- The Western terminus would be Manchester Piccadilly.
- Intermediate stations would be Dinting, Broadbottom, Hattersley, Godley, Newton for Hyde, Flowery Field, Guide Bridge and Ashburys.
- The route is fully electrified with 25 KVAC overhead.
- Most of the route has a range of operating speeds. up to 75 mph.
- The distance is 14.8 miles
- Trains take 41 minutes
- Trains are often three-car Class 323 trains.
The route is the same as the current Northern Trains service.
This is my thought.
Trains
The Class 323 trains could be easily replaced with a 25 KVAC overhead version of Merseyrail’s Class 777 trains.
Adding Buxton And Manchester Piccadilly To The Bee Network
This article on the Railway Gazette has a list of the lines, that will be transferred between Northern Rail and the Bee Network.
Included in the list is this line.
Buxton And Manchester Piccadilly
I think this route would be the following.
- The Southern terminus would be Buxton.
- The Northern terminus would be Manchester Piccadilly.
- Intermediate stations would be Dove Holes, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Whaley Bridge, Furness Vale, New Mills Newtown, Disley, Middlewood, Hazel Grove, Woodsmoor, Davenport, Stockport, Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme.
- he route is fully electrified with 25 KVAC overhead between Hazel Grove and Manchester Piccadilly.
- Most of the route has a range of operating speeds. up to 90 mph.
- The distance is 19 miles
- Trains take 62 minutes
- Trains are often two-car Class 150 trains working as a pair.
- The Buxton Line is one of the stiffest routes on the UK rail network.
The route is the same as the current Northern Trains service.
This is my thought.
Trains
I think there are three choices.
- Electrify the line fully and use 100 mph electric trains like Class 331 trains.
- Use 100 mph battery-electric trains, with large enough batteries to climb to Buxton.
- Use 100 mph hydrogen-electric trains, with enough power on hydrogen to climb to Buxton.
Note.
- The current diesel trains could be used until a zero-carbon solution is delivered.
- 100 mph trains would be needed because of the 90 mph section around Stockport.
- The stiffness of the line makes the choice difficult.
- Regenerative braking would allow trains to coast down the hill.
- Battery-electric trains would not need charging at Buxton.
I’m sure that the deal that will be setting up the Bee Network, would have a plan for the Buxton Line.
Adding Alderley Edge And Manchester Piccadilly To The Bee Network
This article on the Railway Gazette has a list of the lines, that will be transferred between Northern Rail and the Bee Network.
Included in the list is this line.
Alderley Edge And Manchester Piccadilly
I think this route would be the following.
- The Southern terminus would be Alderley Edge.
- The Northern terminus would be Manchester Piccadilly.
- Intermediate stations would be Wilmslow, Handforth, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme.
- The route is fully electrified with 25 KVAC overhead.
- Most of the route has a range of operating speeds. up to 110 mph.
- The distance is 13.6 miles
- Trains take 29 minutes
- Trains are often three-car Class 331 trains.
The route is the same as the current Northern Trains service.
This is my thought.
Trains
As the route is fully-electrified, electric trains are needed.
Any 110 mph trains would probably be ideal, to keep out of the way of the expresses.
The Apathy Society At Liverpool University
BBC Radio 5 is talking about unusual clubs.
At Liverpool University in the 1960s, a group of students tried to form the Apathy Society. In the end, it folded as no-one could be bothered to write the constitution!
The problem was if you didn’t have a constitution, you couldn’t get funding.
Largest Offshore Wind Project In UK Reaches Development Milestone
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
An application to build the up to 4.1 GW Berwick Bank, the UK’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of providing enough electricity to power more than five million homes, has commenced determination, SSE Renewables said.
These two paragraphs outline the current status of the project.
Located roughly 38 kilometers off the East Lothian coast of Scotland, Berwick Bank is the largest offshore wind farm planning application to be submitted in the UK to date and one of the largest globally.
The consent process for the onshore elements of the project has now opened, which is being considered by East Lothian Council.
This process runs alongside the offshore consent process, which kicked off in December 2022 and is being considered by the Scottish Government. A final decision by authorities is expected later in 2023.
SSE Renewables hope to deliver first power by 2027.
Centrica And UK Infrastructure Bank Announce Significant Investment Into Sustainable Electricity Funds
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
Funds set to help supercharge UK’s transition to cleaner, greener energy
These four paragraphs outline the investment.
Centrica and UK Infrastructure Bank have today announced they are investing up to £265 million in sustainable energy storage to help drive the country’s transition to a cleaner, greener and more resilient electricity network.
The proposed investment will support the development of new energy storage, following the Bank’s expression of interest to find innovative ways to fund and increase the nation’s storage capacity.
The Bank will invest £75 million on a match funding basis into the Gresham House Secure Income Renewable Energy & Storage LP (SIRES) alongside a £65 million investment from Centrica.
UK infrastructure Bank has committed to invest £125 million on a match-funding basis into Equitix UK Electricity Storage Fund.
Note.
- Centrica describes itself on its web site, as an energy services and solutions company.
- The Wikipedia entry for the UK Infrastructure Bank, says it is a British state-owned development bank.
- The Equitix web site has a mission statement sating it is a responsible investor, investing in, developing and managing global infrastructure assets, which materially contribute to the lives of the communities they serve.
By supporting two energy storage funds, it is to be hoped that more electricity storage is added to the UK electricity network.
This is a paragraph in the press release.
Currently National Grid forecasts show that up to 29 GW of total storage could be needed by 2030 and up to 51 GW by 2050. This is a huge increase on the 5 GW currently available and means there is a clear need to accelerate deployment of capital and investment in new storage projects.
I doubt there will be any problems deploying new energy storage.
The press release then has a paragraph on what each fund will do with the money.
Gresham House Secure Income Renewable Energy & Storage LP (SIRES)
I will pick these important points from the paragraph.
- Centrica and the UK Investment Bank will invest on a matched funding basis.
- Centrica will be a cornerstone investor, and this marks the first time the business has invested in such a fund.
- Collocation of renewable generation and short duration electricity storage facilities to help maximise grid connections.
- The seed asset will be a collocated solar and battery energy storage project in Hartlepool, County Durham, with 50 MWp solar capacity and 75 MWh of battery energy storage.
- Centrica will seek to provide a route-to-market for the assets in the fund once they become operational.
You could almost consider this a When the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine fund.
Equitix UK Electricity Storage Fund
I will pick these important points from the paragraph.
- The Bank will support the launch of the fund by committing to invest up to £125million on a match-funding basis.
- The fund will focus on a combination of innovative business models across both short and long duration storage. Short duration strategies may include installation in households and at underutilised commercial premises, as well as co-location.
- The fund will also aim to deploy a range of long duration storage technologies, such as pumped-hydro.
Does a range of technologies mean that they will support new storage technologies?
Hulam Farm, Hartlepool
This page on the Lightsource-BP web site is entitled Proposed Solar Installation At Hulam Farm.
This is the first paragraph.
The proposal involves Lightsource bp funding the development of a solar installation that will connect into the local electricity network, with an output power capacity of 49.9MW (Megawatts).
Could this be the solar part of the Hartlepool project mentioned in the press release?
- Lightsource BP are experienced funders of solar farms.
- Gresham House have built many batteries of the size needed.
- I don’t think technically, there will be too many problems.
I shall watch this development with interest.
What’s In It For Centrica?
I have to ask this question.
Consider.
- Centrica is part-owner of the 270 MW Lincs offshore wind farm, which was commissioned in September 2013.
- Centrica is half-owner of the 194 MW Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farm, which was commissioned in March 2009.
- Both these wind farms have separate substations in Lincolnshire.
- Centrica also have interests in two onshore wind farms in Scotland, that have a combined capacity of 98 MW.
I wonder how many times these wind farms have been shut down because of too much electricity?
Will Gresham House pit batteries on these sites?
UK Launches GBP 160 Million Floating Wind Funding Round, Industry Not Satisfied With Investment
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The UK Government has announced that up to GBP 160 million in grant funding will be made available for certain investments for the floating offshore wind sector
These three paragraphs outline the scheme,
The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has established the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS) to distribute GBP 160 million in funding to support critical port infrastructure that could enable the delivery of floating offshore wind.
Through this scheme, the government hopes to enable the delivery of the country’s 5 GW 2030 deployment ambition by securing additional suitable port capacity necessary to scale up and accelerate floating offshore wind deployment in the UK, as well as to increase capability in the UK floating wind supply chain, drive cost reduction, and the commercialisation of floating offshore wind technology.
In addition, the government hopes that this scheme will deliver industrial growth and associated regional economic and social benefits (for example, quality jobs and increased GVA).
Note.
- The scheme is called FLOWMIS.
- It seems to be geared to improve port infrastructure.
- It looks like some of these projects will be needed to support ScotWind and INTOG.
- This page on the Government web site, gives the latest state of FLOWMIS.
FLOWMIS could bring forward some interesting projects.
Riding The 112 Bus Between Brent Cross And North Finchley Bus Station
To continue on the route of the Superloop, I needed to get to North Finchley bus station, so I took a 112 bus from Brent Cross to North Finchley. I took these pictures.
Note.
- The bus was only a single-decker.
- The route was along the North Circular Road and then North on the A1000.
- The North Circular Road was grade separated but quite congested.
- The North Circular Road has a 40 mph speed limit.
- Strangely, we didn’t pass a train, Underground or Overground station.
- Both Brent Cross and North Finchley bus interchanges have reasonable amounts of space.
The journey took about 20 minutes.
I have one thought.
Creating A Route Between Harrow And North Finchley Bus Stations
This would not appear to be difficult.
- Between Harrow bus station and Brent Cross, the route would be a simplified version of the 182 route, that I wrote about in Riding The 182 Bus Between Harrow Bus Station And Brent Cross. A more direct route would be taken between Wembley stadium and Brent Cross.
- The bus would just pop in to the large bus interchange at Brent Cross and then go straight back onto the North Circular Road.
- The North Circular Road is two lanes both way.
- The A1000 from the North Circular Road to North Finchley didn’t seem too crowded.
I suspect little work will need to be done to allow Superloop to run successfully between Harrow And North Finchley bus stations.
BP Launches Plans For Low-Carbon Green Hydrogen Cluster In Spain’s Valencia Region
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from BP.
These are the four bullet points.
- Aims to make Valencia region a leader in green hydrogen production
- Cluster to include world-scale green hydrogen production at bp’s Castellón refinery of up to 2GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030
- Supports transformation and decarbonization of the refinery, together with tripling biofuel production
- Transformation of Castellón could see bp invest up to €2 billion
This is the first paragraph.
bp today launched the green hydrogen cluster of the Valencia region (HyVal) at its Castellón refinery. Led by bp, this public-private collaborative initiative is intended to be based around the phased development of up to 2GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030 for producing green hydrogen at bp’s refinery.
It certainly is a big hydrogen-friendly project and is a roadmap of how to decarbonise an oil refinery.
This massive commitment to hydrogen makes me more certain, that bp’s offshore 50 MW wind farm twenty miles from Aberdeen, is designed to produce hydrogen for the granite city.
Are bp putting together a strategy to bring hydrogen to the world?
After all hydrogen is the only zero-carbon fuel, that can directly replace fuels like natural gas, diesel and many hydrocarbon fuels in a large number of applications.
The Anonymous Widower 