Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration Programme, Stream 1 Phase 1: Details Of Successful Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this document from the UK Government.
This is the introduction.
Stream 1 aims to accelerate commercialisation of innovative longer duration energy storage projects through to actual demonstrations. During Phase 1, projects will be expected to mobilise their proposed technologies to prepare for potential deployment on the UK energy system.
These are the projects.
Ballylumford Power-to-X
This is the description of this project in Northern Ireland.
B9 Energy Storage will receive £986,082 to mobilise a 20MW membrane free electrolyser green hydrogen project. Using otherwise curtailed wind power, hydrogen produced will be stored in local underground salt caverns for later use as a fuel in transport and electricity sectors, creating a full-cycle hydrogen economy (production, storage, distribution and usage) on site.
Note.
Ballylumford power station is a 600 MW gas-fired power station, that provides half of Northern Ireland’s electricity.
A 20 MW electrolyser will produce just under nine tonnes of hydrogen per day.
This Google Map shows the location of the power station opposite the port of Larne.
Note.
Ballylumford power station is clearly visible to the East of the channel towards the bottom of the map.
Ballylumford is also the Irish end of the HVDC Moyle interconnector from Scotland, which has a capacity of 500 MW.
Ballylumford would appear to have enough power for a large electrolyser.
Salt Beds In Northern Ireland
This document on the British Geological Survey web site is entitled Geological Storage In Northern Ireland.
The document discusses Irelands energy needs and gives a good description of using compressed air energy storage in salt caverns.
Then these two paragraphs describe the salt bed in Northern Ireland compare them to other deposits under Great Britain.
Thick halite deposits, found both onshore in Northern Ireland and immediately offshore in the North Channel, offer potential for salt cavern storage facilities. The salt deposits occur as bedded deposits with minor halokinesis (geological movement of salt) forming salt swells rather than pillows or domes so that the height of any cavern may be restricted by bed thickness. Pure salt beds tend to be thin (approximately 100-250 metres maximum thickness) compared to those used elsewhere and the presence of significant insoluble impurities and minor intrusive dolerite dykes or sills may reduce their suitability.
The Larne and Carrickfergus area of County Antrim is the only part of the whole island where thick salt beds occur. Elsewhere in the UK parts of Cheshire, Lancashire, Teesside, Humberside and Dorset have similar, or thicker, developments of salt beds and gas storage facilities are either in construction, or are already in operation.
It would appear that the thick salt beds in the Larne and Carrickfergus area could be suitable for gas storage.
Ballylumford might actually be on top of the salt beds, as Carrickfergus is a few miles to the South.
On a personal note, I used to work for ICI Mond Division and during that time and immediately afterwards, I met many people, who had been into the salt mines and worked with boreholes extracting the salt and the one thing everybody said about the salt mine, was that water must not get in.
Membrane-Free Electrolysis
I saw this in operation when I worked at ICI Mond. Most of their hydrogen and chlorine was produced using the main Castner-Kellner process at Castner-Kellner works in Runcorn. That is a nasty process that uses a lot of mercury, which got into the air and plant operators’ bodies.
But ICI also had a much smaller plant, where they used simple electrolysers, that had a metal cell, with a concrete top, with the anode and cathode going through the concrete into the brine. I seem to remember that its main purpose was to provide mercury-free hydrogen, chlorine and sodium hydroxide. I can remember seeing workers rebuilding the cells, as was done on a regular basis.
These were membrane free electrolysers and had been running successfully for many years.
Searching the Internet for “membrane free electrolyser” I found a company in Doncaster called CPH2.
The home page on their web site declares
Clean Power Hydrogen are the manufacturers of the unique Membrane-Free Electrolyser
Turning to the About page, this is said.
Being passionate about hydrogen as clean energy for the future, we wanted to find an alternative to PEM electrolysers as these had barriers to adoption. We realised that the cleanest way to produce hydrogen was by membrane-free water electrolysis, and in doing so, it would be a less expensive and more robust technology.
Dr. Nigel Williamson and Joe Scott established CPH2 (Ireland) in 2012 with the ambition to help clean up the environment for our children and future generations. Entering the green technology sector; a high growth and profitable market, they developed a Membrane-Free Electrolyser™ to produce hydrogen faster, more reliably, and more cost-effectively than other electrolysers.
They also have the ambition to be leading developer and manufacturer of green hydrogen technologies and an Irish connection.
My experience says that their technology will work. Especially, with the application of modern materials.
Have the Government backed the Ballylumford Power-to-X project, as they can back two promising technologies with one grant?
GraviSTORE
This is the description of this project.
Gravitricity Limited will receive £912,410.84 to design their multiweight energy store demonstrator project, which will store and discharge energy by lifting and lowering multiple weights in a vertical underground shaft.
Note.
- I like the Gravitricity concept and have invested through crowdfunding.
- The project will be based on a brownfield site in Northern England.
- Gravitricity’s current demonstrator in Edinburgh, which I wrote about in Gravitricity Celebrates Success Of 250kW Energy Storage Demonstrator, only uses a single weight, but this project talks about multiple weights.
According to other sources on the Internet, the demonstrator will have a storage capacity of 4 MWh and will be built on a brownfield site.
Will we see Gravitricity coming to a disused deep coal mine near you?
Long Duration Offshore Storage Bundle
This is the description of this project.
Subsea 7 Limited and FLASC B.V. will receive £471,760.00 to further develop the Long Duration Offshore Storage Bundle which will store energy as a combination of pressurised seawater and compressed air, using an innovative hydro-pneumatic technology.
Note.
- Subsea 7 Limited are a subsea engineering, construction and services company serving the offshore energy industry, domiciled in Luxembourg with headquarters in London.
- According to their web site, FLASC B.V. is a spin-off of the University of Malta, established in The Netherlands in 2019.
On the page on the FLASC web site, which is labelled The Technology, this is said.
FLASC is an energy storage device that can be integrated directly into a floating offshore platform. Energy is stored using a hydro-pneumatic liquid piston, driven by a reversible pump-turbine.
Charging Mode: electricity is used to pump water into a closed chamber containing pre-charged air.
Discharging Mode: the pressurised water is released through a hydraulic turbine to generate electricity.
FLASC leverages existing infrastructure and supply chains, along with the marine environment itself as a natural heatsink, resulting in a safe, reliable and cost-effective solution.
There is also this video.
The news page on the FLASC web site is a comforting read.
My knowledge of modelling vessel systems for chemical plants, tells my brain to like it.
Vanadium Flow Battery Longer Duration Energy Asset Demonstrator
This is the description of this project.
Invinity Energy Systems will receive £708,371 to demonstrate how a 40 MWh Vanadium Flow Battery could deliver long duration storage-enabled power on demand from UK-based solar generation.
Note.
- I wrote about Invinity Energy Systems in UK’s Pivot Power Sees First Battery On Line By 2021.
- Invinity Energy Systems was formed by a merger of RedT and Avalon Battery.
- The project appears to be located at Bathgate in Scotland.
This picture from EdF shows a large vanadian flow battery.
Invinity Energy Systems flow battery at Energy Superhub Oxford
If this project works out, vanadium flow batteries would be a good replacement for lithium-ion batteries.
Cheshire Energy Storage Centre
This is the description of this project.
io consulting will receive £1 million to enable its consortium to develop an electricity storage facility which could use mothballed EDF gas cavities in Cheshire utilising Hydrostor’s Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage technology
Note.
- This is another project based on salt caverns.
- I wrote about Canadian company; Hydrostor in Gigawatt-Scale Compressed Air: World’s Largest Non-Hydro Energy-Storage Projects Announced.
- Hydrostor have received at least one large order for their system.
I have put Hydrostor on my list of tecnologies that should make it.
Conclusion
This is a well-balanced list of projects.
I would rate success as follows.
- Ballylumford Power-to-X – 60 %
- GraviSTORE – 80 %
- Long Duration Offshore Storage Bundle – 60 %
- Vanadium Flow Battery Longer Duration Energy Asset Demonstrator – 70 %
- Cheshire Energy Storage Centre – 80 %
But then all these projects are a bit of a gamble
Giant Batteries Will Provide Surge Of Electricity Storage
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Britain’s capacity to store electricity in giant batteries is set to double after dozens of new projects won contracts through a government scheme to keep the lights on.
Developers of battery storage projects with a total output capacity of at least 3.3 gigawatts won contracts to operate from winter 2025-26 through the government’s “capacity market” auction, according to Cornwall Insight, the consultancy.
Note that Hinckley Point C is only 3.26 GW.
The biggest battery in these contracts is a giant that Intergen will be building at the London Gateway.
When the battery got planning permission in November 2020, Intergen published this press release, which is entitled InterGen Gains Consent To Build One Of The World’s Largest Battery Projects In Essex.
These are three bullet points at the head of the press release.
- Edinburgh-headquartered energy company InterGen has been granted planning consent to build the UK’s largest battery storage project at DP World London Gateway on the Thames Estuary.
- £200m project is set to provide at least 320MW/640MWh of capacity, with the potential to expand to 1.3GWh – more than ten times the size of the largest battery currently in operation in the UK and set to be one of the world’s largest.
- The battery will provide fast-reacting power and system balancing with an initial two-hour duration, and is a significant piece of infrastructure on the UK’s journey to net zero.
As Cilla might have said. “What a lorra lorra lot of lithium!”
But it’s not just lithium-ion batteries that are getting large.
In The Power Of Solar With A Large Battery, I talked about a Highview Power CRYOBattery with a capacity of 50MW/500MWh, that is being built in the Atacama desert in Chile.
The Essex battery is a giant battery and it’s bigger than the one in Chile, but I’m fairly sure Highview Power could build a battery bigger than the one InterGen are building. You just add more liquid air tanks and turbomachinery.
Repurposing The Great Glen Hydro-Electric Scheme
The Great Glen hydro-electric scheme was built in the 1950s and early 1960s, by the North of Scotland Hydroelectric Board.
- The scheme is now owned by SSE Renewables and has a page on their web site.
- There are six individual power stations; Ceannacroc, Livishie, Glenmoriston, Quoich, Invergarry and Mucomir.
- There are five dams; Cluanie, Loyne, Dundreggan, Quoich and Invergarry.
This map from the SSE Renewables web site shows the layout of the dams and power stations.
The sizes of the power stations in the scheme are as follows.
- Ceannacroc – 20 MW
- Livishie – 15 MW
- Glenmoriston- 37 MW
- Quoich – 18 MW
- Invergarry – 20 MW
- Mucomir – 1.7 MW
This gives a total power of 112.7 MW.
This Google Map shows the same area as the SSE Renewables Map.
Note.
- Loch Quoich is in the South-West corner.
- To the East of Loch Quoich is Loch Garry and to the North-East is Loch Loyne.
- Loch Cluanie is to the North.
- Invermoriston is in the North-East corner.
The scheme also includes three underground power stations and several miles of tunnels.
Strathclyde University And Pumped Storage Power For Scotland
This page on the Strathclyde University gives a list of the pumped storage potential for Scottish hydrogen-electric dams and power stations.
These figures are given for the dams and lochs in the Great Glen scheme.
- Invergarry – 22 GWh
- Glenmoriston- 41 GWh
- Quoich – 27 GWh
It would appear that based on research from Strathclyde University, that the Great Glen scheme could support up to 90 GWh of pumped storage.
Water Flows In The Great Glen Scheme
Looking at the SSE Renewables map of the Great Glen scheme, water flows appear to be as follows.
- Loch Quoich to Loch Garry via Quoich power station.
- Loch Garry to Loch Oich via Invergarry power station.
- Loch Loyne to Loch Dundreggan via River Moriston.
- Loch Cluanie to Loch Dundreggan via Ceannacroc power station and River Moriston.
- Loch Dundreggan to Loch Ness via Glenmoriston power station.
All the water eventually flows into the sea at Inverness.
Refurbishing And Repurposing The Great Glen Scheme
Perhaps as the power stations are now over fifty years old, one simple way to increase the generating capacity of the Great Glen scheme, might be to selectively replace the turbines, with modern turbines, that can generate electricity more efficiently.
I suspect that SSE Renewables have an ongoing program of improvements and replacements for all of their hydro-electric stations in Scotland. Some turbines at Sloy power station have already been replaced with larger ones.
Adding Pumped Storage To The Great Glen Scheme
I would assume that the water to pump uphill at night or when there is a surplus of electricity will come from Loch Oich or Loch Ness.
Some power stations like Glenmoriston and Invergarry might be updated to both generate electricity or pump water up hill, as is required.
Conclusion
There would appear to be up to three schemes, that could each add around 30 GWh of pumped storage.
One advantage is that the waters of Loch Ness can be used for the lower reservoir.
Repurposing The Affric/Beauly Hydro-Electric Scheme
The Affric/Beauly hydro-electric scheme was built in the 1950s and early 1960s, by the North of Scotland Hydroelectric Board.
- The scheme is now owned by SSE Renewables and has a page on their web site.
- There are six individual power stations; Mullardoch, Fasnakyle, Deanie, Culligran, Aigas and Kilmorack.
- There are seven dams; Mullardoch, Benevean, Monar, Loichel, Beannacharan, Aigas and Kilmorack.
This map from the SSE Renewables web site shows the layout of the dams and power stations.
This description of the scheme is from Wikipedia.
The Affric / Beauly hydro-electric power scheme for the generation of hydro-electric power is located in the western Highlands of Scotland. It is based around Glen Strathfarrar, Glen Cannich and Glen Affric, and Strathglass further downstream.
The scheme was developed by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, with plans being approved in 1947.
The largest dam of the scheme is at Loch Mullardoch, at the head of Glen Cannich. From there, a tunnel takes water to Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoinn (Loch Benevean) in Glen Affric, via a small underground power station near Mullardoch dam. Loch Benevean is also dammed, with a tunnel taking water to the main power station of Fasnakyle, near Cannich.
To the north in Glen Strathfarrar, Loch Monar is dammed, and a 9 km tunnel carries water to an underground power station at Deanie. Further down the glen, the River Farrar is dammed just below Loch Beannacharan, with a tunnel to take water to Culligran power station (also underground).
The River Farrar joins with the River Glass near Struy to form the River Beauly. Downstream on the River Beauly, dams and power stations have been built in gorges at Aigas and Kilmorack.
As the rivers in this scheme are important for Atlantic salmon, flow in the rivers is kept above agreed levels. The dams at Kilmorack, Aigas and Beannacharn contain Borland fish lifts to allow salmon to pass.
Note
- Culligran, Deanie and Mullardoch power stations are underground.
- Loch Beannacharan is the English name for Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin.
- The salmon impose a constraint on water levels.
The sizes of the power stations in the scheme are as follows.
- Mullardoch – 2.4 MW
- Fasnakyle – 69 MW
- Deanie – 38 MW
- Culligran – 19 MW
- Aigas – 20 MW
- Kilmorack – 20 MW
This gives a total power of 168.4 MW.
This Google Map shows the Western area of the SSE Renewables Map.
Note.
- The three lochs; Monar, Mullardoch and Beinn a’ Mheadhoin can be picked out on both maps.
- Fasnakyle, where the largest of the hydro-electric power stations in the Affric/Beauly scheme, is at the Eastern edge of the map about half-way up.
- The area doesn’t seem to have a large population.
This Google Map shows the location of Fasnakyle power station in more detail.
Note.
- Fasnakyle power station is in the South-West corner of the map. marked by a grey flag.
- It appears that all of the water that goes through the power station flows into the River Glass, Strathglass, which meanders its way towards Inverness on the bottom of what appears to be a broad valley.
This Google Map shows the next section of the river.
The River Glass, Strathglass joins the River Farrar near the top of the map an becomes the River Beauly.
This Google Map the River Beauly to Kilmorack.
Wikipedia says this about this section of the River Beauly.
The river is part of the Affric-Beauly hydro-electric power scheme, with dams and power stations at Aigas and Kilmorack. Both have 20MW generators and include fish ladders to allow salmon to pass, the Aigas fish ladder is open to visitors in the summer.
This last Google Map shows the Beauly Firth.
Note.
- Kilmorack is in the South-West corner of the map.
- The River Beauly flows into the Beauly Firth and ultimately out to see in the Moray Firth.
- The water flows past Inverness to the North.
It does strike me, that a lot of the water collected in the dams to the West of Fasnakyle, flows out to sea.
Strathclyde University And Pumped Storage Power For Scotland
This page on the Strathclyde University gives a list of the pumped storage potential for Scottish hydrogen-electric dams and power stations.
A figure is given for only one dam or power station in the Affric/Beauly scheme.
- Fasnakyle – 78 GWh
That would be a lot of pumped storage.
Water Flows In The Affric/Beauly Scheme
Looking at the SSE Renewables map of the Conon scheme, water flows appear to be as follows.
- Loch Monar to Loch Beannacharan via Deanie power station
- Loch Beannacharan to River Beauly via Culligran power station
- Lochs Mullardoch and Beinn a’ Mheadhoin both supply water to the Fasnakyle power station
- Fasnakyle power station to River Beauly via the River Glass, Strathglass.
- River Beauly to Beauly Firth via Aigas and Kilmorack power stations.
Note.
- Water from Loch Moray goes via Deanie , Culligran, Aigas and Kilmorack power stations on its journey to the sea.
- Water from Loch Mullardoch goes via Mullardoch , Fasnakyle, Aigas and Kilmorack power stations on its journey to the sea.
- Water from Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin goes via Fasnakyle, Aigas and Kilmorack power stations on its journey to the sea.
Fasnakyle, Aigas and Kilmorack power stations must work very hard.
Refurbishing And Repurposing The Affric/Beauly Scheme
Perhaps as the power stations are now over fifty years old, one simple way to increase the generating capacity of the Affric/Beauly scheme might be to selectively replace the turbines, with modern turbines, that can generate electricity more efficiently.
I suspect that SSE Renewables have an ongoing program of improvements and replacements for all of their hydro-electric stations in Scotland. Some turbines at Sloy power station have already been replaced with larger ones.
I also suspect that the whole scheme has a very sophisticated control system.
Consider.
- There is a need to control water levels to agreed minimum levels for the Atlantic salmon.
- Hydro-electric power stations have the ability to get to full power quickly, to cover sudden demands for more electricity.
- Electricity only needs to be generated if it can be used.
- Water might be held in Lochs Mullardoch and Beinn a’ Mheadhoin, as a reserve, as it goes through three or four power stations when it is released.
Over the years, SSE Renewables will have developed very sophisticated control philosophies.
Adding Pumped Storage To The Affric/Beauly Scheme
To do this a source of fresh-water must be pumped into Loch Mullardoch or Beinn a’ Mheadhoin, when there is a surplus of electricity.
It looks from Google Maps, that the river system between Fasnakyle and Aigas power stations has been effectively turned into a canal.
- I wonder, if it is deep enough to contain enough water to act as the lower level reservoir of a pumped-storage system.
- The higher level reservoir would be Loch Mullardoch.
- There would be a height difference of 200 metres.
- Calculations show around 1850 cubic metres of water would need to be pumped into Loch Mullardoch to store one MWh.
So long as enough water is left for the salmon, I suspect that if a way of pumping water from the River Glass to Loch Mullardoch, that an amount of pumped-storage can be added.
Conclusion
There would appear to be only one scheme, but if it was built it could add over 50 GWh of pumped storage.
Repurposing The Conon Hydro-Electric Scheme
The Conon hydro-electric scheme was built in the 1950s, by the North of Scotland Hydroelectric Board.
- The scheme is now owned by SSE Renewables and has a page on their web site.
- There are six individual power stations; Achanalt, Grudie Bridge, Mossford, Luichart, Orrin and Torr Achilty.
- There are six dams; Glascarnoch, Vaich, Luichart, Meig, Torr Achilty and Orrin.
This map from the SSE Renewables web site shows the layout of the dams and power stations.
The sizes of the power stations in the scheme are as follows.
- Achanalt – 3 MW
- Grudie Bridge – 18.6 MW
- Mossford – 18.6 MW
- Luichart – 34 MW
- Orrin – 18 MW
- Torr Achilty – 15 MW
This gives a total power of 107.2 MW.
This Google Map shows the same area as the SSE Renewables Map.
Note.
- Inverness is in the South-East corner of the map.
- The red arrow indicates the Western end of Loch Luichart.
- Loch Fannich is the large loch to the West of Loch Luichart.
- Loch Glascarnoch is the East-West loch to the North of Loch Luichart
- Loch Vaich is the North-South loch to the North of Loch Glascarnoch.
Is Inverness a City substantially powered by renewables?
Strathclyde University And Pumped Storage Power For Scotland
This page on the Strathclyde University gives a list of the pumped storage potential for Scottish hydrogen-electric dams and power stations.
These figures are given for the dams and lochs in the Conon scheme.
- Glascarnoch – 23 GWh
- Luichart – 38 GWh
- Fannich – 70 GWh
It would appear that based on research from Strathclyde University, that the Conon scheme could support up to 131 GWh of pumped storage.
This Google Map shows the three lochs and Loch Vaich.
Note.
- Lochs Fannich and Luichart are named.
- Loch Glascarnoch is the East-West loch to the North of Loch Luichart
- Loch Vaich is the North-South loch to the North of Loch Glascarnoch.
- The locations of several power stations are shown.
- Cuileig is a 3.2 MW power station built in 2002.
This Google Map shows Loch Fannich.
Wikipedia says this about the loch.
Loch Fannich was dammed and its water level raised as part of the Conon Hydro-Electric Power Scheme, built by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board between 1946 and 1961. An underground water tunnel leading from Loch Fannich to the Grudie Bridge Power Station required blasting out a final mass of rock beneath the loch, a procedure which was referred to popularly as “Operation Bathplug”.
The dam appears to be at the Eastern end of the loch, as this Google Map shows.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find that to obtain the potential 70 GWh of storage, that the dam will need to be raised.
This Google Map shows Loch Glascarnoch.
Loch Glascarnoch may be more difficult to expand, as a road runs along the Southern side of the loch.
This Google Map shows Loch Luichart
Lock Luichart may have possibilities as it is wide and could be deep.
But it will all be about the shape of the loch and the mathematics of the water.
Water Flows In The Conon Scheme
Looking at the SSE Renewables map of the Conon scheme, water flows appear to be as follows.
- Loch Vaich to Loch Glascornoch
- Loch Droma to Loch Glascornoch
- Loch Glascornoch to Loch Luichart via Mossford power station
- Loch Fannich to Loch Luichart via Grudie Bridge power station
- Loch Achanalt to Loch Luichart via Anchanalt power station
- Loch Meig to Loch Luichart
- Loch Luichart to Loch Achonachie via Luichart power station
- Orrin Reservoir to Loch Achonachie via Orrin power station
- Loch Achonachie to River Conon and eventually the Cromarty Firth via Torr Achilty power station
Note that all the power stations date from the 1950s.
Repurposing The Conon Scheme
Perhaps as the power stations are now over sixty years old, one simpler way to both increase the generating capacity of the Conon scheme and add a degree of pumped storage might be to selectively replace the turbines, with modern pump/turbines, that can both generate electricity and pump the water back up into the mountains.
It should also be noted that Loch Vaich, Loch Glascornoch, Loch Fannich and the Orrin Reservoir are all about 250 metres above sea level, with the others as follows.
- Loch Achanalt – 111 metres
- Loch Luichart – 56 metres
- Loch Meig – 87 metres
- Loch Achonachie – 30 metres
Loch Droma is the highest loch at 270 metres.
These height differences could create opportunities to put in extra tunnels and power or pumping stations between the various levels.
As water pumped to a greater height has a higher potential energy, perhaps it would be an idea to give Loch Droma, which is the highest loch, a bigger role.
Conclusion
I believe these improvements are possible.
- Adding a pumped storage facility to the Conon hydro-electric scheme, with a capacity of upwards of 30-40 GWh.
- Increasing the generating capacity by replacing the elderly turbines.
- Improving control of the scheme, by replacing 1950s control systems.
It may even be possible to substantially improve the performance of the scheme without any expensive rock tunnelling.
Fracking Has a Bad Rep, but Its Tech Is Powering A Clean Energy Shift
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Texas Monthly.
It shows how former frackers are developing their techniques to do the following.
- Extract heat and energy from shale using water.
- Store energy safely underground.
- Drill deeper and better geothermal wells.
One of the companies; Quidnet has been backed by Bill Gates and his friends. I wrote about Quidnet Energy a couple of years ago in How Do You Save Clean Energy? This Company Plans To Pump It Underground.
And all in environmentally-friendly ways, that would get a seal-of-approval from a committed anti-fracker.
It’s the best article I’ve read this week.
A Possible Balmacaan Pumped Storage System
This article on Power Technology is entitled SSE Proposes Loch Ness Hydro Power Plant.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has begun consultations to develop a 600MW hydro electric power plant on the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland.
SSE proposes to build a pumped storage scheme on the Balmacaan Estate between Invermoriston and Drumnadrochit.
The plan also includes construction of a dam and a new reservoir at Loch nam Breac Dearga, north-east of Invermoriston, according to Inverness-courier.co.uk.
This Google Map shows the location of Loch nam Breac Darga.
Note.
- Loch Ness runs diagonally across the map.
- Invermoriston is in the South-West corner of the map.
- Loch nam Breac Darga is marked by the red arrow and is 452 metres above sea level.
- Drumnadrochit is at the North of the map, just to the West of Urquhart Castle.
- The Foyers Pumped Hydro scheme, which I wrote about in The Development Of The Foyers Pumped Storage Scheme is on the opposite bank of Loch Ness from Loch nam Breac Darga.
This could be Scotland’s largest hydro-electric plant.
I can’t find a value for the amount of energy that can be stored, but I suspect it could be in the order of 15-20 GWh.
The stories about this project seem to be thin on the ground, so could it be that this project has been placed on the back burner by SSE.
Errochty Hydro-Electric Power Station
The Errochty hydro-electric power station is one of the stations in the Tummel hydro-electric power scheme.
This Google Map shows the relative locations of Lochs Errochty, Rannoch and Tummel.
Note.
- Loch Errochty is at the top in the middle.
- Loch Rannoch is in the West.
- Loch Tummel is in the East.
This Google Map shows the Eastern end of Loch Errochty.
Note the dam at the Eastern end of the loch.
- The dam is 354 metres long by 49 metres high.
- The dam was built in 1957 and the lake is man-made.
- The loch stands at 330 metres above sea level.
- Water flows from the loch to the Errochty power station at the Western end of Loch Tummel, through a ten kilometre long tunnel.
This Google Map shows Errochty power station and Loch Tummel.
Note.
- Errochty power station is at the top of the map in the middle on the channel connecting it to the River Tummel.
- Errochty power station has two turbines and a maximum output of 75 MW.
- There is what appears to be a large switching station at the Western side of the map.
This page on the Strathclyde University gives a list the pumped storage potential for the Scottish hydrogen-electric power stations.
It states that the Errochty power station and Loch Errochty have a potential to be upgraded into a 16 GWh pumped storage scheme.
I obviously don’t know for sure, but I suspect this could be an easier scheme to convert, if the current turbines could be replaced with pump/turbines.
Water Supply To The Loch
There is a section with this title in the Wikipedia entry for Loch Errochty.
This is said.
Loch Errochty’s main feeder streams are the Allt Sléibh and the Allt Ruighe nan Saorach which both rise in the high ground to the west of the head of the loch. Other small streams flow directly off the 892-metre-high (2,927 ft) mountain of Beinn a’ Chuallaich which stands just to the south. Supplementary water is diverted into the loch from the east by the Errochty catchwater, a system of tunnels and surface pipelines at a height of approximately 380 metres which redirects water from five small tributary streams of the River Garry, and the Garry itself. The catchwater then goes through a tunnel in the hill which separates the Garry and Errochty valleys to join the loch. This method of re-directing water allows it to be used more often to generate electricity. Some of the water within the Tummel scheme passes through five of the power stations and thus generates electricity five times.
That strikes me as being very sophisticated for the 1950s and if the engineering and tunnels are up to a high standard, it might be that conversion of this power station to a 75 MW power station with 16 GWh pumped storage is a distinct possibility.
It might even be possible to increase the generating capacity of the power station.
Up To 24GW Of Long Duration Storage Needed For 2035 Net Zero Electricity System – Aurora
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Current News.
This the first three paragraphs.
Deploying large quantities of long duration electricity storage (LDES) could reduce system costs and reliance on gas, but greater policy support is needed to enable this, Aurora Energy Research has found.
In a new report, Aurora detailed how up to 24GW of LDES – defined as that with a duration of four hours or above – could be needed to effectively manage the intermittency of renewable generation in line with goals of operating a net zero electricity system by 2035. This is equivalent to eight times the current installed capacity.
Additionally, introducing large quantities of LDES in the UK could reduce system costs by £1.13 billion a year in 2035, cutting household bills by £26 – a hot topic with energy bills on the rise as a result of high wholesale power prices.
The report also says that long duration storage could cut carbon emissions by ten million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
I feel strongly, that this is a target we will achieve, given that there are at least four schemes under development or proposed in Scotland.
- Balliemeanoch – 45 GWh
- Coire Glas – 30 GWh
- Corrievarkie – 14.5 GWh
- Loch Sloy – 14 GWh
- Red John – 2.8 GWh
It certainly looks like the Scots will be OK, especially as there are other sites that could be developed according to SSE and Strathclyde University.
We probably need more interconnectors as I wrote about in New Electricity ‘Superhighways’ Needed To Cope With Surge In Wind Power.
There are also smaller long duration storage systems under development, that will help the situation in the generally flatter lands of England.
One of them; ReEnergise, even managed to sneak their advert into the article.
Their high density hydro could be a good way to store 100 MWh or so in the hills of England. As they could be designed to fit into and under the landscape, I doubt their schemes would cause the controversy of other schemes.
Conclusion
I think we’ll meet the energy storage target by a wide margin.
Norfolk Wind Farms Offer ‘Significant Benefit’ For Local Economy
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is a comprehensive article, which looks at the benefits of the huge Norfolk Boreas and Norfolk Vanguard wind farms will have to the economy of Norfolk.
The last section is devoted to Norfolk Nimby; Raymond Pearce.
This is the section.
Following the re-approval of the decision by the government, Mr Pearce says he is considering a new appeal over what he calls “a very poor decision”.
He is also sceptical of claims the two new wind farms will bring the economic gains promised by Vattenfall.
“It’s renewable energy at any cost and the cost here is to the environment in Norfolk,” he says.
“I don’t blame them for being positive about it, it’s their industry but they’re not looking at it holistically.”
He says he is not against renewable energy but thinks a better plan is needed to connect the offshore windfarms and minimise the number of cables and substations onshore.
It’s his money if he appeals, but we do need more wind, solar and other zero-carbon energy to combat global warming and its effects like the encroachment of the sea around Norfolk.
I believe, that building wind farms off the coast of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk is a good move, as in the future, if we have spare electricity, it will be easy to export energy to Europe, through existing interconnectors.
But I do agree with him, that a better plan is needed to connect the offshore windfarms and minimise the number of cables and substations onshore.
A Norfolk Powerhouse
This map from Vattenfall, the developer of the two wind farms, shows the position of the farms and the route of the cable to the shore.
Note.
- The purple line appears to be the UK’s ten mile limit.
- Norfolk Boreas is outlined in blue.
- Norfolk Vanguard is outlined in orange.
- Cables will be run in the grey areas.
- Both wind farms are planned to have a capacity of 1.8 GW
Landfall will be just a few miles to the South of the Bacton gas terminal.
Bacton Gas Terminal
Bacton gas terminal is much more than a simple gas terminal.
- It is a complex of six gas terminals on four sites.
- There is a National Grid terminal, that odourises and blends the gas before distributing it into the National Transmission System via five outgoing 36-inch feeders to much of Southern England.
- There is a gas interconnector to Belgium.
- There is a gas interconnector to The Netherlands.
- There is coastal erosion in the area.
With the need to decarbonise, I can’t help feeling that the Bacton gas terminal is very much on the decline and the site will need to be repurposed in the next few years.
Blending Hydrogen With Natural Gas
If you blend a proportion of hydrogen into natural gas, this has two beneficial effects.
- Gas used in domestic and industrial situations will emit less carbon dioxide.
- In the near future we will be replacing imported natural gas with hydrogen.
The hydrogen could be produced by a giant electrolyser at Bacton powered by the electricity from the two Norfolk wind farms.
At the present time, a research project call HyDeploy is underway, which is investigating the blending of hydrogen into the natural gas supply.
- Partners include Cadent, Northern Gas Networks, the Health and Safety Executive, Keele University and ITM Power and Progessive Energy.
- A first trial at Keele University has been hailed as a success.
- It showed up to twenty percent of hydrogen by volume can be added to the gas network without the need to change any appliances or boilers.
Larger trials are now underway.
A Giant Electrolyser At Bacton
If hydrogen were to be produced at Bacton by a giant electrolyser, it could be used or distributed in one of the following ways.
- Blended with natural gas for gas customers in Southern England.
- Stored in a depleted gas field off the coast at Bacton. Both Baird and Deborah gas fields have been or are being converted to gas storage facilities, connected to Bacton.
- Distributed by truck to hydrogen filling stations and bus and truck garages.
- Greater Anglia might like a hydrogen feed to convert their Class 755 trains to hydrogen power.
- Sent by a short pipeline to the Port of Great Yarmouth and possibly the Port of Lowestoft.
- Exported to Europe, through one of the interconnectors.
Note.
- If the electrolyser were to be able to handle the 3.6 GW of the two wind farms, it would be the largest in the world.
- The size of the electrolyser could be increased over a few years to match the output of the wind farms as more turbines are installed offshore.
- There is no reason, why the electrical connection between Bacton and the landfall of the wind farm cable couldn’t be offshore.
If ITM Power were to supply the electrolyser, it would be built in the largest electrolyser factory in the World, which is in Sheffield in Yorkshire.
A Rail Connection To The Bacton Gas Terminal
This Google Map shows the area between North Walsham and the coast.
Note.
- North Walsham is in the South-Western corner of the map.
- North Walsham station on the Bittern Line is indicated by the red icon.
- The Bacton gas terminal is the trapezoidal-shaped area on the coast, at the top of the map.
I believe it would be possible to build a small rail terminal in the area with a short pipeline connection to Bacton, so that hydrogen could be distributed by train.
How Much Hydrogen Could Be Created By The Norfolk Wind Farms?
In The Mathematics Of Blending Twenty Percent Of Hydrogen Into The UK Gas Grid, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
Each of the Norfolk wind farms, if they were working flat out would produce 43.2 GWh of electricity in a day.
Dividing the two figures gives a daily production rate of 782.6 tonnes of hydrogen per day.
But what happens if the wind doesn’t blow?
This is where the gas storage in the Baird, Deborah and other depleted gas fields comes in.In times of maximum wind, hydrogen is stored for use when the wind doesn’t blow.
Conclusion
I believe a plan like this, would be much better for Norfolk, the UK and the whole planet.
Using the existing gas network to carry the energy away from Norfolk, could mean that the electricity connection across Norfolk could be scaled back.
The Anonymous Widower 