World’s Biggest Battery Storage Project Announced By Australian Renewables Fund
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
CEP. Energy, a specialist renewable energy fund company in Australia, has just announced the largest proposed grid-scale battery project in the world so far, with up to 1,200MW rated output.
If you read the whole article, you get the impression, that the Australians are going big on energy storage.
But then Australia must be one of the best countries for solar energy in the world.
This paragraph contains an interesting concept.
Construction is anticipated to begin in early 2022 for completion in 2023, so it’s possible even bigger schemes will be announced or even built by then, but for now the project is setting the pace for scale. Another Australian project, proposed by integrated energy company Origin Energy would site 700MW / 2,800MWh of batteries at a retiring coal power station, also in New South Wales and French developer Neoen has filed a plan, to build a 500MW / 1,000MWh battery storage project in the state. New South Wales’s government has implemented an ambitious roadmap to deploying vast shares of renewable energy on its networks, including a handful of multi-gigawatt Renewable Energy Zones.
Note that Origin Energy are replacing a coal-fired power station with a 700 MW/2,800 MWh battery.
We shall see a lot of fossil-fuel-fired power stations replaced by batteries.
Denmark To Build ‘First Energy Island’ In North Sea
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first three paragraphs
A project to build a giant island providing enough energy for three million households has been given the green light by Denmark’s politicians.
The world’s first energy island will be as big as 18 football pitches (120,000sq m), but there are hopes to make it three times that size.
It will serve as a hub for 200 giant offshore wind turbines.
It seems to follow the bigger-is-better offshore principle, I talked about in Crown Estate’s Auction Of Seabed For Wind Farms Attracts Sky-High Bids.
The BBC article says this about the energy generation of the island and its turbines.
The new island would supply an initial 3 gigawatts, rising to 10 over time.
For comparison the coal-fired Fiddlers Ferry power station on the banks of the Mersey near Widnes was a 2 gigawatt station and the nuclear Hinkley Point C will hopefully generate 3.2 GW.
These are my thoughts.
The Location Of The Island
According to the BBC, the Danes are being secretive about the location of the island, but the BBC does say this about the location of island.
While there is some secrecy over where the new island will be built, it is known that it will be 80km into the North Sea. Danish TV said that a Danish Energy Agency study last year had marked two areas west of the Jutland coast and that both had a relatively shallow sea depth of 26-27m.
According to Wikipedia, Denmark has a sizeable offshore gas industry and I did wonder, if the island would be built near to a large worked out field, so that the field could be used for one of the following.
- Store hydrogen produced on the island from surplus electricity.
- Store carbon dioxide produced on the mainland.
But the gas fields are further than 80 km. from the shore being closer to where Danish, German, Dutch and British waters meet.
Hydrogen And The Island
In ITM Power and Ørsted: Wind Turbine Electrolyser Integration, I talked about a joint project between, electrolyser company; ITM Power of the UK and turbine manufacturer and developer; Ørsted of Denmark.
The post was based on this press release from ITM Power.
These were points from the press release.
- Costs can be saved as hydrogen pipes are more affordable than underwater power cables.
- It also stated that wind turbines produce DC electricity and that is ideal for driving electrolysers.
So will the island be connected to the mainline by a hydrogen gas line?
- Cost will play a big part.
- I don’t like the concept of electrical cables on the sea floor,
- Gas pipes have been laid everywhere in the North Sea.
- A hydrogen connection might better support different types of future turbines.
- If there is a worked-out gas-field nearby, the hydrogen can be stored offshore until it is needed.
I think it is a distinct possibility.
Hydrogen could be generated in one of two ways.
- Wind turbines based on the ITM Power/Ørsted design could generate the hydrogen directly and a gas network could deliver it to the island.
- Conventional turbines could generate electricity and an electrical network could deliver it to the island, where a large electrolyser would convert water into hydrogen.
Both methods would be better suited to a hydrogen connection to the mainland.
Connection To Other Islands
The Dutch are already talking about a North Sea Wind Power Hub on their section of the Dogger Bank.
So could we see a network of islands in the Southern North Sea?
- Some like the Danish island would support a network of wind turbines.
- Some would store energy as hydrogen in worked-out gas fields.
- Some would store captured carbon dioxide in worked out gas fields.
- Some would supply hydrogen to onshore hydrogen and carbon dioxide networks like HumberZero.
- Islands could be linked by electrical cables or gas pipelines.
- Gas pipelines would allow both hydrogen or carbon dioxide to be stored or moved
The North Sea could become the largest power station in the continent of Europe, or even the world.
Crown Estate’s Auction Of Seabed For Wind Farms Attracts Sky-High Bids
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the opening paragraph.
An auction of seabed rights to build offshore wind farms around England and Wales has attracted frenzied bidding that could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year to the Treasury and the Queen.
I don’t find this surprising.
Bigger Seems Better Offshore
Wind turbine technology is getting better and much larger. It also seems that the new larger floating turbines are much more efficient and generate power for a greater proportion of the day.
- Hywind Scotland is the world’s first commercial wind farm using floating wind turbines.
- It is situated off Peterhead.
- It consists of five 6 MW turbines.
- Wikipedia says it has a capacity factor of over 50 %.
My project management software helped to harvest North Sea Oil and I have been told by many in the industry, that North Sea Oil really took off when platforms and the equipment like cranes used to build them got truly enormous.
I feel, we could be seeing the same size effect happening as we harvest the wind!
Hydrogen And Wind Power
The latest development is not to generate electricity, but to use it in the turbine to generate hydrogen, which is then piped to the shore.
- The UK Government is funding this technology in part with a grant to ITM Power.
- I wrote about the technology in ITM Power and Ørsted: Wind Turbine Electrolyser Integration.
- Existing gas networks can be reconfigured to bring the hydrogen to the shore.
- Piping hydrogen costs less than cabling electricity.
- Hydrogen networks are being built at several places in the UK, to fuel homes, power stations and industry like steel-making and petrochemicals.
Could all this explain Big Oil’s involvement?
Do they want to exchange fossil fuels for green hydrogen?
They certainly know how to distribute it.
Energy Storage
For my own investments, I’m looking at energy storage, where the UK has at least three promising new ideas, all of whom have had Government grants.
- Gravitricity
- Highview Power
- ReEnergise
The Government has also indirectly-backed Cornish Lithium
Spot The Battery
RheEnergise have just released this picture, of one of how one of their pumped storage systems might look.
They describe it as a typical small site after landscaping.
This is their description of the image.
This is an image of a small water works in Fife Scotland, you can just see 2 small water tanks at the base of the hill. This is an example of what a small High-Density Hydro project could look like after landscaping.
How many times have you seen a scene like this in the UK, Europe and all over the world.
They didn’t disclose the storage capacity of this system.
Gresham House Unveils 45-MW Battery Storage Purchase
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Renewables Now.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc (LON:GRID) has acquired a 45-MW portfolio of battery storage systems in England, growing its operational fleet to 395 MW.
Gresham House are certainly growing.
As a Control Engineer and mathematical modeller, I certainly like what they are doing.
Modelling the cash-flow and earnings from all these batteries are is one of the sort of multi-variable problems, that I cut my teeth on, in early 1970s.
If I was starting out on my own now, as I did in 1972, Gresham House would be one of the companies I’d approach.
Their latest purchase is interesting in that it includes a 35 MW battery with a twelve year control to load balance for the National Grid.
There must also be a business model emerging for the developers of energy storage.
- Design and build an energy storage system to satisfy a company or local area’s need.
- Show it is working successfully for a period of time.
- Add a nice lucrative contract if you can!
The whole setup is then sold to someone like Gresham House.
At present, Gresham House has a portfolio, which is all lithium-ion storage. I don’t think, it will be a long time before other types of storage are added.
Corporate Funding In Battery Storage In 2020 Was Up By 136% Compared To 2019, Mercom Says
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
This is a paragraph, which sums up funding worldwide.
The amount of corporate funding coming into the global battery storage industry in 2020 was more than double the amount the previous year, with over US$6.5 billion raised last year compared to around US$2.8 billion in 2019.
It appears that serious money is increasingly going into energy storage.
Some very big deals involving hundreds of millions of dollars are detailed, in countries as varied as Sweden, Taiwan, the UK and the US.
Particular mention is given to a Swedish battery battery design and manufacturing start-up called Northvolt, who raised $600 million.
Most seem to be based on lithium-ion batteries, so the future could be bright for start-up companies like Cornish Lithium!
Faraday Battery Challenge Funded Project “Li4UK” Announces The First Domestic Production Of Lithium Carbonate From UK Sources
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Li4UK.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Li4UK (Securing a Domestic Lithium Supply Chain for the UK), the Faraday Battery Challenge-funded project under the patronage of UKRI (UK Research and Innovation), is pleased to announce that the project Consortium, comprising Wardell Armstrong International Limited (WAI), The Natural History Museum (NHM) and Cornish Lithium Ltd (CLL), has successfully produced lithium carbonate from two UK sources – one from Cornish Lithium’s Trelavour project site in Cornwall and another from Scotland. High purity lithium carbonate is a raw material for lithium-ion battery cells, such as those used in electric vehicles.
When I first heard of this project, I wrote How To Go Mining In A Museum and felt that this project deserved to succeed, given the diligence of the founder.
You never know what you will find in the dusty vaults of a museum.
UK Battery Storage Startup Connected Energy Secures £1.2M
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on UKTN.
This is the introductory paragraph.
UK-based battery storage startup Connected Energy makes use of electric vehicle batteries that are at the end of their in-car first life to create energy storage systems. The company combines as many batteries as needed for customised solutions with capacities from less than 100 kilowatt hours to up to 15 megawatt hours or higher.
Connected Energy has just received £1.2M funding from ENGIE New Ventures.
This sounds like a good idea.
Meet The British Inventor Who Came Up With A Green Way Of Generating Electricity From Air – In His Shed
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on inews, which is written by the respected BBC journalist; Tom Heap.
This is the first two paragraphs.
In 25 years of reporting on the environment, I’ve become unshakably convinced in the seriousness and urgency of tackling climate change, but also rather dismayed that our successes in reducing greenhouse gases and promising scientific breakthroughs go largely unreported.
I’ve seen super plants that improve photo-synthesis, cows that belch less methane and next-gen solar panels. But there is one individual who deserves to be as famous in green-tech as Elon Musk for how his invention could help stop global warming.
The man is Peter Dearman from Bishop’s Stortford and his invention is the technology behind Highview Power, that is building a 250 MWh liquid air battery at Carrington, near Manchester.
Companies Have New Take On Old Energy Storage Tech
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hackaday.
This is the introductory paragraph.
According to Spectrum, several companies are poised to make a splash storing energy with gravity. That sounds fancy and high tech at first, but is it, really? Sure, we usually think of energy storage as some sort of battery, but there are many energy storage systems that use water falling, for example, which is almost what this new technology is all about. Almost, since instead of water these new systems move around multi-ton blocks.
The article gives a review of Energy Vault, Gravitricity and another company called Gravity Power.
This is the article’s take on Gravity Power.
The scale of the weights is hard to imagine. Another company, Gravity Power, claims they could deliver 400 megawatts for 16 hours using an 8 million metric ton piston. There’s no word on how long it takes to bring that piston back to the charged position after the 16 hours, though. A Boeing 757-200, for example, weighs about 100 tons when loaded with fuel and passengers. So imagine 80,000 giant airplanes melted down. It makes Energy Vault’s 35-ton weights seem much more reasonable.
Looking at the Gravity Power web site, their technology is described on this page, where this is the first paragraph.
The GPM (Gravity Power Module) uses a very large piston that is suspended in a deep, water-filled shaft, with sliding seals to prevent leakage around the piston and a return pipe connecting to a pump-turbine at ground level. The piston is comprised of reinforced rock and in some cases concrete for low cost. The shaft is filled with water once, at the start of operations, but is then sealed and no additional water is required.
This graphic from the page explains the technology.
My worry would be water leakage past the piston.
This does sound like an idea from William Armstrong, who was responsible for many things including the hydraulic accumulator.
The picture shows the hydraulic accumulator at Limehouse in London.
I visited the Limehouse Accumulator during Open House in 2012 and wrote about it in Open House – The Limehouse Hydraulic Accumulator.
The Anonymous Widower 