South Korean Firm To Supply Power Equipment For Ørsted’s Hornsea 4 Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Denmark’s Ørsted has awarded a contract to Hyosung Heavy Industries for the supply of ultra-high voltage power equipment for the Hornsea 4 offshore wind farm in the UK
These two paragraphs add a bit of detail.
Under the contract, the South Korean company will supply 400 kV ultra-high voltage transformers and reactors, essential components for improving power quality for the 2.4 GW Hornsea 4 offshore wind project.
The most recent contract further strengthens the company’s presence in Europe, where it has accumulated over 1 trillion won (about EUR 667 million) in orders this year, as reported by the company.
Hyosung Heavy Industries seem to be doing rather well at supplying electrical gubbins in Europe.
But then Korean companies seem to be doing well in Europe and especially the UK, after the state visit of the Korean President and his wife in November 2023.
In the last century, we did very well dealing with Korean companies with Artemis; the project management computer system, that I wrote.
In Hyundai Heavy Sets Sights On Scottish Floating Offshore Wind, I describe some of our dealings there.
Conclusion
From other posts, I have written, it looks like the UK and Korea are building a strong partnership with offshore wind, and a secondary one with tidal power might be emerging. We also shouldn’t forget the partnership in North London over football.
SSE Launches £10m Hydro Community Benefit Fund
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Project Scotland.
This is the sub-heading.
SSE has launched a new £10 million hydro community benefit fund aimed at supporting projects within areas that host its existing hydro power infrastructure across Scotland.
These paragraphs fill in some detail.
The launch comes following the 80th anniversary of the hydro-electric development (Scotland) act of 1943, which enabled the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (NoSHEB) to transform the way people lived and worked through the build of 54 power stations, 78 dams, and over 300km of underground tunnels.
SSE Renewables recently commissioned a report by Biggar Economics which found that the capital investment in hydro over the 80-year period since 1943 is £7.5 billion, supporting over 10,000 jobs annually in Scotland including 5,519 in the Highlands and Islands.
The new hydro community fund will see investment in local communities continue, with SSE Renewables having consulted with community council areas to establish key priorities.
Priorities include improvements to sustainable community transport, affordable housing, growth of small businesses and social enterprises, improvement of community assets and infrastructure, and a focus on community physical and mental well-being through community arts, culture, sports, and recreation.
If the new fund is as successful as the first, I can’t see thee being many complaints.
Centrica And Coterra Energy Announce Natural Gas Sale And Purchase Agreements
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Centrica.
These three bullet points, act as sub-headings.
- Coterra will supply 100,000 MMbtu/d of natural gas for a period of 10 years, commencing in 2028.
- Volume supplied sufficient to heat 400,000 homes per year.
- Agreement expands Centrica’s growing LNG business.
These three paragraphs say more about the deal and add more on its context.
Centrica LNG and Coterra today announced the execution of two natural gas sale and purchase agreements. Under the contracts, Coterra will supply 100,000 MMbtu/d of natural gas linked to European gas prices such as TTF and NBP, for a period of 10 years, commencing in 2028.
This major gas deal will reduce the market risk in Centrica’s LNG portfolio by purchasing US gas on the same price indices under which the LNG is subsequently sold, and help underpin customer energy supplies for a decade. The volume supplied is sufficient to heat 400,000 homes per year, further cementing Centrica’s global role supporting energy security.
The deal follows similar agreements over recent years, demonstrating Centrica Energy’s innovative partnership approach, one of the key pillars of its successful and growing LNG business.
It certainly looks like Centrica are doing their best for UK energy security.
It also looks to me, that it is a low risk deal.
It should also help to keep us all warm in the UK, until renewable electricity and hydrogen come fully on stream.
Scottish Ministers Approve 200MW Battery Storage Project
The title of this post is the same as that as this article on Solar Power Portal.
These three paragraphs add further meat to the story.
Developer Intelligent Land Investments (ILI) Group has received planning consent for a 200MW battery energy storage system (BESS).
The BESS will be adjacent to the Easterhouse substation near Gartcosh, Glasgow, at Whitehill Farm. ILI Group received Section 36 planning consent, meaning that the BESS is classed as a change to the existing consent granted to the generating substation.
Consent from Ministers follows support for the project from both the Glasgow City Council and North Lanarkshire Council.
ILI seem to be doing well, as they regularly appear in my data searches.
The article sums up ILI Group’s portfolio like this.
ILI Group has a portfolio of over 4.7 GW energy storage projects, including 2.5 GW of utility-scale battery storage and 2.5 GW pumped storage hydro.
They must be doing something right.
ILI Group’s biggest success to date would appear to be developing the Red John pumped hydro power station, which they sold to Statkraft, as I reported in Statkraft To Acquire Major Loch Ness Pumped Storage Hydro Project From Intelligent Land Investments Group.
Conclusion
The batteries and the pumped storage keeps coming in Scotland.
It appears Scotland will not only generate the renewable energy, but store it until it is needed.
As a Control Engineer, my nose is telling me, that Scotland is going to need a few more interconnectors to sell the energy to those, who need it.
Alternatively, it will attract industries, that will need a lot of electricity.
RWE Gets Go-Ahead For 100 MW Electrolyzer For Offshore Wind-to-Hydrogen Project
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
German energy company RWE has secured construction and environmental permits to build a 100 MW electrolyzer in Eemshaven, the Netherlands. The electrolyzer is part of system integration solutions associated with OranjeWind, an offshore wind project RWE is jointly developing with TotalEnergies in the Dutch North Sea.
These first threee paragraphs gove more information.
RWE described the permits as an important step in developing 100 MW of green hydrogen production at Eemshaven which, if built, will contribute to the onshore energy system integration plans associated with the 795 MW OranjeWind offshore wind project.
To remind, in July this year, TotalEnergies entered into an agreement with RWE to acquire a 50 per cent stake in the OranjeWind and said it would use its share of the electricity from the offshore wind project to power 350 MW electrolyzer projects that will produce about 40,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually.
With the necessary permits in place, RWE stated it will be able to develop a 100 MW electrolyzer on a plot adjacent to the Magnum Power Station in Eemshaven.
I went to Eemshaven in The Train Station At The Northern End Of The Netherlands. The area looks like it will be the centre of the Dutch hydrogen industry.
This post is called The Dutch Plan For Hydrogen. The Dutch appear to want to be big in hydrogen.
A 100 MW offshore electrolyser is a good start.
Pumped Storage Hydro In The Highlands – Is Anywhere Still Off Limits?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on UK Climbing.
This is the sub-heading.
Are the enormous Earba and Fearna hydro projects merely the thin end of an ever bigger wedge? Thanks to a relaxed developer-friendly planning regime, is anywhere in Highland Scotland now safe from energy projects designed to feed an insatiable demand down south? In pursuit of clean power, do we risk permitting huge and irreparable harm across our remaining wild habitats and scenic land? And if so, what (and who) is it all really in aid of? It’s not too late to shed light on the murky world of Highland mega-energy, says Jane Meek, but time is running out for our mountain heritage.
These are the first three paragraphs.
In case you haven’t heard, Earba is the codename for a massive pumped storage hydro scheme to be hosted by Ardverikie Estate of Monarch of the Glen fame on behalf of Gilkes Energy, a Lakes-based engineering firm hitherto better known as a developer of small-scale run-of-river hydro schemes on Scottish burns and rivers. Some of these may be familiar to you: they include Pattack on Ardverikie Estate, Ben Glas on Glen Falloch Estate near Crianlarich, and Neaty Burn in Glen Strathfarrar, to name just three.
Gilkes Energy has now moved up into the big league of pumped storage hydro (PSH). Visit their homepage to admire a brief slide show of projects past, present and in planning. It’s glossy professional stuff, just what you’d expect from the self-styled “leading independent developer” of conventional hydro and PSH in the UK.
The aerial shots are particularly fine but… hang on a minute… isn’t that Loch a’ Bhealaich Leamhain down there, gleaming like a pearl in the high pass between Munros Beinn a’ Chlachair and Mullach Coire an Iubhair (Geal Charn as was)? And … oh dear, isn’t that Loch Fearna, the glittering shelf lochan below Spidean Mialach, immortalised in countless photographs by walkers crossing the col between Spidean and neighbouring Gleouraich? From the slopes above Fearna, the views across Loch Quoich to Gairich and beyond are simply stunning. After watching the slide show, you may feel simply stunned.
The author of the article makes a statement and asks a question.
It’s industrialisation on a vast scale. Are these truly the right schemes in the right places?
The author may have a point, but environmentalists will argue that saving the planet is more important and that pumped storage hydroelectricity is one of the technologies, that will help us do that!
BOEM Links Up With US Department of Defense On Offshore Wind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Department of Defense (DOD) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support the coordinated development of offshore wind on the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
These three paragraphs give more details of the agreement.
The agreement calls for DOD and BOEM to find mutual solutions that support renewable energy in a manner compatible with essential military operations.
The MoU also requires the organizations to collaborate early in the offshore wind leasing process and maintain regular communication at all levels.
Additionally, the agreement calls for DOD and BOEM to determine what areas should be deferred from leasing to enable the performance of DOD activities on the OCS.
I feel this is a very sensible agreement, as time progress, I’m sure that the co-operation will lead to several joint projects.
- Support boats ensuring safety, like the deal between Ørsted and the RNLI, that I talked about in Ørsted Evolves Long-Standing Partnership With RNLI,
- Offshore structures like electrolysers and substations could have a secondary use as military training facilities.
- Smaller ships, like minehunters, coastguard cutters and fishery protection vessels could go electric and the wind farms could provide charging facilities.
If the United States Navy are hanging around the wind farms, it might discourage Putin’s friends.
Wind farms and the US military could be good neighbours.
Brendan Owens, who is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, said this.
We will continue to work with BOEM and our other interagency partners, to find solutions that enable offshore wind development while ensuring long-term compatibility with testing, training, and operations critical to our military readiness.
Other nations with large amounts of continental shelf and ambitions to install large amounts of offshore wind like Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK could do worse that follow the American strategy.
Ørsted Evolves Long-Standing Partnership With RNLI
The title of this post, is the same as this news item from Ørsted.
This is the sub-heading.
Ørsted, the global leader in offshore wind power and one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world, has announced the latest phase of its long-standing partnership with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
These three paragraphs give a few more details of the partnership.
Over the next two years, Ørsted will provide more than £140,000 to help the charity in its mission to save lives at sea.
The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea and its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service across the British Isles.
Established in 2015, the partnership previously focused on supporting seven individual lifeboat stations in areas where Ørsted operates its offshore windfarms and is now evolving to support even more lifeboat stations.
Little is said about what benefits Ørsted get from the partnership.
Although, this is said.
Previously focused on supporting seven individual lifeboat stations in areas where Ørsted operates its offshore windfarms.
Does this mean, that for small incidents, the RNLI can do the rescue or perhaps tow a broken-down workboat to the shore?
In a busy area, the RNLI might even act as backup to Ørsted’s own safety boat, if a second incident occurred.
It might be a more affordable way to ensure safe operation, which is obviously paramount.
Conclusion
As the partnership is being extended, it must surely have been working well.
Centrica And European Energy Sign Agreement On Måde Green Hydrogen Facility
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
Centrica Energy and European Energy have signed a balancing and optimisation agreement for the Måde green hydrogen facility located at Port Esbjerg. Under the agreement, Centrica Energy will manage power production from co-located wind turbines, designating excess power production to green hydrogen production.
These two introductory paragraphs give more details.
Powering the 12MW green hydrogen facility are two wind turbines, part of the Måde Wind Turbine Test Center, developed by European Energy with a total installed capacity of 16MW. The turbines will provide renewable electricity, which is used to produce green hydrogen through electrolysis with demineralised water.
Expected to produce approximately 1,500 tonnes of green hydrogen every year, European Energy has secured an agreement with Port Esbjerg and a world-class industrial gases company for the offtake from the facility. As the production of hydrogen is a heat-intensive process, the excess heat from production will be fed into the local district heating network, demonstrating sector coupling across the electricity, fuel, and heating domains.
These are my thoughts,
Hydrogen Production
The hydrogen production uses a standard electrolysis method, but excess heat will be fed into the local district heating network.
AquaVentus And Denmark
I introduced AquaVentus in this post called AquaVentus.
This video shows the structure of AquaVentus.
I clipped this map from the video.
Note.
- The thick white line running North-West/South-East is the spine of AquaVentus, that delivers hydrogen to Germany.
- There is a link to Esbjerg in Denmark.
- There appears to be an undeveloped link to Norway.
- There appears to be an undeveloped link to Peterhead in Scotland.
- There appears to be a link to just North of the Humber in England.
- Just North of the Humber are the two massive gas storage sites of Aldbrough owned by SSE and Brough owned by Centrica.
- There appear to be small ships sailing up and down the East Coast of the UK. Are these small coastal tankers, that are distributing the hydrogen to where it is needed?
In the last century, the oil industry, built a substantial oil and gas network in the North Sea.
It appears now the Germans are leading the building of a substantial hydrogen network in the North Sea, that will bring the hydrogen they need to their country.
I also suspect that any spare hydrogen produced in Esbjerg can be added to the AquaVentus network.
- Hydrogen could be sent to Brough and Aldbrough in the UK for storage.
- Hydrogen could be sent to any country in the network that needs it.
Countries will pay for the hydrogen they use.
Optimising AquaVentus
AquaVentus is a complex network.
- Hydrogen could be produced offshore in British, Danish, Dutch, English, German, Norwegian, Orcadian, Scottish and Shetland waters.
- Hydrogen could be sent to Brough and Aldbrough in the UK for storage.
- Hydrogen can be sent to Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Norway, The Netherlands and the UK.
A company like Centrica has the expertise and the software to control the various hydrogen flows to the best advantage of hydrogen producers and users.
The MailOnline’s View Of Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity
The MailOnline gives their view on Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity on the front page of their web site today.
This is the bold title.
Scotland is littered with windfarms. Now the impact of billion-pound hydro projects to store energy they produce threatens our scenic landscapes… and led critics to brand the plans – The Loch Ness Monstrosity
To my mind, the site’s language leaves no doubt that they are not keen on either windfarms or the hydro projects to store energy.
Calling the plans the Loch Ness Monstrosity, is an insult to the engineers, who have devised the plans.
The journalist, who wrote the article has made the same mistake, that many do when they write about any form of energy storage – They only give the output of the battery and not the output and the storage capacity.
Thus Red John Pumped Hydro is described in the article like this.
The £550million Loch na Cathrach venture (formerly known as Red John, after a popular local lochan), is one of the biggest renewable energy projects in the North and was granted consent by the Scottish Government in June 2021 despite strong objections from campaigners and Highland Council but has yet to be built in the hills near Dores.
The 450MW project owned by Norwegian state firm Statkraft hopes to start construction next year and be operational by 2030.
Note.
- Red John is a 450 MW project with a storage capacity of 2,800 MWh, which is conventionally shown as a 450 MW/2,800 MWh battery.
- A battery of this size can supply 450 MW for 6.2 hours, which is more than a lithium-ion battery of the same cost could manage.
- 450 MW is about the average size of a gas-fired power station.
Where the geography is suitable, pumped storage hydroelectric stations may be able to replace gas-fired power stations.
- There would be no cooling towers.
- There would be no chimneys or associated pollution.
- The electrical gubbins to connect to the grid would be the same and could probably be refurbished.
The new lake could be used for water-based activities like fishing, sailing skiing and swimming.
Conclusion
Obviously, playing the Nimby-card sells newspapers.
The Anonymous Widower 