Electro-Diesel Tram-Train Order Expanded To Support Service Increase
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
National passenger operator MÁV-Start has exercised an option for Stadler’s Valencia plant to supply a further four Citylink electro-diesel tram-trains for the route being developed to link Hódmezővásárhely with Szeged.
The reason, I am posting this, is that I feel the use of diesel tram-trains may have applications in this country.
- The Class 399 tram-trains in Sheffield and the Class 398 tram-trains ordered for the South Wales Metro are both members of the Citylink family, that were built or will be built in Stadler’s Valencia plant.
- The Class 398 tram-trains will have batteries to extend the route on routes without electrification.
Perhaps, if they ran on bio-diesel, they may have applications, where electrification would be difficult or inappropriate and the distance is too long for a Citylink with batteries.
Financing Secured To ‘Enable Rapid Development’ Of Norway’s First Lithium Battery Cell Gigafactory
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
The article says that the gigafactory’s biggest competitor will be in Sweden.
With companies in the UK, like Hyperdrive Innovation, Gore Street Energy Fund and others developing massive demand for batteries, perhaps we should build our own gigafactory?
This article on Energy Storage News is entitled More Money For Lithium Exploration In Cornwall.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Cornish Lithium has successfully raised over £826,000 from shareholders to continue exploration for lithium in Cornwall, in both geothermal waters and in hard rock, and will build on the successful drilling programmes that concluded earlier this year.
I wrote about Cornish Lithium in How To Go Mining In A Museum.
Could an unusual tale becoming to a successful conclusion?
Conclusion
I think we can trust the Cornish, Norwegians and Swedes to ensure, we have enough lithium-ion batteries.
Exeter City Council Builds Its First Solar And Battery Storage Project
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Live News.
This paragraph describes the scheme.
The plant, which had its preparatory work finished recently, will be built on an inactive landfill site and will comprise of a 1.2MW array of 3,702 solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, two battery storage containers and an electrical switch room.
I do think, this is a superb use for a old landfill site.
As I believe that some landfill sites still give off methane for many years, if this is the case, this can surely continue.
The scheme will also include a 1 MW/2 MWh battery and will be geared to providing power to a council operation’s facility and in the future to supporting an electric fleet.
This is a superb example of how to turn an unwanted toxic liability into a green asset, with several benefits.
I have not heard of something like this before, but by searching the list of solar and energy-from-waste power sites in the UK, I found a cluster around the M5 to the North of the village of Puriton.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- The village of Puriton to the East of the Junction 23 of the M5, which is a forest of blue dots.
- The various solar farms showing as a blue-violet field. I can count fourteen separate fields.
In total, there are about half-a-dozen renewable energy producers in the area generating up to 25 MW of electricity.
The area to the North-East of the village with all the white dots, just above the green one, is the former Royal Ordinance Factory Bridgewater, which I’m sure solar farmers would like to get their hands on.
Would this become a modern version of swords into ploughshares?
Natron Energy, Developer Of Sodium-Ion Batteries, Raises $35M As Investment In Storage Surges
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on pv Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The startup is building a battery using Prussian blue analogue electrodes and a sodium-ion electrolyte. Investors include ABB Technology Ventures, NanoDimension Capital, Volta Energy Technologies, Chevron, Khosla Ventures, and Prelude Ventures.
But what are Prussian Blue analogue electrodes?
Looking up Prussian Blue, it is more than just an colour used by artists, with some interesting chemistry.
Natron Energy have this mission statement on their web site.
Natron Energy (formerly Alveo Energy) is an energy storage company that is developing a new high power, long cycle life, low-cost battery technology for industrial applications. Natron’s batteries offer higher power density, faster recharge, and longer cycle life than incumbent technologies. They can be economically produced from commodity materials on existing cell manufacturing lines. Natron is backed by leading venture capital investors and has received support from ARPA-E.
Digging further, the company appears to be a spin-off from Stanford University.
Conclusion
It does appear, that if you have a feasible idea in energy storage, that you can get backing from names that people have heard of.
Beeching Reversal – South Yorkshire Joint Railway
This is one of the Beeching Reversal projects that the Government and Network Rail are proposing to reverse some of the Beeching cuts.
This railway seems to have been forgotten, as even Wikipedia only has a rather thin entry for the South Yorkshire Joint Railway.
The best description of the railway, that I’ve found is from this article in the Doncaster Free Press, which is entitled South Yorkshire Railway Line, Which Last Carried Passengers 100 Years Ago Could Be Reopened.
This is said.
The line remains intact, and recently maintained, runs from Worksop through to Doncaster, via North and South Anston, Laughton Common/Dinnington and Maltby.
I jave got my helicopter out and navigating with the help of Wikipedia, I have traced the route of the South Yorkshire Joint Railway (SYJR) between Worksop and Doncaster.
Shireoaks Station
This Google Map shows the Southern end of the SYJR on the Sheffield and Gainsborough Central Line between Shireoaks and Kiveton Park stations.
Note.
- Shireoaks station is in the East.
- Kiveton Park station is in the West.
- The SYJR starts at the triangular junction in the middle of the map.
- Lindrick Golf Club, where GB & NI, won the Ryder Cup in 1957 is shown by a green arrow to the North of Shireoaks station.
- The original passenger service on the SYJR, which closed in the 1920s, appears to have terminated at Shireoaks station.
The line immediately turns West and then appears to run between the villages of North and South Anston.
Anston Station
This Google Map shows the location of Anston station.
Note that the SYJR goes between the two villages and runs along the North side of the wood, that is to the North of Worksop Road.
Dinnington & Laughton Station
This Google Map shows the location of the former Dinnington & Laughton station.
Note that the SYJR goes to the west side of both villages, so it would have been quite a walk to the train.
Maltby Station
This Google Map shows the location of the former Maltby station.
Note.
- The SYJR goes around the South side of the village.
- The remains of the massive Maltby Main Colliery, which closed several years ago.
I wonder if they fill the shafts of old mines like this. if they don’t and just cap them, they could be used by Gravitricity to store energy. In Explaining Gravitricity, I do a rough calculation of the energy storage with a practical thousand tonne weight. Maltby Main’s two shafts were 984 and 991 metres deep. They would store 2.68 and 2.70 MWh respectively.
It should be noted that Gravitricity are serious about 5.000 tonnes weights.
Tickhill & Wadworth Station
This Google Map shows the location of the former Tickhill & Wadworth station.
Note.
- Tickhill is in the South and Wadworth is in the North.
- Both villages are to the West of the A1 (M)
- The SYJR runs in a North-Easterly direction between the villages.
The station appears to have been, where the minor road and the railway cross.
Doncaster iPort
The SYJR then passes through Doncaster iPort.
Note.
- The iPort seems to be doing a lot of work for Amazon.
- The motorway junction is Junction 3 on the M18.
- The SYJR runs North-South on the Western side of the centre block of warehouses.
This is Wikipedia’s introductory description of the iPort.
Doncaster iPort or Doncaster Inland Port is an intermodal rail terminal; a Strategic Rail Freight Interchange, under construction in Rossington, Doncaster at junction 3 of the M18 motorway in England. It is to be connected to the rail network via the line of the former South Yorkshire Joint Railway, and from an extension of the former Rossington Colliery branch from the East Coast Main Line.
The development includes a 171-hectare (420-acre) intermodal rail terminal to be built on green belt land, of which over 50 hectares (120 acres) was to be developed into warehousing, making it the largest rail terminal in Yorkshire; the development also included over 150 hectares (370 acres) of countryside, the majority of which was to remain in agricultural use, with other parts used for landscaping, and habitat creation as part of environment mitigation measures.
It ;looks like the SYJR will be integrated with the warehouses, so goods can be handled by rail.
Onward To Doncaster
After the iPort, the trains can take a variety of routes, some of which go through Doncaster station.
I have some thoughts on the South Yorkshire Joint Railway (SYJR).
Should The Line Be Electrified?
This is always a tricky one, but as there could be a string of freight trains running between Doncaster iPort and Felixstowe, something should be done to cut the carbon emissions and pollution of large diesel locomotives.
Obviously, one way to sort out Felixstowe’s problem, would be to fill in the gaps of East Anglian electrification and to electrify the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line between Peterborough and Doncaster via Lincoln. But I suspect Lincolnshire might object to up to fifteen freight trains per hour rushing through. Even, if they were electric!
I am coming round to the believe that Steamology Motion may have a technology, that could haul a freight train for a couple of hours.
These proposed locomotives, which are fuelled by hydrogen and oxygen, will have an electric transmission and could benefit from sections of electrification, which could power the locomotives directly.
So sections of electrification along the route, might enable the freight trains to go between Felixstowe and Doncaster iPort without using diesel.
It should be said, that Steamology Motion is the only technology, that I’ve seen, that has a chance of converting a 3-4 MW diesel locomotive to zero carbon emissions.
Many think it is so far-fetched, that they’ll never make it work!
Electrification of the line would also enable the service between Doncaster and Worksop to be run by Class 399 tram-trains, which are pencilled in to be used to the nearby Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
What Rolling Stock Should Be Used?
As I said in the previous section, I feel that Class 399 tram-trains would be ideal, if the line were to be electrified.
Also, if the line between Shireoaks and Kiveton Park stations were to be electrified to Sheffield, this would connect the South Yorkshire Joint Line to Sheffield’s Supertram network.
Surely, one compatible tram-train type across South Yorkshire, would speed up development of a quality public transport system.
A service could also be run using Vivarail’s Pop-up Metro concept, with fast charging at one or two, of any number of the stations.
Conclusion
This seems to be a worthwhile scheme, but I would like to see more thought on electrification of the important routes from Felixstowe and a unified and very extensive tram-train network around Sheffield.
Japan A ‘Very Interesting Market’ For Gore Street As It Becomes An ‘Enabler’ Of JXTG’s Transition
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Solar Power Portal.
This is the introductory paragraph.
London Stock Exchange-listed energy storage fund Gore Street has outlined how it sees Japan as a “very interesting market” following its investment from JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation.
I like Gore Street’s philosophy and its execution.
I am not an investor and probably never will be, but they seem to be based on sound principles and do their modelling well. I’ve built enough large financial models to know a good one from its results.
Gore Street is normally investing in lithium-ion batteries.
- These batteries now have a predictable reliability profile and I suspect cash-flow from owning a battery is fairly predictable.
- The control and monitoring software will get better as time goes by and these batteries will probably update themselves automatically.
- They probably aren’t that affected by COVID-19, as lockdown still needs energy to be balanced and these batteries are probably performing as normal.
- The heat of the last few weeks probably caused more grief than COVID-19.
- If a site visit is necessary, they can probably be done with one man in a van with a key to the security system. So maintenance is probably easy to do, whilst maintaining social distance.
I also liked this paragraph from the article.
, Gore Street Capital CEO, Alex O’Cinneide, said that the fact that the deregulation of the Japanese market over the next few years makes it of interest to the company, alongside it having the same characteristics of the UK in terms of the decommissioning of coal, nuclear and gas and increasing levels of renewables.
Could Gore Street Energy Fund, be a safe investment for today’s difficult times?
How Do You Save Clean Energy? This Company Plans To Pump It Underground
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Grist.
This sentence, introduces a company called Quidnet Energy.
Last week, Quidnet, a Houston, Texas-based company, announced that it lined up a contract with the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority to construct a pilot project for its “Geomechanical Pumped Storage” technology.
Reading the article, the following points can be made.
- Quidnet is a new take on pumped storage.
- Instead of using expensive land to store water, the water is pumped underground from a supply pond into a well.
- It uses pumped storage supply chains and expertise.
- Quidnet is backed by a Bill Gates energy fund.
- About sixty percent of US power markets have the right type of rock.
The article finishes by comparing these systems with lithium-ion batteries, which double in cost every time you want to double the capacity.
But technology like from Form Energy, Highview Power and Quidnet might be a lot simpler.
This is very much a must-read article.
Think Zinc: Another Metal That Can Transform The Energy Storage Sector
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Stockhouse.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Mines worldwide extract more than 11.9 million metric tons of zinc annually. There are zinc mines in over 50 countries around the world, and while the metal plays a key role in the steel industry, few people understand its transformative role in the energy storage sector. When most people think of the metals that power today’s energy storage systems, vanadium and lithium are at front of mind.
Wikipedia has an entry called Zinc Mining. This extract, sums up the availability of zinc from mining.
Global zinc mine production in 2019 was estimated to be 12.9 million tonnes. The largest producers were China (34%), Peru (11%), Australia (10%), United States (6.1%), India (5.5%), and Mexico (5.4%), with Australia having the largest reserves.
The world’s largest zinc mine is the Red Dog open-pit zinc-lead-silver mine in Alaska, with 4.2% of world production. Major zinc mine operators include Vedanta Resources, Glencore, BHP, Teck Resources, Sumitomo, Nexa Resources, Boliden AB, and China Minmetals.
The paragraph is accompanied by a photograph from the Zinkgruvan mine in Sweden.
Closer to home, in 2009, Ireland mined 385,670 tonnes of zinc and was the tenth largest producer in the world. Tara Mine is at Navan in County Meath.
This Google Map shows its location to the West of Navan.
So if the Irish build more wind turbines, they have the zinc for their own zinc-air batteries.
The Stockhouse article is written by Ron MacDonald, who is President and CEO of Zinc8 Energy Solutions. He says this.
To give one example: Our company Zinc8 Energy Solutions has won a recent contract award and project collaboration with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and private sector deployment agreement with Digital Energy supported by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (Nyserda). We will deploy a 100kW/1.5MWh zinc-air system capable of storing energy for 15 hours.
Everybody, who worries about our future energy supplies should read the full article.
Highview Power On The Good News Network
If the Good News Network, is what it says on the tin, then I’m pleased that they’ve written this article, which is entitled World’s Biggest Liquid-Air Battery – ‘The Climate-Emission Killer’ – Is Now Under Construction In England.
The article, appears to be a rehash of what appeared in the Guardian, slanted for American readers.
It has the usual American fault of mixing up England with the UK, but surely the fact that it’s on the site, is good news for Highview Power.
UK’s Pivot Power Sees First Battery On Line By 2021
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Argus Media.
The article is a review of what is happening in the UK and this is the introductory paragraph.
UK firm Pivot Power is now targeting a 2021 start for its first two 50MW lithium-ion battery storage projects, while a 50MW liquid air energy storage project and another 50MW battery recently announced they were targeting completion by 2022.
The article gives several pieces of information about Pivot Power.
- Their two batteries are at Kemsley and Cowley.
- The two batteries appear to be running late.
- The company has a portfolio of forty projects with s total size of 2 GW.
- The Cowley battery will be co-located with a 2MW/5MWh Vanadium flow battery operated by storage firm redT.
- Pivot Power is owned by EdF.
Good to see redT involved, although they seemed to have merged with Avalon Battery to form Invinity Energy Systems. The new web site describes them as the world’s leading vanadian-flow battery company.
This page on the web site is the Press Release about the merger.
This paragraph from the Press Release, describes where vanadium flow batteries fit in the market.
Vanadium flow batteries are a form of heavy-duty, stationary energy storage, used primarily in high-utilisation applications such as being coupled with industrial scale solar generation for distributed, low-carbon energy projects. This sort of application requires daily, heavy use and is well suited to flow battery technology, which is expected to become a £3.5bn market by 2028.
I don’t know much about vanadium-flow technology, but this company could probably be added to a list of companies, who might make it.
The Anonymous Widower 