The Anonymous Widower

£10bn Investment In AI Data Centre Confirmed

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

This was the sub-heading.

A £10bn investment in a new artificial intelligence data centre will create about 4,000 jobs, the government has said.

These two paragraphs add more details.

The site in Cambois, near Blyth, Northumberland, will become one of Europe’s biggest AI data centres.

The land was bought by private equity giant Blackstone earlier this year, after the collapse of Britishvolt which had planned to build an electric car battery factory on the site.

In My First Trip On The Northumberland Line – 18th December 2024, I said this after my first trip to the line.

The Blyth Valley Is Well Supplied With Electricity

Several high-capacity connections to wind farms and Norway are planned to come ashore at Blyth and it appears from the pictures  that the area is well connected to the grid.

This must have nudged Britishvolt to put their battery plant at Blyth.

But no matter for those jobs, as with a rail service to Greater Geordieland and lots of electricity, there must be other energy-hungry businesses like datacentres or small modular reactor factories, who would want the site.

The Long Platforms

I am fairly sure that some of the platforms have been sized to take a five-car Hitachi Class 80x train, which are only 130 metres long and can carry around 400 passengers.

This must enable the ability to use the Northumberland Line as a diversion for the East Coast Main Line.

Some services could perhaps stop at Blyth for the large factories and/or Northumberland Park for the Metro.

It looks to me, that the Northumberland line was designed for large factories or businesses with lots of workers, that needed lots of electricity.

January 6, 2025 Posted by | Artificial Intelligence, Computing, Energy | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Trump Calls On UK To ‘Get Rid’ of Offshore Wind Farms In Favour Of Oil & Gas; Gets Invited To Hull

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

This is the sub-heading.

Donald Trump has urged the UK government to “get rid of windmills” in the North Sea and open it up for oil & gas, which earned the US president-elect an open invitation from Humber Marine and Renewables, a UK regional industry organisation, to visit Hull and witness the effects of offshore wind on the economy first-hand.

This paragraph sums up Trumps views on wind farms, which he incorrectly calls windmills.

According to global media, on 3 January, Donald Trump said via his social media platform Truth Social that the UK was “making a very big mistake” with wind energy and that it should “open up the North Sea”, accompanying the post with a link to news about US oil company Apache saying it would exit the North Sea, citing the windfall tax in the UK. The news on Apache’s UK exit followed the UK government’s announcement on raising the tax from 35 per cent to 38 per cent and using the profit for renewable energy.

But then he wouldn’t realise that a windmill grinds corn and a wind turbine generates electricity.

This paragraph describes the invitation of Trump to Hull.

After the incoming US president’s social media post, director of the UK industry organisation Humber Marine and Renewables, Dave Laister, said in a comment to BBC: “I’d like to invite Donald Trump, or a representative here in the UK, to come to Hull and take in Offshore Wind Connections 2025. He needs to hear what those ‘windmills’ have done for the economy, for our maritime heritage and for the region’s sense of purpose. I’d like him to understand the appetite for working in this clean, green sector from those at our schools and colleges, to sample the hunger to be part of a climate emergency solution.”

I doubt he’ll go to the city.

One problem, he’ll have getting to Hull, is that the city doesn’t have an airport, so he’ll have to go into Humberside, Leeds or Robin Hood.

If you would like to go to Offshore Wind Connections 2025, then this is the web site.

Enjoy the party!

January 6, 2025 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump’s Eyeing Greenland – But Other Arctic Investment Is Frozen

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

The BBC Article is a good introduction to Trump’s ideas for Greenland.

This is my one thought.

Do we side with Trump and the United States or our Danish friends?

January 6, 2025 Posted by | World | , , , , | 4 Comments

Don’t Live In Islington If You’re A Pedestrian!

On Sunday, I went to lunch with my son in Walthamstow.

To catch the bus, I have to negotiate these these traffic lights at Southgate and Balls Pond Roads.

Note that to operate the lights, you must push the button to cross.

As I reached forward to push the button to cross, a car came racing up from Dalston Junction.

  • Seeing me standing there with my hand forward, he thought it would be funny to give me a good splashing, which he did by going through the deep water.
  • His girlfriend was laughing as she passed close by me in the nearside seat.
  • Unfortunately, I didn’t get to read the car’s registration number.
  • But I did see the Tesla logo on the boot.

If I had though, judging by the look of the guy and his girl, he might not have been the sort of guy, you report to the police.

What really annoyed me, was having to walk back to my house to change into dry clothes.

I do hope though, that the Borough of Islington fix the levels of the roads to eliminate the flooding.

But they are not good as street presentation as I wrote about in Islington Socialism At Work!

January 6, 2025 Posted by | World | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Windar Taps PORR To Build Wind Tower Factory In Poland

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

This is the sub-heading.

Spain’s Windar Renovables has selected PORR to build a new factory in Szczecin, Poland, that will produce towers, masts, and foundations for the next generation of wind turbines.

This Google Map shows the position of Szezecin.

 

Note.

  1. The small island to the South of Sweden is the Danish island of Bornholm.
  2. Szczecin is on an inlet to the South of Bornholm.
  3. Gdynia and Gdansk are in a bay on the Polish coast to the East.

It looks like there will be several places along the coast, that will be suitable for the building and assembly of wind turbines and their components.

It will surely be easy to transport the turbines and their components up the Kattegat and down the Skagerrak into the North Sea.

This second Google Map shows the Port of Szczecin in more detail.

The location of the port is indicated by the red arrow.l

Conclusion

It looks to me to be an ideal place to build the components for wind turbines like towers, masts and foundations.

January 6, 2025 Posted by | Energy | , | 1 Comment