UK Energy Grid Needs £60bn Upgrade To Hit Green Target, Plan Says
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The UK’s electricity network needs almost a further £60bn of upgrades to hit government decarbonisation targets by 2035, according to a new plan.
These five paragraphs explain the plan.
About 4,000 miles of undersea cables and 1,000 miles of onshore power lines are needed, said the National Grid’s Electricity Systems Operator (ESO).
The investment would add between £20 to £30 a year to customer bills, it said.
The government said the ESO’s plans were preliminary and yet to pass a “robust planning process”.
The plans were written up by the ESO, the organisation which runs the electricity network and would run the updated system it is calling for too. It is currently owned by National Grid but will transfer into government ownership later this year.
Its latest £58bn estimate is for work needed between 2030 and 2035 and comes on top of a previous £54bn estimate for work taking place between now and 2030.
These are my thoughts.
The Amount Of Undersea Cable
Edinburgh and London are roughly 400 miles apart as the train runs, so it looks like there could be the equivalent of ten underwater cables between the North of Scotland and England.
In Contracts Signed For Eastern Green Link 2 Cable And Converter Stations, I talked about the proposed 2 GW link between Peterhead in Scotland and Drax in England, which will be a double cable. So there’s the first two of these long cables.
It looks to me, that National Grid are proposing to use underwater cables wherever they can, so they avoid large expensive planning rows stirred up by Nimbies.
Monitoring The Undersea Cables
Last week Ofgem gave National Grid a £400,000 grant to develop new innovative technologies, which I wrote about in £400k For National Grid Innovation Projects As Part Of Ofgem Fund To Help Shape Britain’s Net Zero Transition.
One of the project is called HIRE – Hybrid-Network Improvement & Reliability Enhancement and will be used to check all these cables are performing as they should.
My electrical engineering experience tells me, that there must be some cunning way, that will detect that something is happening to the cable. The involvement of a technology company called Monitra in the project is a bit of a giveaway.
How Much Will It Cost Me?
Currently, UK consumers pay about £30 per year to have electricity delivered, so this will rise to between £50 and £60 per year.
That is just over a pound a week. I would pay about the same for a resident’s parking permit outside my house for an electric car and probably three times more for a petrol or diesel car.
Do We Have Enough Cable?
Two undersea cable factories are under development in Scotland and I suspect the 4,000 miles of undersea cables will be delivered on schedule and covered in saltires.
What About T-Pylons?
The latest onshore electricity transmission line between Hinckley Point C and Bristol, doesn’t use traditional pylons.
It uses T-pylons like these to connect the 3.26 GW nuclear power station.
Note that they are shorter, designed to be less intrusive, have a smaller footprint and are made from only ten parts.
I suspect they will cost less to install and maintain.
There is more on T-pylons in National Grid Energise World’s First T-Pylons.
I wouldn’t be surprised that some of the oldest traditional pylons will be replaced by T-pylons.
I am surprised that T-pylons are not mentioned in the BBC article.
I like T-pylons. How do you feel about them?
Eastern Green Link 2
This press release from National Grid, describes Eastern Green Link 2 like this.
Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) is a 525kV, 2GW high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea transmission cable from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in England delivered as a joint venture by National Grid and SSEN Transmission.
This map from National Grid, shows the route of the Eastern Green Link 2.
The Northern landfall is at Sandford Bay and the Southern landfall is at Wilsthorpe Beach.
This Google Map shows Sandford Bay and Peterhead power station.
Note.
- Sandford Bay occupies the North-East corner of the map.
- The red arrow indicates the main 400kV sub-station at Peterhead.
- The 2177 MW gas-fired Peterhead power station is to the East of the sub-station marked as SSE.
This second Google Map shows the onshore route of the cable from Wilsthorpe to Drax.
Note.
- Flamborough Head is in the North-East corner of the map.
- Wilsthorpe Beach is at Bridlington a couple of miles South of Flamborough Head.
- The red arrow indicates Drax Power station.
- An onshore underground cable will be installed from landfall in Wilsthorpe to a new onshore converter station built in Drax.
The EGL2 HVDC cable connection from Scotland to England consists of 436km of submarine cable and 69km of onshore cable.
Both converter stations will be on existing power station sites and the major onshore works will be the underground cable between Wilsthorpe and Drax.
Where Does Drax Go From Here?
Currently, Drax power station is a 2595 MW biomass-fired power station.
There are now other large power sources that could replace some or all of the output of Drax power station.
- 2GW of Scottish wind power coming to Drax on Eastern Green Link 2.
- 6 GW of offshore wind is being developed at the Hornsea wind farms.
- 8 GW of offshore wind is being developed at the Dogger Bank wind farms.
- 2.5 GW from the three gas-fired power stations at Keadby, two of which are likely to be fitted with carbon capture.
- 1.8 GW from the proposed hydrogen-fired Keadby Hydrogen power station.
Given the bad feelings many have about Drax burning biomass, with 20.3 GW of electricity, you might think that shutting down Drax would be a simple solution.
But, according to Drax’s Wikipedia entry, it has a unique property.
Despite this intent for baseload operation, it was designed with a reasonable ability for load-following, being able to ramp up or down by 5% of full power per minute within the range of 50–100% of full power.
So Drax could be very useful in balancing the grid, by ramping up and down to fill the gap between production and need.
In addition, there is good biomass. This is from the Wikipedia entry.
A 100,000 tonne pa capacity straw pelletization facility was constructed at Capitol Park, Goole in 2008.
Drax are also promoting BECCS or Bioenergy carbon-capture and storage.
There is a Wikipedia entry for Bioenergy With Carbon Capture And Storage, of which this is the first couple of sentences.
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is the process of extracting bioenergy from biomass and capturing and storing the carbon, thereby removing it from the atmosphere. BECCS can theoretically be a “negative emissions technology” (NET).
I do feel that carbon capture and storage is a bit like sweeping the dust under the carpet, when you sweep the floor around it.
But carbon capture and use could be another matter.
This Google Map shows the Drax site.
Note how it is surrounded by agricultural land.
Could the power station be the source of pure carbon dioxide to be fed in greenhouses to flowers, herbs, salad vegetables, tomatoes and other plants?
I suspect there’s productive life left in Drax power station yet!
LionLink
LionLink, that is being developed by National Grid is a new type of interconnector, called a multi-purpose interconnector, that will connect Suffolk and The Netherlands via any convenient wind farms on the way. This means that the electricity generated can go where it is needed most.
I wrote about LionLink in World’s Largest-Of-Its-Kind Power Line To Deliver Clean Power To 1.8m UK Homes And Boost Energy Security.
Other Multi-Purpose Interconnectors
I can see other multi-purpose interconnectors like LionLink being built around the UK.
- There could be one across the Dogger Bank to link out 8 GW of Dogger Bank wind farms with those of the Dutch, Danes and Germans on their section of the bank.
- NorthConnect could be built between Scotland and Norway via some of the wind farms being developed to the North-East of Scotland.
- Could wind farms to the North of Ireland use a multi-purpose interconnector between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- I can also see one or possibly two, being built across the Celtic Sea to link Devon, South Wales and Southern Ireland via the wind farms being developed in the area.
- Will we also see a Channel multi-purpose interconnector to transfer electricity along the South Coast of England?
Some of these multi-purpose interconnectors could be key to creating a revenue stream, by exporting electricity, to countries in Europe, that have a pressing need for it.
Conclusion
National Grid’s excellent plan will lead to the end of the practice of shutting down wind turbines. The spare electricity will be exported to Europe, which will surely create a good cash-flow for the UK. This in turn will encourage developers to create more wind farms in the seas around the UK’s coasts.
£400k For National Grid Innovation Projects As Part Of Ofgem Fund To Help Shape Britain’s Net Zero Transition
The title of this post, is the same as that, of this press release from National Grid.
These three bullet points, act as sub-headings.
- Three transmission and distribution network innovation projects receive green light
- Funding kickstarts projects for the discovery phase of Ofgem innovation scheme
- 14 National Grid projects worth £4m have won innovation funding since scheme began
These are the three projects.
HIRE – Hybrid-Network Improvement & Reliability Enhancement
This is National Grid’s description of the £135,000 project.
Researching new state-of-the-art condition monitoring to improve the commissioning and operation of offshore cables. This new, robust system will mitigate the risk of failure, overcome the limitations of existing techniques (e.g. cable length) and aid network operators in decision making for a more flexible grid. PROJECT PARTNERS: University of Manchester, DNV, Monitra, SSEN Transmission.
With all the offshore cables, that have been laid around the UK, Europe and the world in recent years, I am surprised that such a system has not been developed before.
But I suspect, that the project partners know that if they can develop a superior cable monitoring system, then it could be a nice little earner in addition to its job with UK offshore cables.
According to their web site, Monitra seem to be the monitoring experts.
This is the mission statement on their home page.
Our aim is to maximise the uptime of every high voltage asset worldwide.
I like this company’s attitude and it should make the world a better place.
I certainly think that the £135,000 will be well spent.
REACH – Rural Energy And Community Heat
This is National Grid’s description of the £120,000 project.
Working with rural community energy groups to develop a modular rural energy centre that will help communities make cost effective decarbonisation plans. The solution will offer shared low carbon heating, rapid EV charging, and renewable generation in areas not served by commercial markets, and where there is limited electricity network capacity.
Rolls-Royce mtu seem to have a system, that might go some way to satisfy National Grid’s ambitions, that I wrote about in Would You Buy A Battery Energy Storage System From Rolls-Royce?.
Road to Power
This is National Grid’s description of the £140,000 project.
Developing specific tools to forecast future energy consumption and infrastructural impact of works, to support the street and road works sector as it decarbonises 7.8TWh of energy demand across 700,000 major works in the sector’s pivotal transition to net zero by 2030.
This sounds like an excellent idea. Especially, if it makes street and road works quieter and less polluting.
Conclusion
I like these three projects and have already added them to my list of Google Alerts.
The Modern Way To Grow Tomatoes
I was looking around the Centrica Business Solutions web site, when I found this page, which is entitled Second CHP Powers New Greenhouses At Frank Rudd & Sons, that describes how tomatoes are grown in large greenhouses.
These paragraphs introduce Frank Rudd & Sons and what they do.
Frank Rudd & Sons is a family-run producer of cherry vine and plum tomatoes, generating around 1,500 tonnes of produce every year. Based in Over Peover, near Knutsford, the business was started in 1939 and is now run by the third generation of the Rudd family.
Their greenhouses use an innovative growing system, with suspended grow bags full of nutrient seed. This means they’re able to grow tomatoes for 11 months of the year – and also means they have a continual need for heat.
What’s more, when they constructed new greenhouses – going from 9 acres of glass to 15 acres – Frank Rudd & Sons needed an energy partner who could support their increase in demand.
These paragraphs describes Centrica Business Solutions’s solution.
Centrica Business Solutions originally partnered with Frank Rudd & Sons in 2017 to install a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit to power their operations. When Frank Rudd & Sons began to expand their greenhouses in 2023, they needed to install a second CHP to meet their increased demand. Once again, they invited Centrica Business Solutions to support.
We designed and installed a turnkey 1.5MW CHP system to power their production processes. The CHP generates heat and carbon dioxide, which are both fed into their greenhouses and are vital components to the growing process. The system also generates electricity, which Frank Rudd & Sons sells back to the grid through an export agreement – giving the business a significant ongoing revenue stream.
One of the pictures shows that the CHP unit is from Rolls-Royce mtu.
Consultation On Plans For Keadby Hydrogen Power Station To Begin
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from SSE.
These four paragraphs outline the project
SSE and Equinor will consult on plans for a new hydrogen-fired power station in North Lincolnshire which would provide vital new reliable and flexible capacity to the electricity system.
Keadby Hydrogen Power Station is a proposed 900MW plant which could be operational from 2030 – bolstering security of supply and supporting the UK’s long-term decarbonisation by providing back-up low-carbon power to variable renewable generation.
The project will enter environmental scoping in April before SSE and Equinor launch a public consultation ahead of a full planning application being made in due course.
Under plans, the new power station will be designed to run on 100% hydrogen. The ambition is that this would be the case from inception, with Government already committed to deploying low-carbon infrastructure in the Humber – the UK’s most carbon intensive cluster.
Note.
- The hydrogen for this power station will be produced by electrolysis or one of the new turquoise methods.
- It will be stored in Aldborough or Rough gas storage.
- This will be the fourth power station at Keadby after Keadby 1 (734 MW), Keadby 2 (893 MW) and Keadby 3 (910 MW)
- Keadby 3 will be fitted with carbon capture.
- These total up to 3.4 GW.
The Keadby cluster of power stations will make good backup to the wind farms in the North Sea.
UK Has Almost 7GW Of Shovel-Ready Pumped Hydro, Says IHA
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Solar Power Portal.
This paragraph fills out the headline.
Former Australian Prime Minister and current president of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) Malcolm Turnbull has penned an open letter to Rishi Sunak stating that the UK has “almost 7GW of shovel-ready pumped storage hydropower projects with over 135GWh storage capacity”.
Note.
- At 7 GW, it would take 19.2 hours to run out of water.
- Currently, we have about 3GW/24GWh of pumped storage hydro.
- At the end of 2022, we had just 2.4GW/2.6GWh of connected battery storage sites.
It looks like we should start digging.
SSE Renewables Partners With Fluence And OCU Energy To Deliver Its Battery Storage Project At Fiddler’s Ferry
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from SSE Renewables.
This is the sub-heading.
*The 150MW / 300MWh battery energy storage system will be built on the site of the former SSE-owned coal fired power station*
These four paragraphs give full details of the project.
SSE Renewables has announced its principal contractor and battery supplier for its 150MW battery storage project at Fiddler’s Ferry, Warrington.
OCU Energy – who are Stockport-based and are currently working with SSE Renewables on its Ferrybridge battery storage project – will be the principal contractor at Fiddler’s Ferry.
Fluence, a global leader in energy storage technology, digital solutions and services, has been selected as the supplier of the battery-based energy storage system.
Construction is set to begin at the site in the coming weeks after SSE Renewables took a final investment decision back in December 2023.
Note.
- This will be a two-hour battery.
- Good to see a press release with both battery output and battery capacity shown in the appropriate units.
It’s also good to see, SSE adding to the fleet of the UK’s battery storage.
This page on the SSE Renewables web site is entitled About Solar And Battery.
This is the sub-heading.
SSE Renewables is progressing a 1.2GW secured pipeline of utility-scale solar and battery projects across the UK and Ireland and a further 1.3GW of other prospective sites under development. These assets complement SSE’s existing portfolio of other low carbon infrastructure such as wind and hydro.
This is the first paragraph.
Our solar projects will be capable of harnessing the abundant power of the sun to bring renewable power onto the grid, while our battery projects will be able to store renewable power when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. The delivery of these projects is part of our commitment to a net zero transition.
What follows is a job advert.
As an electrical and control engineer, who has enjoyed over fifty years exploring the mathematics of big engineering projects, I don’t regret the choice of career I made.
Dogger Bank D Welcomes Confirmation Of Grid Connection Location
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from SSE Renewables.
This is the sub-heading.
Project team now focusing full attention on electrical transmission system connection.
These four paragraphs describe the proposed connection to the National Grid.
SSE Renewables and Equinor have welcomed confirmation of a grid connection location from the Electricity System Operator (ESO) for a proposed fourth phase of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
Dogger Bank D will now connect into Birkhill Wood, a proposed new 400kV substation located in the East Riding of Yorkshire which will be built as part of National Grid’s Great Grid Upgrade.
The announcement follows the publication of an impact assessment for the South Cluster by ESO, relating to energy projects which are due to be electrically connected off the east coast of England.
With the location of a grid connection confirmed, Dogger Bank D will now focus its full attention on connecting to the electrical transmission system.
This is a big change from December 2023, when I wrote Plans for Hydrogen Development At Dogger Bank D Gain Ground, which indicated that Dogger Bank D would be used to produce hydrogen, so the grid connection wouldn’t be needed.
Using A Offshore Hybrid Asset Between the UK And Another European Country
This is the next paragraph on the SSE Renewables press release.
The project is also exploring the future possibility of the development of Dogger Bank D to be coordinated with an Offshore Hybrid Asset between the UK and another European country’s electricity market to form a multi-purpose interconnector. This option would increase energy security for the UK and reduce the need to curtail offshore wind output in times of oversupply on the GB network.
Note that just over the boundary of the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone are the Dutch and German Exclusive Economic Zones.
It is not unreasonable to believe that UK, Dutch and German grid could all be connected on the Dogger Bank.
Connecting Everything Up At Birkhill Wood
This is the next paragraph on the SSE Renewables press release.
The project team are undertaking a site selection process to identify potential cable corridors and where other onshore infrastructure associated with the grid connection at Birkhill Wood may be sited. Consultation will be held later this year to introduce the connection proposals to the local community.
At least now, with the connection to Birkhill Wood confirmed, SSE and Equinor will be able to supply any electricity generated at Dogger Bank D to the UK grid, up to limit of the connection.
The Value Of Electricity That Could Be Generated At Dogger Bank D
Consider.
- The wind farm has a capacity of 2 GW or 2,000 MW.
- There are 365 days in most years.
- There are 24 hours in the day.
- This means that 17, 520,000 MWh could be generated in a year.
- A large wind farm like Hornsea One has a twelve month rolling capacity factor of 46.6%.
- Applying this capacity factor says that 8,164,320 MWh will be generated in a year.
- The Contract for Difference Round 6 for this electricity will be £73/MWh.
Applying that figure gives a yearly turnover of £ 595,995,360 or £ 297,997,680 per installed GW.
It is not unreasonable to assume that half of this electricity were to be exported to power Germany industry.
It could be a nice little earner for the Treasury.
Contracts Signed For Eastern Green Link 2 Cable And Converter Stations
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
These four bullet points, act as sub-headings.
- Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) is a 525kV, 2GW high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea transmission cable from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in England delivered as a joint venture by National Grid and SSEN Transmission
- The joint venture has signed a contract with the Prysmian Group to supply around 1,000km of cable for the project and a contract with Hitachi Energy and BAM for the supply of converter stations at either end of the subsea cable
- Contract signing is a significant milestone for the project as it progresses towards the delivery phase
- EGL2 will be the longest HVDC cable in the UK and the UK’s single largest electricity transmission project ever, providing enough electricity to power two million UK homes
This paragraph outlines the project.
EGL2, a joint venture between SSEN Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), has reached another milestone in the development of a new subsea electricity superhighway after sealing contracts this week with specialist HVDC cable supplier, Prysmian, and with Hitachi Energy and BAM for the supply of converter stations at either end of the project.
These four paragraphs add more detail.
EGL2 will see the creation of a 525kV, 2GW HVDC subsea transmission cable from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in England. The longest HVDC cable in the UK and the UK’s single largest electricity transmission project ever, it will provide enough electricity to power two million UK homes.
Prysmian has confirmed it has the capability to deliver the project with its manufacturing facilities for the production of the HVDC cable and its cable laying vessels for the installation in the timescale required for EGL2 to meet its targeted energisation date in 2029, supporting the timely delivery of this project and mitigating risks associated with global constraints in the HVDC supply chain.
Hitachi Energy is partnering with BAM to provide the engineering works and technology for the HVDC converter stations which form the terminals for the HVDC cable and convert direct current to the alternating current used in the onshore transmission network. This latest milestone is another significant step as the project moves towards delivery and, following final approval from Ofgem, work is expected to commence later this year, with a targeted operational date of 2029.
The subsea HVDC cable system is approximately 436km in length with new converter stations at either end to connect it into the existing transmission network infrastructure. HVDC technology provides the most efficient and reliable means of transmitting large amounts of power over long distances subsea.
Note.
- EGL2 can handle 2 GW.
- There is a targeted operational date of 2029.
- Eastern Green Link 2 now has its own web site.
- Most of these links now seem to be HVDC.
A map in the press release, shows the undersea route may be shorter.
It also appears to me, that moving electricity around the UK under the sea, is possibly the most environmentally-friendly and least intrusive way to do it.
We already have four HVDC interconnectors.
There will be many more,
Ørsted Secures Exclusive Access To Lower-Emission Steel From Dillinger
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Ørsted will be offered the first production of lower-emission steel from German-based Dillinger, subject to availability and commercial terms and conditions. The steel plates are intended to be used for offshore wind monopile foundations in future projects.
These three paragraphs outline the deal.
Under a large-scale supply agreement entered into in 2022, Ørsted will procure significant volumes of regular heavy plate steel from 2024, giving the company access at scale to and visibility of the most crucial raw material in offshore wind while supporting Dillinger to accelerate investments in new lower-emission steel production, according to Ørsted.
The Danish renewable energy giant expects to be able to procure lower-emission steel produced at Dillinger’s facility in Dillingen, Germany, from 2027-2028.
Taking the current technology outlook into account, the reduction of the process-related carbon emissions from production is expected to be around 55-60 per cent compared to conventional heavy plate steel production, Ørsted said.
Increasingly, we’ll see lower emission steel and concrete used for wind turbine foundations.
This press release on the Dillinger web site is entitled Historic Investment For Greater Climate Protection: Supervisory Boards Approve Investment Of EUR 3.5 billion For Green Steel From Saarland.
These are two paragraphs from the press release.
Over the next few years leading up to 2027, in addition to the established blast furnace route, the new production line with an electric arc furnace (EAF) will be built at the Völklingen site and an EAF and direct reduced iron (DRI) plant for the production of sponge iron will be built at the Dillinger plant site. Transformation branding has also been developed to visually represent the transformation: “Pure Steel+”. The message of “Pure Steel+” is that Saarland’s steel industry will retain its long-established global product quality, ability to innovate, and culture, even in the transformation. The “+” refers to the carbon-neutrality of the products.
The availability of green hydrogen at competitive prices is a basic precondition for this ambitious project to succeed, along with prompt funding commitments from Berlin and Brussels. Local production of hydrogen will therefore be established as a first step together with the local energy suppliers, before connecting to the European hydrogen network to enable use of hydrogen to be increased to approx. 80 percent. The Saarland steel industry is thus laying the foundation for a new hydrogen-based value chain in the Saarland, in addition to decarbonizing its own production. In this way, SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar is supporting Saarland on its path to becoming a model region for transformation.
It sounds to me, that Tata Steel could be doing something similar at Port Talbot.
- Tata want to build an electric arc furnace to replace the blast furnaces.
- There will be plenty of green electricity from the Celtic Sea.
- RWE are planning a very large hydrogen electrolyser in Pembroke.
- Celtic Sea offshore wind developments would probably like a supply of lower emission steel on their door-step.
I would suspect, that Welsh steel produced by an electric arc furnace will match the quality of the German steel, that is made the same way.
Japan Expands Offshore Wind Development Into Exclusive Economic Zone
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Japanese Government has passed an amendment to the “Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas”, expanding the area for setting up offshore wind to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
These two paragraphs give more details.
The Japanese government aims to deploy 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040, including floating wind, as part of its target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The new legislation would allow wind farms to be installed further out to sea from current territorial and internal waters, according to a joint statement by the government, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The Japanese seem to have devised a simple bid process, that gives rights to generate electricity for thirty years.
But then as a Director of Lockheed told me thirty years ago, the Japanese don’t have the same high levels of lawyers that the US, UK and other countries have, so they can move a lot faster and are easier to do business with.
This Wikipedia entry is entitled Wind Power in Japan.
This is the opening paragraph.
In Japan’s electricity sector, wind power generates a small proportion of the country’s electricity. It has been estimated that Japan has the potential for 144 gigawatts (GW) for onshore wind and 608 GW of offshore wind capacity. As of 2020, the country had a total installed capacity of 4.2 GW.
From the potential of 608 GW of offshore wind capacity, it looks like Japan is in a very similar position to the UK and the Japanese can also reap the wind.
The Anonymous Widower 