UK National Grid In Talks To Build An Energy Island In The North Sea
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the New Scientist.
This is the first paragraph.
UK company National Grid has revealed it is in talks with two other parties about building an “energy island” in the North Sea that would use wind farms to supply clean electricity to millions of homes in north-west Europe.
These are my thoughts.
An Artificial Island on the Dogger Bank
The idea of the North Sea Wind Power Hub in the area of the Dogger Bank has been around for a few years and has a comprehensive Wikipedia entry.
Wikipedia says that it would be an artificial island on the Dutch section of the Dogger Bank and the surrounding sea could eventually host up to 110 GW of wind turbines.
North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme
The Dutch and the Danes seems to have moved on and there is now a web site for the North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme.
The home page is split into two, with the upper half entitled Beyond The Waves and saying.
The incredible story of how the Netherlands went beyond technical engineering as it had ever been seen before. Beyond water management. To secure the lives of millions of inhabitants.
I have met Dutch engineers, who designed and built the Delta Works after the North Sea Floods of 1953 and I have seen the works all over the country and it is an impressive legacy.
And the lower half of the home page is entitled North Sea Wind Power Hub and saying.
Today, climate policy is largely national, decoupled and incremental. We need a new approach to effectively realise the potential of the North Sea and reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. We take a different perspective: harnessing the power of the North Sea requires a transnational and cross-sector approach to take the step-change we need.
Behind each half are two videos, which explain the concept of the programme.
It is a strange web site in a way.
- It is written totally in English with English not American spelling.
- The project is backed by Energinet, Gasunie and TenneT, who are Danish and Dutch companies, that are responsible for gas and electricity distribution networks in Denmark, Ger,many and The Netherlands.
- There are four sections to the web site; Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and North Sea.
It is almost as if the web site has been designed for a British company to join the party.
Hubs And Spokes In North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme
If you watch the videos on the site, they will explain their concept of hubs and spokes, where not one but several energy islands or hubs will be connected by spokes or electricity cables and/or hydrogen pipelines to each other and the shore.
Many electrical networks on land are designed in a similar way, including in the UK, where we have clusters of power stations connected by the electricity grid.
The Dogger Bank
The Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about 100 kilometres off the east coast of England.
Wikipedia says this about the geography of the Dogger Bank.
The bank extends over about 17,600 square kilometres (6,800 sq mi), and is about 260 by 100 kilometres (160 by 60 mi) in extent. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres (50 to 120 ft), about 20 metres (65 ft) shallower than the surrounding sea.
As there are Gunfleet Sands Wind Farm and Scroby Sands Wind Farm and others, on sandbanks in the North Sea, it would appear that the engineering of building wind farms on sandbanks in the North Sea is well understood.
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm
We are already developing the four section Dogger Bank Wind Farm in our portion of the Dogger Bank and these could generate up to 4.8 GW by 2025.
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm has its own web site, which greets you with this statement.
Building the World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm
At 4.8 GW, it will be 45 % larger than Hinckley Point C nuclear power station, which is only 3.3 GW. So it is not small.
The three wind farms; Dogger Bank A, B and C will occupy 1670 square kilometres and generate a total of 3.6 GW or 0.0021 GW per square kilometre.
If this density of wind turbines could be erected all over the Dogger Bank, we could be looking at nearly 40 GW of capacity in the middle of the North Sea.
Interconnectors Across The North Sea
This Google Map shows the onshore route of the cable from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
Note.
- Hull and the River Humber at the bottom of the map.
- The red arrow which marks Creyke Beck sub station, where the cable from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm connects to the UK electricity grid.
- At the top of the map on the coast is the village of Ulrome, where the cable comes ashore.
The sub station is also close to the Hull and Scarborough Line, so would be ideal to feed any electrification erected.
I would assume that cables from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm could also link the Wind Farm to the proposed Dutch/Danish North Sea Wind Power Hub.
Given that the cables between the wind farms and Creyke Beck could in future handle at least 4.8 GW and the cables from the North Sea Wind Power Hub to mainland Europe would probably be larger, it looks like there could be a very high capacity interconnector between Yorkshire and Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands.
It almost makes the recently-opened North Sea Link to Norway, which is rated at 1.4 GW seem a bit small.
The North Sea Link
The North Sea Link is a joint project between Statnett and National Grid, which cost €2 billion and appears to have been delivered as planned, when it started operating in October 2021.
So it would appear that National Grid have shown themselves capable of delivering their end of a complex interconnector project.
Project Orion And The Shetlands
In Do BP And The Germans Have A Cunning Plan For European Energy Domination?, I introduced Project Orion, which is an electrification and hydrogen hub and clean energy project in the Shetland Islands.
The project’s scope is described in this graphic.
Note that Project Orion now has its own web site.
- Could the Shetlands become an onshore hub for the North Sea Power Hub Programme?
- Could Icelink, which is an interconnector to Iceland be incorporated?
With all this renewable energy and hydrogen, I believe that the Shetlands could become one of the most prosperous areas in Europe.
Funding The Wind Farms And Other Infrastructure In The North Sea
In World’s Largest Wind Farm Attracts Huge Backing From Insurance Giant, I described how Aviva were funding the Hornsea wind farm.
I very much believe that City of London financial institutions will be able to finance a lot of the developments in the North Sea.
After all National Grid managed to find a billion euros in a sock drawer to fund their half of the North Sea Link.
Electrifying The North Sea: A Gamechanger For Wind Power Production?
The title of this section, is the same as that of this article on Engineering and Technology Magazine.
This article in the magazine of the IET is a serious read and puts forward some useful facts and interesting ideas.
- The EU is targeting offshore wind at 60 GW by 2030 and 300 GW by 2050.
- The UK is targeting offshore wind at 40 GW by 2030.
- The article explains why HVDC electricity links should be used.
- The major players in European offshore wind are the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark.
- The foundations for a North Sea grid, which could also support the wider ambitions for a European super-grid, are already forming.
- A North Sea grid needs co-operation between governments and technology vendors. as well as technological innovation.
- National Grid are thinking hard about HVDC electrical networks.
- By combining HVDC links it can be possible to save a lot of development capital.
- The Danes are already building artificial islands eighty kilometres offshore.
- Electrical sub-stations could be built on the sea-bed.
I can see that by 2050, the North Sea, South of a line between Hull and Esbjerg in Denmark will be full of wind turbines, which could generate around 300 GW.
Further Reading
There are various articles and web pages that cover the possibility of a grid in the North Sea.
- National Grid – Interconnectors
- The Guardian – National Grid In Talks Over Plan For Energy Island In North Sea
- The Times – National Grid Planning ‘Energy Island’ In North Sea
I shall add to these as required.
Conclusion
I am coming to the conclusion that National Grid will be joining the North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme.
- They certainly have the expertise and access to funding to build long cable links.
- The Dogger Bank wind farm would even be one of the hubs in the planned hub and spoke network covering the North Sea.
- Only a short connection would be needed to connect the Dogger Bank wind farm, to where the Dutch and Danes originally planned to build the first energy island.
- There may be other possibilities for wind farm hubs in the UK section of the North Sea. Hornsea Wind Farm, which could be well upwards of 5 GW is surely a possibility.
- Would it also give access to the massive amounts of energy storage in the Norwegian mountains, through the North Sea Link or Nord.Link between Norway and Germany.
Without doubt, I know as a Control Engineer, that the more hubs and spokes in a network, the more stable it will be.
So is National Grid’s main reason to join is to stabilise the UK electricity grid? And in turn, this will stabilise the Danish and Dutch grids.
UK To Norway Sub-Sea Green Power Cable Operational
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The world’s longest under-sea electricity cable, transferring green power between Norway and the UK, has begun operation.
The 450-mile (725km) cable connects Blyth in Northumberland with the Norwegian village of Kvilldal.
The BBC article is based on this press release from National Grid.
The link has been called the North Sea Link (NSL).
These are some thoughts.
What Is The Capacity Of The North Sea Link?
The National Grid press release says this.
[The link] will start with a maximum capacity of 700 megawatts (MW) and gradually increase to the link’s full capacity of 1400MW over a three-month period.
It also says this.
Once at full capacity, NSL will provide enough clean electricity to power 1.4 million homes.
It is more or less equivalent to two or three gas-fired power stations.
What Is The Operating Philosophy Of The North Sea Link?
The National Grid press release says this.
The Norwegian power generation is sourced from hydropower plants connected to large reservoirs, which can respond faster to fluctuations in demand compared to other major generation technologies. However, as the water level in reservoirs is subject to weather conditions, production varies throughout seasons and years.
When wind generation is high and electricity demand low in Britain, NSL will enable renewable power to be exported from the UK, conserving water in Norway’s reservoirs. When demand is high in Britain and there is low wind generation, hydro power can be imported from Norway, helping to ensure secure, affordable and sustainable electricity supplies for UK consumers.
It almost seems to me, that the North Sea Link is part of a massive pumped-storage system, where we can bank some of our wind-generated electricity in Norway and draw it out when we need it.
I would suspect that the rate and direction of electricity transfer is driven by a very sophisticated algorithm, that uses detailed demand and weather forecasting.
As an example, if we are generating a lot of wind power at night, any excess that the Norwegians can accept will be used to fill their reservoirs.
The Blyth Connection
This page on the North Sea Link web site, describes the location of the UK end of the North Sea Link.
These three paragraphs describe the connection.
The convertor station will be located just off Brock Lane in East Sleekburn. The site forms part of the wider Blyth Estuary Renewable Energy Zone and falls within the Cambois Zone of Economic Opportunity.
The converter station will involve construction of a series of buildings within a securely fenced compound. The buildings will be constructed with a steel frame and clad with grey insulated metal panels. Some additional outdoor electrical equipment may also be required, but most of the equipment will be indoors.
Onshore underground cables will be required to connect the subsea cables to the converter station. Underground electricity cables will then connect the converter station to a new 400kV substation at Blyth (located next to the existing substation) which will be owned and operated by National Grid Electricity Transmission PLC.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- The light grey buildings in the North-West corner of the map are labelled as the NSL Converter Station.
- Underground cables appear to have been dug between the converter station and the River Blyth.
- Is the long silver building to the West of the triangular jetty, the 400 KV substation, where connection is made to the grid?
The cables appear to enter the river from the Southern point of the triangular jetty. Is the next stop Norway?
Britishvolt And The North Sea Link
Britishvolt are are building a factory at Blyth and this Google Map shows are to the North and East of the NSL Converter Station.
Note the light-coloured buildings of the NSL Converter Station.
I suspect there’s plenty of space to put Britishvolt’s gigafactory between the converter station and the coast.
As the gigafactory will need a lot of electricity and preferably green, I would assume this location gives Britishvolt all they need.
Where Is Kvilldal?
This Google Map shows the area of Norway between Bergen and Oslo.
Note.
- Bergen is in the North-West corner of the map.
- Oslo is at the Eastern edge of the map about a third of the way down.
- Kvilldal is marked by the red arrow.
This second Google Map shows the lake to the North of Kvilldal.
Note.
- Suldalsvatnet is the sixth deepest lake in Norway and has a volume of 4.49 cubic kilometres.
- Kvilldal is at the South of the map in the middle.
This third Google Map shows Kvilldal.
Note.
- Suldalsvatnet is the dark area across the top of the map.
- The Kvilldal hydro-electric power station on the shore of the lake.
- Kvilldal is to the South-West of the power station.
Kvilldal doesn’t seem to be the biggest and most populous of villages. But they shouldn’t have electricity supply problems.
Kvilldal Power Station And The North Sea Link
The Wikipedia entry for Kvilldal power station gives this information.
The Kvilldal Power Station is a located in the municipality of Suldal. The facility operates at an installed capacity of 1,240 megawatts (1,660,000 hp), making it the largest power station in Norway in terms of capacity. Statnett plans to upgrade the western grid from 300 kV to 420 kV at a cost of 8 billion kr, partly to accommodate the NSN Link cable] from Kvilldal to England.
This power station is almost large enough to power the North Sea Link on its own.
The Kvilldal power station is part of the Ulla-Førre complex of power stations and lakes, which include the artificial Lake Blåsjø.
Lake Blåsjø
Lake Blåsjø would appear to be a lake designed to be the upper reservoir for a pumped-storage scheme.
- The lake can contain 3,105,000,000 cubic metres of water at its fullest.
- The surface is between 930 and 1055 metres above sea level.
- It has a shoreline of about 200 kilometres.
This Google Map shows the Lake.
Note the dam at the South end of the lake.
Using Omni’s Potential Energy Calculator, it appears that the lake can hold around 8 TWh of electricity.
A rough calculation indicates that this could supply the UK with 1400 MW for over eight months.
The Wikipedia entry for Saurdal power station gives this information.
The Saurdal Power Station is a hydroelectric and pumped-storage power station located in the municipality of Suldal. The facility operates at an installed capacity of 674 megawatts (904,000 hp) (in 2015). The average energy absorbed by pumps per year is 1,189 GWh (4,280 TJ) (in 2009 to 2012). The average annual production is 1,335 GWh (4,810 TJ) (up to 2012)
This Google Map shows the area between Kvilldal and Lake Blåsjø.
Note
- Kvilldal is in the North West of the map.
- Lake Blåsjø is in South East of the map.
This second Google Map shows the area to the South-East of Kvilldal.
Note.
- Kvilldal is in the North-West of the map.
- The Saurdal power station is tight in the South-East corner of the map.
This third Google Map shows a close-up of Saurdal power station.
Saurdal power station is no ordinary power station.
This page on the Statkraft web site, gives a brief description of the station.
The power plant was commissioned during 1985-1986 and uses water resources and the height of fall from Lake Blåsjø, Norway’s largest reservoir.
The power plant has four generating units, two of which can be reversed to pump water back up into the reservoir instead of producing electricity.
The reversible generating units can thus be used to store surplus energy in Lake Blåsjø.
Is Lake Blåsjø and all the power stations just a giant battery?
Economic Effect
The economic effect of the North Sea Link to both the UK and Norway is laid out in a section called Economic Effect in the Wikipedia entry for the North Sea Link.
Some points from the section.
- According to analysis by the United Kingdom market regulator Ofgem, in the base case scenario the cable would contribute around £490 million to the welfare of the United Kingdom and around £330 million to the welfare of Norway.
- This could reduce the average domestic consumer bill in the United Kingdom by around £2 per year.
- A 2016 study expects the two cables to increase price in South Norway by 2 øre/kWh, less than other factors.
This Economic Effect section also talks of a similar cable between Norway and Germany called NorGer.
It should be noted, that whereas the UK has opportunities for wind farms in areas to the North, South, East and West of the islands, Germany doesn’t have the space in the South to build enough wind power for the area.
There is also talk elsewhere of an interconnector between Scotland and Norway called NorthConnect.
It certainly looks like Norway is positioning itself as Northern Europe’s battery, that will be charged from the country’s extensive hydropower and surplus wind energy from the UK and Germany.
Could The Engineering Be Repeated?
I mentioned NorthConnect earlier.
- The cable will run between Peterhead in Scotland and Samnanger in Norway.
- The HVDC cable will be approximately 665 km long.
- The cable will be the same capacity as the North Sea Link at 1400 MW.
- According to Wikipedia construction started in 2019.
- The cable is planned to be operational in 2022.
- The budget is €1.7 billion.
Note.
- Samnager is close to Bergen.
- NorthConnect is a Scandinavian company.
- The project is supported by the European Union, despite Scotland and Norway not being members.
- National Grid is not involved in the project, although, they will be providing the connection in Scotland.
The project appears to be paused at the moment, awaiting how North Sea Link and NordLink between Norway and Germany are received.
There is an English web site, where this is the mission statement on the home page.
NorthConnect will provide an electrical link between Scotland and Norway, allowing the two nations to exchange power and increase the use of renewable energy.
This sounds very much like North Sea Link 2.
And then there is Icelink.
- This would be a 1000-1200 km link between Iceland and the UK.
- It would have a capacity of 1200 MW.
- National Grid are a shareholder in the venture.
- It would be the longest interconnector in the world.
The project appears to have stalled.
Conclusion
I can see these three interconnectors coming together to help the UK’s electricity generation become carbon-free by 2035.
Good Energy’s Juliet Davenport Joins Gravitricity
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Solar Power Portal.
Taking the title of this article at face value, it is probably good practice for a company like Gravitricity to take on someone like Juliet Davenport, as they move to the next phase of their business.
The article also mentions Gravitricity’s developments in the storage of hydrogen and heat.
This paragraph also mentions a new development.
Gravitricity is now developing plans for a full-scale energy storage project at a recently closed coal mine in mainland Europe, in what will be the start of a pipeline of projects worldwide.
That does seem to be good news.
Note that it is recently closed coal mine. This is surely for the best, as who knows what the state of long-disused mine will be? My project management and engineering knowledge, says that an orderly handover can reduce the cost of the installation.
Quinbrook To Build The UKs Largest Consented Solar + Battery Storage Project
The title of this post, is the same as that article on Financial Buzz.
This is the first paragraph.
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (“Quinbrook”), a specialist global investment manager focused exclusively on renewables, storage and grid support infrastructure investment, today announced that it has acquired a consented 350MW Solar + Battery storage project, located in Kent, UK (“Project Fortress”). Quinbrook expects to commence construction of the project in the first half of 2022.
I have also read about Quinbrook on their web site.
A section on the site is entitled Our Industry Pedigree, where this is said.
Quinbrook is led and managed by a senior team of power industry professionals who have collectively invested over US$ 8.2 billion in energy infrastructure assets since the early 1990’s, representing over 19.5GW of power supply capacity. Our team brings an industrial perspective to investing in low carbon and renewables infrastructure.
Could companies like this be one of the keys to get more renewable power sources delivered?
How Clean Energy And Jobs Can Flow From Morocco to The UK
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
- The article has been written by Simon Morrish, who is the founder and CEO of Xlinks.
- The article is about his plans to build a 10.5 GW solar and wind power complex in Morocco and connect it to the UK, by an undersea power cable running up the coasts of Morocco, Spain, Portugal and France.
- This page on the Xlinks web site gives details of the project.
These are some points from the article.
Relationship With The Exchequer
He makes these points about the projects relationship with the Exchequer.
- The company will be a net contributor.
- The project will not require government subsidy of finance.
- Energy will be delivered under the Contract for Difference (CfD) price of £48/MWh.
- This compares with a CfD price of £92/MWh for Hinckley Point C.
Simon Morrish also claims they will be energised before Hinckley Point C.
That sounds good to me.
Finance
I wonder if at the CfD price quoted in the article, could this mean that this is a project that could be financed in the City of London or from a Sovereign Wealth Fund?
As Simon is confident the project can be completed before Hinckley Point C, I suspect that the finance might be in place, even if it hasn’t been signed off.
The 20GWh/5GW Battery
Simon says this about the battery.
Alongside the consistent output from its solar panels and wind turbines, a 20GWh/5GW battery facility will ensure power generated can be delivered every day, resulting in a dedicated, near-constant source of flexible and predictable renewable energy, designed to complement renewable energy generated in the UK.
In Moroccan Solar-Plus-Wind To Be Linked To GB In ‘Ground-Breaking’ Xlinks Project, I forecast that the battery would be from Highview Power, but given the delivery date before Hinckley Point C, I would suspect that Xlinks have a battery supplier in mind.
Employment Benefits
Simon says this about employment benefits.
Thousands of jobs will be created in Morocco and also at home.
If the project goes ahead, given its size, I don’t think many would disagree with that.
Simon also claims the project will create 1350 permanent jobs by 2024. Sites mentioned include Hunterston, Port Talbot and the North East of England.
Simon’s Conclusion
This is Simon’s conclusion about the project.
I love the idea of clean electricity flowing, all the way from Morocco to the UK. I hope it may inspire other ambitious renewable energy projects too — which, together, will provide clean, secure and stable energy, at affordable prices, for businesses and households to rely on and help to protect this special planet.
If you can, I suggest you read the full article on The Times.
Conclusion
The more I read about this project, the more I tilt towards it being feasble
Engineering is the science of the possible, whereas politics is dreads of the impossible.
Breakthrough Energy Storage And R&D Company SuperDielectrics Expands At Chesterford Research Park
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Cambridge Network.
This is the first paragraph.
Chesterford Research Park is delighted to announce the expansion of an existing occupier, SuperDielectrics, into new laboratory and write up space within the Emmanuel Building.
But it does flag up progress by one of Cambridge’s new companies; SuperDielectrics.
Superdielectrics’ mission is to develop high energy density, low cost, low environmental impact electrical energy storage devices that will help create a clean and sustainable global energy and transportation system. Superdielectric’s storage devices (supercapacitors) are not only safe, rapidly rechargeable and have a long life, they contain no rare materials or conflict metals and have the added benefit of reducing pollution and waste with no end-of-life recycling issues.
I believe they are a company to watch, as supercapacitors can take over some applications of lithium-ion batteries.
Cheesecake Energy Secures £1M Seed Investment
The title of this post, is the same as that of this Press Release from Cheesecake Energy.
This is the first paragraph.
Cheesecake Energy Ltd (CEL), a Nottingham, UK-based energy storage startup today announced it has raised £1M in Seed funding to fuel the development of its manufacturing capabilities and support product development of its eTanker storage system. The round was led by Imperial College Innovation Fund alongside prominent investors including Perivoli Innovations, former Jaguar Chairman, Sir John Egan and other angel investors.
And the third and fourth paragraphs describe the technology.
The company’s unique technology, dubbed eTanker, takes established compressed air energy storage concepts and revolutionises them by storing two-thirds of the electricity in the form of heat which can be stored at far lower cost. To store the energy, electric motors are used to drive compressors, which deliver high pressure air & heat into storage units. When the electricity is required, the high-pressure air and heat is passed back through the same compressor (but now working as a turbine), which turns a generator to produce electricity. The company believes its system will cut the cost of storing energy by 30-40% and offers a solution that can be used in several sectors including electric vehicle (EV) charging, heavy industry and renewable energy generation.
The startup has filed 10 patents for stationary, medium-long-duration, long-lifetime energy storage technology. It is based on innovative design work by CEL, a spin-out from over a decade of research at University of Nottingham. Employing circular economy principles, truck engines are converted into zero-emission electrical power-conversion machines for putting energy into and out of storage. Its technology brings together the low cost of thermal storage, the turnaround efficiencies of compressed air energy storage, together with the long life and robustness of a mechanical system, making a game-changing technology in a modular containerised package.
It all sounds feasible to me and if I’d have been asked, I’d have chipped in some of my pension.
The system in some ways can almost be considered a hybrid system that merges some of the principles of Highview Power’s CRYOBattery and Siemens Gamesa’s ETES system of heating large quantity of rock. Although, Cheesecake’s main storage medium is comptressed air, as opposed to the liquid air of the CRYOBattery.
One market they are targeting is the charging of fleets of electric vehicles like buses and from tales I have heard about operators of large numbers of electric buses, this could be a valuable market.
I also noted that the Press Release mentions a National Grid report, that says we will need 23 GW of energy storage by 2030. Assuming we will need to store enough electricity to provide 23 GW for five hours, that will be 115 GWh of energy storage.
At present, pumped storage is the only proven way of storing tens of GWh of energy. In 1984, after ten years of construction, Dinorwig power station (Electric Mountain) opened to provide 9.1 GWh of storage with an output of 1.8 GW.
So ideally we will need another thirteen Electric Mountains. But we don’t have the geography for conventional pumped storage! And as Electric Mountain showed, pumped storage systems are like Rome and can’t be built in a day.
Energy storage funds, like Gresham House and Gore Street are adding a large number of lithium-ion batteries to the grid, but they will only be scratching the surface of the massive amount of storage needed.
Note that at the end of 2020, Gresham House Energy Storage Fund had a fleet of 380 MWh of batteries under management, which was an increase of 200 MWh on 2019. At this rate of growth, this one fund will add 2GWh of storage by 2030. But I estimate we need 115 GWh based on National Grid’s figures.
So I can see a small number of GWh provided by the likes of Gresham House, Gore Street and other City funds going the same route.
But what these energy storage funds have proved, is that you have reliable energy storage technology, you can attract serious investment for those with millions in the piggy-bank.
I believe the outlook for energy storage will change, when a technology or engineering company proves they have a battery with a capacity of upwards of 250 MWh, with an output of 50 MW, that works reliably twenty-four hours per day and seven days per week.
I believe that if these systems are as reliable as lithium-ion, I can see no reason why City and savvy private investors money will not fund these new technology batteries, as the returns will be better than putting the money in a deposit account, with even the most reputable of banks.
At the present time, I would rate Highview Power’s CRYOBattery and Siemens Gamesa’s ETES system as the only two battery systems anywhere near to a reliable investment, that is as safe as lithium-ion batteries.
- Both score high on being environmentally-friendly.
- Both rely on techniques, proven over many years.
- Both don’t need massive sites.
- Both systems can probably be maintained and serviced in nearly all places in the world.
- Highview Power have sold nearly a dozen systems.
- Highview Power are building a 50 MW/250 MWh plant in Manchester.
- Siemens Gamesa are one of the leaders in renewable energy.
- Siemens Gamesa have what I estimate is a 130 MWh pilot plant working in Hamburg, which I wrote about in Siemens Gamesa Begins Operation Of Its Innovative Electrothermal Energy Storage System.
Other companies are also targeting this market between lithium-ion and pumped storage. Cheesecake Energy is one of them.
I believe they could be one of the winners, as they have designed a system, that stores both compressed air and the heat generated in compressing it. Simple but efficient.
I estimate that of the 115 GWh of energy storage we need before 2030, that up to 5 GWh could be provided by lithium-ion, based on the growth of installations over the last few years.
So we will need another 110 GWh of storage.
Based on 50 MW/250 MWh systems, that means we will need around 440 storage batteries of this size.
This picture from a Google Map shows Siemens Gamesa’s pilot plant in Hamburg.
I estimate that this plant is around 130 MWh of storage and occupies a site of about a football pitch, which is one hectare.
I know farmers in Suffolk, who own more land to grow wheat, than would be needed to accommodate all the batteries required.
Conclusion
I believe that National Grid will get their 23 GW of energy storage.
Moroccan Solar-Plus-Wind To Be Linked To GB In ‘Ground-Breaking’ Xlinks Project
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Current News.
This is the first paragraph.
New solar and wind under development in Morocco is to be linked with Britain, with developer Xlinks also seeking to develop a cable manufacturing industry.
It looks to be a very challenging project.
- The HVDC cable will be 3,800 km long.
- The plan envisages 10.5 GW of electricity being generated.
- There will be a 5GW/20GWh battery in Morocco.
- They will export 3.6 GW of electricity to the UK for at least twenty hours per day.
- The electricity will be exported to the UK by a cable that skirts to the West of Spain, Portugal and France.
- The UK end of the cable will be at Alverdiscott in Devon.
All except the last are pushing current technology to the limit.
There is more information on the Morocco-UK Power Project page on the Xlinks web site.
- The company claims, that it can supply renewable energy, that acts like baseload power.
- When complete, it could supply eight percent of the UK’s energy needs.
These are my thoughts.
The 3,800 km. HVDC Link
This paragraph on the project web page describes the HVDC link.
Four cables, each 3,800km long form the twin 1.8GW HVDC subsea cable systems that will follow the shallow water route from the Moroccan site to a grid location in Great Britain, passing Spain, Portugal, and France.
It appears that would be 15200 kilometres of cable.
The longest HVDC link in the world is 2375 km. It’s overland and it’s in Brazil.
I can’t think otherwise, than that this will be a very challenging part of the project.
This Google map shows the area of Morocco, where the energy will be generated.
Note.
- Guelmim Oued Noun is outlined in red.
- The Canary Islands are just off the map to the West.
At least the project will be able to have convenient access to the sea.
This second Google Map shows the <Moroccan, Portuguese and Spanish coasts from Guelmim Oued Noun to the Bay of Biscay.
Note.
- The light blue of the Continental Shelf
- The darker blue of deeper water.
- Guelmim Oued Noun is outlined in red.
- The Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean to the West of Guelmim Oued Noun.
- Could the cable bring power to Gibraltar?
- There are other large cities on the route in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
This third Google Map shows the Bay of Biscay.
Note.
- The light blue of the Continental Shelf
- The darker blue of deeper water.
- There are a series of islands off the Spanish and French coasts.
- Could these islands be used as stepping stones for the cable?
This fourth Google Map shows the Western Approaches to the UK.
Note that the prominent red arrow indicates Alverdiscott, where cable connects to the UK National Grid.
This fifth Google Map shows Alverdiscott to Lundy Island.
Alverdiscott substation is indicated by the red arrow.
This sixth Google Map shows the Alverdiscott substation in relation to the town of Bideford.
Note.
- Bideford is in the North-West corner of the map.
- The red arrow indicates the Alverdiscott substation.
- The River Torridge runs through the town of Bideford.
Could the river be used to bring the cables from Morocco to the substation?
This seventh Google Map shows the Alverdiscott substation
Note the solar farm to the South of the substation.
HVDC Cable
The article also says that they may be building their own cable-manufacturing facility. Does this indicate that there is a shortage of HVDC cable?
Judging by the number of proposed interconnectors proposed for UK waters, it might be a prudent move to improve cable-manufacturing capacity.
10.5 GW Of Zero-Carbon Electricity
This sentence on the project web page describes the power generation.
This “first of a kind” project will generate 10.5GW of zero carbon electricity from the sun and wind to deliver 3.6GW of reliable energy for an average of 20+ hours a day.
It appears that they will be providing a baseload of 3.6 GW to the UK for over twenty hours per day.
Consider.
- Hinckley Point C has an output of 3.2 GW.
- As I write this around midnight, the UK is generating 22.2 GW of electricity.
This paragraph from their web site describes the advantages of Morocco.
Most importantly, Morocco benefits from ideal solar and wind resources, required to develop renewable projects that could guarantee suitable power production throughout the year. It has the third highest Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) in North Africa, which is 20% greater than Spain’s GHI and over twice that of the UK. Furthermore, the shortest winter day still offers more than 10 hours of sunlight. This helps in providing production profiles that address the needs of the UK power market, especially during periods of low offshore wind production.
It is not a small power station in the wrong place.
The 5GW/20GWh Battery
That is a massive battery.
The world’s largest lithium-ion battery is Gateway Energy Storage in California. It has a capacity of 250 megawatts for one hour.
The proposed battery in Morocco is eighty times as large.
If I was choosing a battery for this application, I believe the only one that has been demonstrated and might work is Highview Power’s CRYOBattery.
I wrote about Highview’s similar type of application to Morocco in Chile in The Power Of Solar With A Large Battery.
But that installation only will only have storage of half a GWh.
But I believe Highview and their partner; MAN Energy Solutions can do it.
Conclusion
I wish the company well, but I have a feeling that there’s a chance, that this will join the large pile of dead mega-projects.
But I do feel that the solar and wind power station in Morocco will be developed.
And like the project in Chile it will have a large Highview CRYOBattery.
The Immense Potential Of Solar Panels Floating On Dams
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Anthropocene.
The article reviews the practice of floating solar panels on ponds, lakes and reservoirs.
I like the practice, as the two technologies are compatible.
- The panels reduce evaporation and help to curb algae growth.
- Floating panels are cooled by the environment and more efficient.
- Solar and hydro power can share electricity transmission systems.
But best of all. they use land twice.
The article claims that as much as forty percent of the world’s power can be generated this way.
The article is certainly an interesting read.
Greater Manchester’s First Low Carbon Hydrogen Hub To Be Developed As Part Of New Collaboration
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article from Manchester Metropolitan University.
This is the first two paragraphs.
A new partnership aims to support ambitions for Greater Manchester to become the first Net Zero region in the world by 2040, with the planned installation of the city’s first low-carbon hydrogen hub.
For the first time, sustainable hydrogen fuel will be produced at scale in the region, creating opportunities for businesses in the area to make Net Zero plans with hydrogen in mind.
It doesn’t say much about the hydrogen hub, but from other sources, I have found the following.
it appears it will have the capability of producing 200 MW of green hydrogen.
- Carlton Power is the main developer.
- It will be built on the Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park.
- Building will start next year with operation scheduled for 2023.
- It will be built near Highview Power’s 50MW/250 MWh CRYOBattery.
It sounds ambitious. Especially, as it appears Carlton Power are talking about developing another ten similar sites in the UK.
The Anonymous Widower 