Treforest Estate Station – 28th November 2023
On Tuesday, I went to South Wales to look at the progress of the South Wales Metro.
I took these pictures at Treforest Estate station.
Note.
- The station has a narrow island platform.
- Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil and Treherbert trains go through here. but on Tuesday not all were stopping.
- It was rather cold and draughty.
- The electrification looks to be of high quality.
This OpenRalwayMap shows the tracks through the station.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red.
- Unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- Pontypridd, where the tracks are not electrified is at the top of the map.
- The strange squiggle in the South-East corner of the map is Taff’s Well Depot.
- The blue arrow indicates the position of Treforest Estate station.
This OpenRalwayMap shows the station at a larger scale.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red.
- Unelectrified lines are shown in black.
I wonder if the drivers will raise and lower the pantograph in Treforest Estate station. Or will this be automatic?
Highview Power, Ørsted Find Value In Integrating Offshore Wind With Liquid Air Energy Storage
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Highview Power and Ørsted have completed their joint investigation into how combining the technologies of Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) and offshore wind could unlock greater value for investors and consumers.
These three paragraphs outline the findings.
The results show that there is value in combining offshore wind with LAES to support reducing wind curtailment, increasing productivity, and helping the move to a more flexible, resilient zero-carbon grid, according to Higher Power.
The two companies have carried out analysis of technical performance, route to planning approval, and route to market with a regulatory and economic assessment.
As a result of this study, the companies believe a project can be developed and built aligned with the timeline of an offshore wind farm.
I feel very strongly, that putting the two technologies together is a good idea.
In the simplest cases, the storage could be built into the offshore sub-station.
Could LAES Be Used With Hornsea 4 Wind Farm?
The Wikipedia entry for the Hornsea Wind Farm says this about Hornsea 4.
In July 2023, British government officials gave the final approval for Hornsea Four, the fourth phase of the wind project. Hornsea Four is expected to generate 2.6GW, have 180 giant wind turbines, and has the capability to generate enough renewable energy to power 1 million homes in Britain.
The Wikipedia entry also says this about Hornsea 3.
Project 3 will be to the east of Projects 1 and 2, with an estimated maximum capacity of 2.4 GW over 696 square kilometres (269 sq mi). DONG Energy (which in November 2017 changed its name to Ørsted) began consultation on the project’s development in May 2016. Ørsted submitted a Development consent application in 2018 and consent was granted on 31 December 2020.[69] In early 2023, consent was also given to a battery storage power station at Swardeston. The project is expected to begin construction in 2022, and be completed by 2025.
If Ørsted are adding a battery to the 2.4 GW Hornsea 3 wind farm, I would feel, that Ørsted would think about a battery on the 2.6 GW Hornsea 4 wind farm.
The Energy Storage The UK Needs
This is the last paragraph of the article.
The UK will need up to 100 GWh of energy storage by 2050 according to the estimates from National Grid ESO’s Future Energy Systems Scenario.
SSE Renewables are planning two large pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in Scotland.
- Coire Glas – 1.5 GW/30 GWh – Possible completion in 2031.
- Loch Sloy – 152.5 MW/25 GWh – See SSE Unveils Redevelopment Plans For Sloy Hydro-Electric Power Station.
A quick calculation, says we’d need seven pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations, which need a lot of space and a handy mountain.
I don’t think pumped-storage hydroelectric would be feasible.
Highview Power say this about their next projects on this page of their web site.
Highview Power’s next projects will be located in Scotland and the North East and each will be 200MW/2.5GWh capacity. These will be located on the national transmission network where the wind is being generated and therefore will enable these regions to unleash their untapped renewable energy potential and store excess wind power at scale.
Note.
- This is more like the size.
- Work is now underway at Carrington – a 50MW / 300MWh plant at Trafford Energy Park near Manchester.
- Highview’s technology uses liquid air to store energy and well-proven turbo-machinery.
They are a definite possibility, as only eighteen 200MW/2.5GWh systems would be needed.
Abercynon Station – 28th November 2023
On Tuesday, I went to South Wales to look at the progress of the South Wales Metro.
I took these pictures at Abercynon station.
Note.
- The station has a wide island platform.
- The Aberdare and the Merthyr Tydfil branches merge here.
- It was rather draughty.
- The electrification looks to be of high quality.
This OpenRalwayMap shows the tracks through the station.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red.
- Unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- The single-track going North is the Aberdare branch.
- The single-track going North-East is the Merthyr Tydfil branch.
- There is a crossover to the North of the station, so that trains can go where they should.
- The single platform is the grey-shaded area between the two tracks.
- The tracks are electrified to the South.
It is a neat simple station, that also allows passengers to travel between stations on different Northern branches.
The Increase In Passenger Capacity
Consider.
- Currently, there are two Class 150/2 tph on both Northern branches.
- This means current capacity is 596 passengers per hour.
- After electrification, there will be four Class 398 tph on both Northern branches.
- This means future capacity is 2016 passengers per hour.
That is an increase of 238 % in the capacity.
The Anonymous Widower 