German Company To Build XXL Monopile Factory in Denmark
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
German-based Baltic Structures Company (BSC) has revealed that it will build an XXL monopile production factory in Esbjerg, Denmark
These are the first three paragraphs that outline the project.
BSC will build “Europe’s biggest” foundation fabrication site in the Esbjerg Port where it will be able to offer various foundations structures with a more than 100,000-square-metre production area under the roof and an output of up to 200 XXL monopiles per year.
The German company said that the focus of the plant is on structures with dimensions of up to 15 metres in diameter, up to 130 metres in length, and single unit weights of up to 4,000 tonnes.
In addition to monopiles, transition pieces, pin piles, and components for jackets, floating foundations will also be offered, said BSC.
These last three paragraphs sum up, where we are at the moment with European wind turbine foundation manufacture.
In September 2022, Esbjerg Port (Denmark), Oostende Port (Belgium), Groningen Seaports/Eemshaven (the Netherlands), Niedersachsen Port/Cuxhaven (Germany), Nantes-Saint Nazaire Port (France), and Humber (the UK) signed a partnership agreement with an aim to minimise capacity issues.
At the beginning of this year, the six largest European wind ports also signed a mutual declaration to collaborate on an operational and practical level to help bring the new offshore wind capacities across Europe as smoothly as possible.
In January, the Port of Esbjerg, together with US-based Moffatt & Nichol, deployed digital twin technology which could triple the port’s offshore wind capacity.
I also wrote UK And South Korea Help Secure Millions For World’s Largest Monopile Factory, this morning about a new monopole factory on Teesside.
- The Teesside factory is described as the world’s largest.
- On the other hand the Esbjerg Port facility is described as Europe’s biggest foundation fabrication site.
I suspect the Germans and the Koreans are using different engineering dictionaries.
European Offshore Wind Power Targets
Out of curiosity, I looked up the offshore wind capacity, the UK and neighbouring countries are planning before 2030.
- UK – 50 GW
- Germany – 30 GW
- Norway – 30 GW
- The Netherlands – 21 GW
- France – 18 GW
- Denmark – 13 GW
- Italy – 10 GW
- Portugal – 10 GW
- Belgium – 5.4-5.8 GW
- Republic of Ireland – 5 GW
- Spain – 3 GW
Note.
- Norway’s figure relates to 2040.
- Northern Ireland have a target of 1 GW, which I assume is included in the UK total.
- The total is between 195.4 and 195.8 GW.
Given that we could be producing over a quarter of Western Europe’s offshore wind power, the Gods of the Winds must have been British.
Climbing The Valley Lines In The South Wales Metro
There are five terminal stations on the Cardiff Valley Lines, of which four will be served by battery-electric trains or tram-trains from Cardiff.
In this post, I will show how they will achieve this feat.
Consider.
- To get to Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil or Treherbert, a tram-train must first get to Pontypridd.
- To get to Rhymney, a train must first get to Caerphilly.
I will now deal with the seven stations in alphabetic order.
Aberdare
This OpenRailwayMap shows the three branches of the Cardiff Valley Lines, that go through Pontypridd.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red and unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- The branch to Aberdare is the middle of the three branches.
- It is planned that the service on the Aberdare branch will be provided using Class 398 tram-trains, that will be fitted with batteries.
- Electrification will be complete between Aberdare and Pontypridd.
It would appear that a tram-train could run between Aberdare and Pontypridd using the complete electrification.
Caerphilly
These two OpenRailwayMaps show the tracks through Caerphilly.
Note.
- The map on the left shows infrastructure, with the Rhymney Line shown in yellow.
- Caerphilly station is in the top third of the map.
- The white section of the Rhymney Line is the Caerphilly tunnel.
- The map on the right shows electrification, with the sections of the Rhymney Line that will be electrified are shown in red.
- Black sections will not be electrified.
- North of Caerphilly, the Rhymney Line is electrified, but through the station and the Caerphilly tunnel, there will be no electrification.
Trains will use battery power, where there is no electrification.
Ebbw Vale Town
This OpenRailwayMap shows the Ebbw Valley Railway.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red and unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- Lines where electrification will be installed are shown in red and black.
- Newport is marked by the blue arrow.
- The North-South Line at the left is the Rhymney Line.
- The North-South Line in the middle is the Ebbw Valley Railway.
- The North-South Line at the right is the Marches Line to Hereford and Shrewsbury.
Trains will use diesel power on the Ebbw Valley Railway, as there is no electrification and no means of charging battery-electric trains.
It does seem strange that no electrified solution has been proposed for the Ebbw Valley Railway.
Consider.
- An Abertillery branch has been proposed.
- A Newport and Ebbw Vale Town service has been proposed and will be implemented.
- Perhaps the line is difficult to electrify.
It could just be, the electrifying the Ebbw Valley Railway, was a step too far.
Merthyr Tydfil
This OpenRailwayMap shows the three branches of the Cardiff Valley Lines, that go through Pontypridd.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red and unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- The branch to Merthyr Tydfil is the rightmost of the three branches.
- It is planned that the service on the Merthyr Tydfil branch will be provided using Class 398 tram-trains, that will be fitted with batteries.
- Electrification will be complete between Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd, except for two short sections.
- I would assume that the short unelectrified sections can be handled using the tram-trains battery power.
It would appear that a tram-train could run between Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd using the electrification and the tram-trains batteries.
This shows the track layout at Quaker’s Yard station.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red and unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- There are only two short length of electrification shown in the corners the map.
- Quaker’s Yard station has two platforms.
- The track layout appears to have single- and double-track sections.
It looks like it has been decided not to electrify this section. Perhaps, it was just too complicated to electrify easily?
This 3D Google Map shows the terminal station at Merthyr Tydfil.
It looks like the railway runs through the town to the station. So perhaps leaving out the electrification made everything safer?
Pontypridd
This OpenRailwayMap shows the tracks through Pontypridd.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red and unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- Lines where electrification will be installed are shown in red and black.
- The line leaving the map in the South-East corner is the line to Cardiff.
- The line leaving the map in the North-West corner is the Rhondda Line to Treherbert.
- The line leaving the map in the North-East corner is the Merthyr Line to Aberdare and Merthyr.
Pontypridd stations lies at the junction of the three lines.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the platforms at Pontypridd.
Note.
- There are two long through platforms.
- There is a bay platform on the North side of the station for extra Cardiff services.
- The station is not electrified.
These pictures show Pontypridd station.
The station is Grade II Listed.
How will the tram-trains be powered through Pontypridd station?
Older Welsh railwaymen have told tales of how the coal trains from the mines in the valleys to Cardiff Docks were powered in part using gravity to propel the trains to the Docks. Steam locomotives then hauled the trains up the hills to get another load of coal.
Will Newton’s Friend be used to help the tram-trains return to Cardiff?
As the tram-trains descend, regenerative braking can be used to recharge the batteries.
A sophisticated computer control system, would choose the source of power from that which is available.
Descending from the terminal stations of Aberdare, Merthyr and Treherbert, and through Pontypridd would probably need a small amount of battery power to nudge the train to descend down the hill.
Fully-electrified stations like Aberdare and Treherbert will have the luxury of being able to use power from the electrification to start the descent.
Climbing the hills will be mainly on battery power, with the batteries being charged, where overhead electrification exists.
Rhymney
This OpenRailwayMap shows the Northern part of the Rhymney Line from Caerphilly to Rhymney.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red and unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- Lines where electrification will be installed are shown in red and black.
- Caerphilly is marked by the blue arrow at the bottom of the map.
- Rhymney is at the Northern end of the rail line.
- Bargoed, Hengoed, Llanbradach and Caerphilly stations appear not to be electrified.
- It is planned that the service on the Rhymney Line will be provided using Class 756 trains, that will be fitted with batteries and diesel engines.
The Class 756 trains appear to have been designed to climb to Rhymney in all conditions, including a complete power cut. They will use batteries on the unelectrified sections of the climb.
Treherbert
This OpenRailwayMap shows the three branches of the Cardiff Valley Lines, that go through Pontypridd.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red and unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- Lines where electrification will be installed are shown in red and black.
- The branch to Treherbert is the leftmost of the three branches.
- It is planned that the service on the Theherbert branch will be provided using Class 398 tram-trains, that will be fitted with batteries.
- Electrification will be complete between Treherbert and Pontypridd.
It would appear that a tram-train could run between Treherbert and Pontypridd when the electrification is complete.
Conclusion
Each of the five lines use their own methods of getting trains up the hills.
I suspect we’ll see some of the ideas used here on other stretches of electrification.
New Plan To Lay Out Path For UK Offshore Wind Growth Expected In Early 2024
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
RenewableUK, the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC), the Crown Estate, and Crown Estate Scotland are developing a new Industrial Growth Plan (IGP) to boost the long-term growth of the UK offshore wind sector.
These two paragraphs outline the plan.
The industry players have appointed KPMG to support the development of the IGP which is expected to be published early next year.
The IGP will build on the recent Supply Chain Capability Analysis which outlined a GBP 92 billion opportunity for the country if it can develop its capacity and expertise in a number of key areas, according to RenewableUK.
When plans like this are announced, I wish I was still involved in writing project management software.
UK And South Korea Help Secure Millions For World’s Largest Monopile Factory
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
UK Export Finance (UKEF) and South Korea’s export credit agency Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure) have helped SeAH Wind to secure GBP 367 million in Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC UK financing to build the world’s largest wind monopile manufacturing facility.
These three paragraphs outline the story.
UKEF and K-Sure have secured support worth GBP 367 million for South Korean manufacturer SeAH Steel Holding’s construction of a wind tech factory near Redcar, in the Tees Valley.
Issuing its first-ever “Invest-to-Export” loan guarantee to secure overseas investment in British industry, UKEF together with K-Sure has ensured that SeAH Wind UK can fund the construction project – worth almost GBP 500 million – with GBP 367 million in financing from Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC UK.
SeAH Wind UK, a subsidiary of South Korean steel company SeAH Steel Holding, announced its decision to invest and broke ground at Teesworks Freeport last summer.
The article also says.
- This is SeAH Wind’s first such investment outside Korea.
- The factory will make between 100 and 150 monopiles a year.
- The factory will create 750 jobs when it opens in 2026.
- The factory is conveniently placed for transport to the North Sea.
Everybody seemed to have worked hard during the state visit of the Korean President and his wife.
The Anonymous Widower 