The Crews Bracing Themselves For A Rise In Electric Car Fires
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Each year, Essex Fire and Rescue Service focuses on one area of “top-up” training for its crews. In recent years, this has included sessions on firefighting at height and managing hazardous materials. This year, a new course is being introduced: How to deal with electric vehicle fires. Why?
These are the first three paragraphs.
Station manager Terry Maher has recently taken on a new role within the fire service.
A hazardous material expert, he is now the service’s lead officer on tackling lithium-ion battery fires.
His new responsibility comes as the number of electric vehicles (EVs) on UK roads hits more than 540,000. And the number is rising fast.
The article certainly worried me.
Most of the views expressed are by a fire officer, who is also a hazard materials expert.
It should be remembered that I have had serious fire training both as a Scout with the London Fire Brigade and a few years later at both Enfield Rolling Mills and at ICI.
These are a few points from the article.
- Dealing with a petrol or diesel car fire would normally take about 30 minutes. With an EV fire we’re looking at four or five hours or longer, if we’ve used water.
- As more and more people use electric vehicles we can expect more and more electric vehicle fires.
- The results of text searches show there were 59 electric vehicle fire references in 2022-23 across England – up from 30 the previous year.
We are dealing with dangerous vehicles and must handle with care.
These are my thoughts.
Car Insurance Rates For Electric Vehicles Will Rise
The worse the risk, the more you will have to pay.
A Full Safety Assessment Should Be Done Before Buying An Electric Vehicle
For instance, I have an integral garage in my house and wouldn’t feel safe at night, if an electric car or bicycle was in there on charge.
I certainly wouldn’t buy an electric car with a plastic body. Although I did own a Lotus Elan for over twenty years.
Conclusion
Everybody, who is thinking of buying an electric car or bicycle, should read the BBC article first.
SeaTwirl And Verlume Join Forces To Drive Decarbonisation Of Offshore Assets
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Swedish energy-tech company SeaTwirl and UK-based energy management and energy storage firm Verlume have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the electrification of offshore assets and decarbonisation of the oil and gas industry.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The MoU will see the two companies identify and pursue potential opportunities for decarbonisation of offshore oil and gas and other associated offshore electrification opportunities using renewable energy, seabed-based energy storage, and intelligent energy management.
SeaTwirl and Verlume plan to develop systems for commercial sale, using combined technologies.
Note.
- This YouTube video introduces SeaTwirl.
- This YouTube video introduces Verlume.
This could be an MoU made in engineering heaven.
Verlume And Wave Power
The last two paragraphs of the article describe another project involving Verlume.
Aberdeen’s intelligent energy management specialists Verlume has developed a GBP 2 million (approximately USD 2.5 million) project linking the Blue X wave energy converter constructed by Mocean Energy with a Halo underwater battery storage system.
The industry-supported project, situated five kilometres east of Orkney Mainland, demonstrates the integration of green technologies to deliver consistent and sustainable low-carbon power and communication to subsea equipment.
Could Verlume, be the missing link that wave power needs?
UK Has Almost 7GW Of Shovel-Ready Pumped Hydro, Says IHA
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Solar Power Portal.
This paragraph fills out the headline.
Former Australian Prime Minister and current president of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) Malcolm Turnbull has penned an open letter to Rishi Sunak stating that the UK has “almost 7GW of shovel-ready pumped storage hydropower projects with over 135GWh storage capacity”.
Note.
- At 7 GW, it would take 19.2 hours to run out of water.
- Currently, we have about 3GW/24GWh of pumped storage hydro.
- At the end of 2022, we had just 2.4GW/2.6GWh of connected battery storage sites.
It looks like we should start digging.
SSE Renewables Partners With Fluence And OCU Energy To Deliver Its Battery Storage Project At Fiddler’s Ferry
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from SSE Renewables.
This is the sub-heading.
*The 150MW / 300MWh battery energy storage system will be built on the site of the former SSE-owned coal fired power station*
These four paragraphs give full details of the project.
SSE Renewables has announced its principal contractor and battery supplier for its 150MW battery storage project at Fiddler’s Ferry, Warrington.
OCU Energy – who are Stockport-based and are currently working with SSE Renewables on its Ferrybridge battery storage project – will be the principal contractor at Fiddler’s Ferry.
Fluence, a global leader in energy storage technology, digital solutions and services, has been selected as the supplier of the battery-based energy storage system.
Construction is set to begin at the site in the coming weeks after SSE Renewables took a final investment decision back in December 2023.
Note.
- This will be a two-hour battery.
- Good to see a press release with both battery output and battery capacity shown in the appropriate units.
It’s also good to see, SSE adding to the fleet of the UK’s battery storage.
This page on the SSE Renewables web site is entitled About Solar And Battery.
This is the sub-heading.
SSE Renewables is progressing a 1.2GW secured pipeline of utility-scale solar and battery projects across the UK and Ireland and a further 1.3GW of other prospective sites under development. These assets complement SSE’s existing portfolio of other low carbon infrastructure such as wind and hydro.
This is the first paragraph.
Our solar projects will be capable of harnessing the abundant power of the sun to bring renewable power onto the grid, while our battery projects will be able to store renewable power when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. The delivery of these projects is part of our commitment to a net zero transition.
What follows is a job advert.
As an electrical and control engineer, who has enjoyed over fifty years exploring the mathematics of big engineering projects, I don’t regret the choice of career I made.
National Gas To Trial Gravitricity’s H2 Storage Solution
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.
This is the sub-heading.
Gravitricity’s H2FlexiStore system for underground hydrogen storage could see a pilot built in 2025 after National Gas secured Ofgem funding to explore the technology.
There is then a graphic, which gives a good visual explanation.
The patented system uses lined geological shafts to store up to 100 tonnes of pressurised hydrogen at 220 bar, equivalent to about 3.33GWh of energy. Unlike natural storage such as salt caverns and disused gas fields, the shafts can be sited anywhere. Gravitricity has previously stated its preference for co-locating the storage near to renewable generation and potential major consumers of hydrogen such as heavy industry.
I can see that this simple system can have a lot of diverse uses.
In Centrica Completes Work On 20MW Hydrogen-Ready Peaker In Redditch, I talked about how Centrica had refurbished a decommissioned peaker plant.
One of these stores would keep a 20 MW peaker plant running for a week.
It would also work well with a HiiROC hydrogen system.
UK’s Green Power Industry Receives Surprise £10bn Pledge
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in the Guardian.
This is the sub-heading.
Potential investment by NatPower would create largest portfolio of battery storage projects in Britain
These five paragraphs outline the proposed investment.
Britain’s under-pressure green power industry has received a surprise fillip after a renewables developer pledged to plough £10bn into what would become the largest portfolio of battery storage projects in the country.
NatPower, a UK startup that is part of a larger European energy group, is poised to submit planning applications for three “gigaparks”, with a further 10 to follow next year.
Battery storage projects are seen as a key part of the jigsaw to decarbonise Britain’s power grid, allowing electricity generated by wind turbines and solar panels to be stored for use when weather conditions are still or not sunny.
The NatPower investment would lead to the construction of 60 gigawatt hours of battery storage, with solar and wind projects also in the pipeline.
The two gigaparks would be located in the north of England, with a further site in the west of the country planned later this year. The projects would be built on industrial land, and also through leasing deals with farmers.
Note.
- To gauge the scale of this development; the largest energy storage development in the UK at present is SSE Renewable’s massive Coire Glas pumped storage hydro in the Highlands of Scotland, which is a 1.5 GW/30 GWh monster, that is budgeted to cost £1.5 billion.
- NatPower has a web site, which has an opening video, which is all landscape, sun, water and wind, that would be worthy of an epic from Hollywood or by Eisenstein.
- NatPower’s investment of £10 billion, buys them 60 GWh of storage and if it’s a proportionate amount of capacity to Coire Glas, perhaps around 3GW or around the capacity of Hinckley Point C.
I have a few thoughts.
Is It All A Hoax?
Those who were alive and sober in 1977, may well remember the April Fools’ Day Hoax of the Guardian of that year, which concerned a fake supplement in the paper promoting the island of San Serriffe.
The story has its own Wikipedia entry.
The web site; http://www.sanserriffe.com, doesn’t seem to be accessible.
Today’s story seems genuine, although some will smell a rat.
Work Starts On World’s Largest Floating Solar Project, Part of RWE’s OranjeWind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Nautical SUNRISE consortium partners have commenced the project whose goal is to facilitate research and development of offshore floating solar systems and its components. The project aims to integrate a 5 MW offshore floating solar system within RWE’s OranjeWind, a wind farm to be built 53 kilometres off the Dutch coast.
These three paragraphs outline the project.
Research and development on the offshore floating solar (OFS) systems and its components of the EUR 8.4 million project, supported by EUR 6.8 million of the Horizon Europe programme, kicked off in December 2023.
The project will enable the large-scale deployment and commercialisation of offshore floating solar systems in the future, both as standalone systems and integrated into offshore wind farms.
The project aims to design, build, and showcase a 5 MW OFS system using the modular solution of the Dutch floating company SolarDuck.
Note.
- It’s only the fourth of March and this is the second floating solar project of the month.
- The first was SolarDuck, Green Arrow Capital And New Developments S.R.L. Sign Collaboration Agreement For A Grid-Scale Offshore Hybrid Wind-Solar Project In Italy.
- I can understand Italy, but surely a solar farm in the Dutch waters of the North Sea, is being at least slightly optimistic.
But the home page of the Oranjewind web site, does have a mission statement of Blueprint For The New Generation Of Offshore Wind Farms.
Under a heading of The Perfect Match, this is said.
RWE’s OranjeWind offshore wind farm will be located 53 kilometers from the Dutch coast. To tackle the challenges of fluctuating power generation from wind and flexible energy demand, RWE has developed a blueprint for the integration of offshore wind farms in the Dutch energy system.
A combination of smart innovations and investments will be used to realise this perfect match between supply and demand.
Under Innovations At OranjeWind, this is said.
In order to realise system integration and accelerate the energy transition, RWE is working together with a number of innovators on new developments in offshore wind farms. The company is realising and testing these innovations in the OranjeWind wind farm.These innovations include offshore floating solar, a subsea lithium-ion battery, LiDAR power forecasting system and a subsea hydro storage power plant off-site.
These technologies have their own sections, which give more information.
- Subsea Pumped Hydro Storage Power Plant (Ocean Grazer)
- Floating Solar (SolarDuck)
- Intelligent Subsea Energy Storage (Verlume)
- LiDAR-based Power Forecasting (ForWind, University of Oldenburg)
The web site also says this about knowledge from OranjeWind.
There is a lot to learn in an innovative project such as OranjeWind. While developing the wind farm, RWE started the OranjeWind Knowledge programme. This programme aims to generate and share knowledge to accelerate the energy transition.
In strong partnerships with TNO and Dutch universities, research is carried out in parallel to the development and operation of OranjeWind. By sharing research results, lessons learned, and relevant in-house expertise, RWE aims to close knowledge gaps and provide valuable insights in key focus areas for system integration. The generated knowledge will become openly available to educational and research institutes, governments and the market.
To ensure the dissemination of knowledge, RWE will actively partner with educational institutions of all levels across the Netherlands. These partnerships allow RWE to share its expertise and provide the future workforce with the knowledge and skills needed to enable the energy transition.
It certainly appears that RWE intends to get as much out of this project as they can.
I don’t think that they can be criticised for that objective.
UK Can Secure Record Number Of Offshore Wind Farms In This Year’s Auction For New Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from RenewableUK.
The first five paragraphs, should be read as a whole and are a good summary of, where the UK is with offshore wind.
A new report published today by RenewableUK shows that the Government has an opportunity to secure a record number of new offshore wind farms, and record amount of new capacity, in this year’s summer’s auction for contracts to generate clean power (Contracts for Difference). In a huge boost to the UK’s energy security, the Government has the potential to double the country’s offshore wind capacity in this year’s auction alone.
RenewableUK’s latest EnergyPulse Insights Offshore Wind report reveals that 14 wind farms are already eligible to bid into this year’s CfD auction (Allocation Round 6), providing nearly 10.3 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity. The previous records were set in 2022 when 8.5GW was eligible across 7 projects.
In addition to this, a further 4.7GW of new offshore wind capacity (out of 8.7GW in the planning system) could become eligible before applications open for AR6 at the end of March. If these projects were to receive consent from the Government, 14.9GW of offshore wind capacity would be eligible for this year’s auction. The report notes that being eligible does not mean that projects will choose to bid in – but they have the potential to do so.
To put this 14.9GW of potential new capacity into context, we currently have 14.7GW of fully operational offshore wind which generates 14% of the UK’s entire electricity needs. Just one gigawatt of offshore wind generates enough electricity to power over a million British homes for a year.
The report also shows that a further 5.2GW are already under construction in UK waters, and it forecasts that nearly 45GW could be fully operational by the end of 2030.
It is certainly worth reading through to the last paragraph.
The press release also lists the projects eligible to bid into AR6.
- Norfolk Vanguard West and Norfolk Vanguard East (2,760MW) – RWE
- Hornsea Four (2,600MW) – Ørsted
- Awel y Môr (1,100MW) – RWE
- East Anglia Two (900MW) – Iberdrola
- East Anglia One North (800MW) – Iberdrola
- Hornsea Three (753.1MW) – Ørsted
- Seagreen 1A (500MW) – SSE Renewables, TotalEnergies
- East Anglia Three (318MW) – Iberdrola
- Inch Cape (270MW) – Inch Cape Offshore
- Pentland (floating project) (100MW) – Highland Wind Limited
- Erebus (floating project) (100MW)
- Blyth 2 (floating project) (58MW)
- Forthwind (test and demonstration site) (8MW) – Forthwind Limited
These make a total of 10,267MW
Currently, as I write this the UK is generating 29 GW, so 45 GW with a lot of energy storage, should be enough to power the country.
Form Energy To Begin Manufacturing Iron Air Batteries In Weirton To Stabilize Electrical Grid
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on wesa.fm.
These three paragraphs detail the story.
A company pioneering electrical grid batteries that will provide days of backup power for power plants reliant on renewable energy is building out its manufacturing arm throughout the greater Pittsburgh region.
Form Energy is on track to begin manufacturing the new kind of grid asset this spring, one the company says is sorely needed in a destabilized climate. As bonuses, it’s cheap — made of earth-abundant and predominantly domestically sourced materials — and Form needs a large, maker workforce to pull it off.
This is a welcomed development in the community of Weirton, West Virginia, which has seen population and industry decline steadily since the 1970s. Most recently, Cleveland-Cliffs — a neighbor company in the small town — announced it would idle its tinplate production plant and lay off up to 900 employees.
I like Form Energy’s iron-air batteries.
They would appear to be a direct replacement for lithium-ion batteries in stationary applications likeBattery-Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
I suspect they will work eoth the grid-balancing software developed for lithium-ion batteries.
- They use rust and air to store energy.
- The science came out of MIT.
- The venture is well-backed by the likes of Bill Gates.
There’s more about this factory on this page of their web site.
- The web site talks of innovative software, like grid modelling software.
- They aim to start production in the second half of this year.
- At full production the factory will employ 750 people.
- The annual production will be 500 MW of batteries.
This is a company to watch.
Fire Safety Of Battery-Electric Vehicles
I notice that there has been talk of fires in battery-electric vehicles on this blog.
So I thought I’d put up a post with an appropriate topic.
There are some things that already could worry me.
- Vivarail had a fire early on.
- The Merseyrail Class 777 trains go in the tunnels under Liverpool.
- The new Piccadilly Line trains will have batteries.
- Did electric vehicle batteries contribute to the ferocity of the fire in the Luton Airport car park?
- Fire brigades are getting very worried about e-scooter and e-bike fires.
- This page on the Internet gives details of recent BESS fires.
- Do we investigate fires and publish the results properly?
I have some questions.
- Would it be sensible to have nationwide database of all batteries?
- Should we use more non-lithium methods in large stationary batteries?
- Should we use more capacitors?
- Should we make it a criminal offence to build or use a non-compliant e-bike or e-scooter?
- Should installing a battery in your house, need a safety certificate?
One half of me says yes and the other says no, to some of these questions.
The Anonymous Widower 