The Anonymous Widower

ESB, Irish Port Team Up To Make Shannon Estuary Go-To Place For Floating Wind

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

This is the sub-heading.

Irish energy company ESB and Shannon Foynes Port, the company with statutory jurisdiction over all marine activities on the Shannon Estuary, have entered into a collaboration to develop the region into a centre for the deployment of floating offshore wind projects in both Irish and international waters.

This is the introductory paragraph.

Back in 2021, ESB and its then-partner Equinor announced the development of the 1.4 GW Moneypoint floating wind farm in Ireland, with a broader plan under its Green Atlantic @ Moneypoint project to transform the Moneypoint power station in County Clare into a green energy hub and to support wider plans of Shannon Foynes Port to help make the Shannon Estuary a focal point for the offshore wind industry in Europe.

This Google Map shows the location of Moneypoint power station with respect to the Shannon Estuary.

Note.

  1. Moneypoint power station, which is indicated by the red arrow is on the River Shannon.
  2. The city pf Limerick is to the East of Moneypoint.
  3. There’s certainly a lot of water in the West for floating wind turbines.

This second Google Map shows a close-up of the power station.

This is a shortened version of the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry for the power station.

Moneypoint power station is Ireland’s largest electricity generation station (output 915 MW) and only coal-fired power station. Commissioned between 1985 and 1987, it is located on the River Shannon near Kilrush, County Clare. It was constructed at a cost of more than £700m in one of the largest capital projects in the history of the state. The station operates largely on coal, making it both unique in the context of Irish electricity production and the country’s single largest emitter of greenhouse gases. It is capable of meeting around 25% of customer demand across the country. It has two Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) storage tanks with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes which can be used as a back-up fuel if required.

In some ways, the only good things about this power station are the grid connection that can handle most of a GW and the large site, which could be used for a variety of energy-related purposes, like green hydrogen generation and storage.

In Shannon Estuary Could Support Build-Out of 30 GW Of Floating Wind, House 2 GW of Electrolysis Capacity, I wrote about the potential of this area.

Those figures of 30 GW of floating wind ans 2 GW of electrolysers will certainly mean a lot of investment going into Moneypoint!

I would also feel, that Moneypoint will need a lot of energy storage to support and balance the grid.

 

 

May 15, 2023 Posted by | Energy, Energy Storage, Hydrogen | , | 2 Comments

Reading’s First New Station In Over 100 Years Set To Open This Month

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.

These two paragraphs outline the story.

Reading is set to welcome its first new railway station for over 100 years, as Green Park station is currently set to open for services on Saturday 27th May 2023.

Representing the first station to open in the area since Reading West in July 1906 and being the inaugural of three new Great Western Railway (GWR) stations opening this year along with Portway Park & Ride in Bristol and Marsh Barton in Exeter, this station will improve transport links and sustainability throughout the region.

These details of the station are also given.

  • Two 150m platforms
  • A new fully accessible station building
  • A fully accessible overbridge, providing access to both platforms, via stairs and lifts.
  • A bus interchange, taxi rank and cycle parking facilities
  • Two car parks with blue badge spaces, drop-off parking and long-stay parking.

The station will be on the  Reading to Basingstoke line, with half-hourly trains.

Note.

  1. The station is a reasonable walk from Reading FC’s ground.
  2. The station is South of Southcote Junction, so won’t have trains to Newbury.
  3. Bramley station, which is towards Basingstoke, is to be improved, as I wrote about in Beeching Reversal – Unlocking Capacity And Services Through Bramley (Hants).
  4. The route is partially electrification.
  5. There also may be a new station at Chineham.

Could the opening of Green Park station, be the start of more rail development in the area?

These are my thoughts.

A New Station At Chineham

This is said about a new station at Chineham, in a section called Future in the Wikipedia entry for the Reading to Basingstoke Line.

Plans have also been discussed over the years for a further new station to the north of Basingstoke, serving the Basingstoke suburb of Chineham. However doubts have been cast on the capacity of the line to support a further station after the opening of Green Park. The line between Southcote Junction and the Great Western Main Line is heavily trafficked and, in 2015, Network Rail’s Western Route Study suggested the provision of a grade separated junction at Southcote, with a third track to be provided between there and the Oxford Road Junction at Reading West.

Chineham could be an expensive station.

Extra Capacity Between Reading and Basingstoke

In addition to the two trains per hour (tph) between Reading and Basingstoke, there are also CrossCountry trains and freight services using the route.

As I said in Beeching Reversal – Unlocking Capacity And Services Through Bramley (Hants), I believe that if Chineham station is added, there will be a need for four tph on the line.

I also suspect that with the opening of the Western Rail Approach to Heathrow, this route could be used for trains between Basingstoke and Heathrow.

This could end up as a very busy line.

150 Metre Platforms At Reading Green Park Station

These are only seven-car platforms. Would they be long enough, if Reading FC were consistently in the Premiership?

I suspect that prudence would have said the platforms of all stations on the line, should be long enough to handle the nine-car trains of the Elizabeth Line.

Electrification

The Reading and Basingstoke route probably needs full electrification.

This would allow.

  • Electrified freight trains between Southampton and the North.
  • CrossCountry and other passenger trains to be electrified.

The electrification would need to be 25 KVAC overhead, as no more third rail electrification is possible.

Elizabeth Line Extension To Basingstoke

I wouldn’t rule this out from happening, at some time in the future.

 

May 15, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Masons Of Yorkshire Distillery Enters Partnership With LNER

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.

These two paragraphs outline the partnership.

A Yorkshire Distillery has entered a partnership with London North Eastern Railway for its vodka to be served in the railway’s first-class carriages.

In the agreement, Classic Vodka from the highly awarded Masons of Yorkshire Distillery will be the only vodka served on all first-class routes between Inverness, London Kings Cross, and Aberdeen and Kings Cross.

As the railways are now effectively controlled by the UK Government, perhaps we should see more British food and drink featuring on trains.

 

 

May 15, 2023 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

SeaTwirl, Kontiki Winds To Explore Powering Oil & Gas Assets With Floating Wind

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

This is the sub-heading.

The Sweden-headquartered SeaTwirl has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kontiki Winds to identify and discuss the opportunities to electrify oil and gas assets and other offshore applications, with the use of SeaTwirl’s floating wind turbines.

And this is the first paragraph.

Under the MoU, the two companies will explore new opportunities in the market to implement offshore wind into new and existing oil and gas assets and microgrid applications such as the powering of fish farms, desalination plants and/or other small-scale applications that currently are based on fossil fuel electricity generation.

Note.

  1. The current turbines are only 1 MW.
  2. They appear to be mounted on a long monopole foundation.
  3. My mathematical modelling experience suggests to me, that these could be very stable devices.
  4. I suspect they could be built into specialist equipment like a buoy with a light to mark something.

I suspect that there will be large numbers of applications, especially if the manufacture and installation of Sea Twirl’s turbines is an efficient process.

 

May 15, 2023 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , | 1 Comment