Fourth Phase Could Bring 2 GW More To World’s Already Largest Offshore Wind Farm Under Construction
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Dogger Bank D, the potential fourth phase of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, whose first three phases totalling 3.6 GW are currently being built, is planned to have a generation capacity of around 2 GW. If built, the fourth phase would bring the total installed capacity of the UK project – already the world’s largest offshore wind farm under construction – to over 5.5 GW.
This is the introductory paragraph.
SSE Renewables and Equinor, which own the Dogger Bank A, B and C offshore wind farms through a consortium that also comprises Vårgrønn, have now launched a public consultation period on the Dogger Bank D proposals that runs until 7 November.
As RWE are developing the 3 GW Dogger Bank South, the Dogger Bank wind farm will be up to 8.5 GW in a few years.
Flotation Energy, Cobra File Onshore Planning Application For 100 MW Celtic Floater
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Flotation Energy and Cobra have submitted an onshore planning application to North Devon Council for their 100 MW White Cross floating offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea.
These two paragraphs outline the project.
The proposed White Cross floating offshore wind farm will feature six to eight floating wind turbines installed some 52 kilometres off the North Devon coast.
The project’s associated cable route is proposed to make landfall at Saunton Sands, connecting to the electricity grid at the East Yelland substation.
The wind farm has its own web site.
This Google Map shows Saunton Sands and the village of Yelland
Note.
- Saunton Sands is indicated by the green marker in North-West corner of the map.
- Yelland is in the middle of the Eastern side of the map.
- I suspect there are innovative ways to connect the White Cross wind farm to the substation at East Yelland.
- The town of Appledore is on the estuary at the bottom of the map.
This second Google Map shows the town of Appledore.
At the bottom of the map is a marker labelled Harland & Wolff (Appledore).
Harland & Wolff (Appledore) has a web site, with these introductory paragraphs.
Located in North Devon at the mouth of the River Torridge, Harland & Wolff (Appledore) has a rich history of shipbuilding. More than 300 vessels have been built here including military craft, bulk carriers, LPG carriers, superyachts, ferries, and oil-industry support vessels.
The site features a 119m long covered drydock as part of the main building yard as well as the adjacent repair, commissioning and outfitting quay.
The Appledore Yard was founded in 1855. It constructed elements of the two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, bow sections for HMS Queen Elizabeth and built two Róisín class patrol boats for the Irish Naval Service.
The web site then lists an impressive list of facilities, which it underlines with this statement.
An expert team that is perfectly positioned to support the needs of the shipping and offshore industry.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see that Harland & Wolff (Appledore) will bid for the eight floaters for White Cross wind farm.
RWE To Start Building Battery Storage That Will Support Dutch Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
RWE has finalised its investment decision for a battery storage project in the Netherlands that will optimise the OranjeWind offshore wind farm’s integration into the Dutch energy system. The company plans to invest approximately EUR 24 million into the project.
This paragraph outlines the system.
The system, which will have an installed power capacity of 35 MW and a storage capacity of 41 MWh, will consist of a total of 110 lithium-ion battery racks that will be installed at RWE’s biomass plant in Eemshaven and will be virtually coupled with RWE’s power plants in the Netherlands.
There is also an explanatory infographic.
Note.
I visited Eemshaven in The Train Station At The Northern End Of The Netherlands.
- The wind farm has a capacity of 760 MW.
- Solar panels will float between the wind turbines.
- Surplus energy will be turned into hydrogen.
The OranjeWind wind farm has a web site, with a video that explains RWE’s philosophy.
The web site has a section, which is entitled Innovations At OranjeWind, where this is said.
In order to realise system integration and accelerate the energy transition, RWE is working together with a number of innovators on new developments in offshore wind farms. The company is realising and testing these innovations in the OranjeWind wind farm.
These innovations include offshore floating solar, a subsea lithium-ion battery, LiDAR power forecasting system and a subsea hydro storage power plant off-site.
Three innovations are discussed in a bit more detail, with links to more information.
- Subsea pumped hydro storage power plant – Ocean Grazer – More…
- Floating solar – SolarDuck – More…
- Intelligent Subsea Energy Storage – Verlume – More…
Big companies should always support innovation.
Is Sizewell C Needed?
I am generally pro-nuclear, but I am not sure if building a large nuke at Sizewell is the right action.
Consider.
- East Anglia has 3114 MW of offshore wind in operation.
- East Anglia has 6772 MW of offshore wind under construction, with Contracts for Difference or proposed.
- Vattenfall are considering abandoning development of their large wind farms off the Norfolk coast, which are proposed to have a capacity of 3196 MW.
- If the two Vattenfall wind farms don’t get built, it is likely that East Anglia will have around 6700 MW of offshore wind capacity.
- Sizewell C has a proposed nameplate capacity of 3260 MW. Some might argue, that to back up East Anglia’s offshore wind power, it needs to be larger!
- Norfolk and Suffolk no large electricity users, so are Vattenfall finding they have a product no one wants to buy.
- National Grid is developing four interconnectors to bring power from Scotland to the Eastern side of England, which will back up wind power in the East with the massive Scottish pumped storage, that is being developed.
- National Grid and their Dutch equivalent; TenneT are developing LionLink to connect the UK and the Netherlands to clusters of wind farms between our countries in the North Sea.
- Kent and East Anglia have several gas and electric interconnectors to Europe.
- Sizewell is well-connected to England’s grid.
These are my thoughts.
Energy Storage At Sizewell
Consider.
- Sizewell is well connected to the grid.
- It has the sea on one side.
- It could easily be connected to the large offshore wind farms, thirty miles out to sea.
If large energy storage could be built on the Sizewell site or perhaps under the sea, then this energy could be recovered and used in times of low wind.
Perhaps the technology of the STORE Consortium, which I discussed in UK Cleantech Consortium Awarded Funding For Energy Storage Technology Integrated With Floating Wind, could be used.
In this system, energy is stored in 3D-printed concrete hemispheres under the sea.
A Small Nuclear Reactor Cluster At Sizewell
Rolls-Royce are proposing that their small modular reactors will have a capacity of 470 MW.
Perhaps a cluster of seven small modular reactors at Sizewell, with a building schedule matched to the need to back up wind farms would be better and easier to finance.
I also feel a cluster of SMRs would have less risk and would be less likely to be delayed.
Where Is Generating Capacity Needed In The UK?
These areas already have large amounts of offshore wind in operation or proposed to be built before 2030.
- Celtic Sea
- North Wales
- Liverpool Bay
- Cumbria
- Scotland
- Scotland’s Offshore Islands
- North East England
- Humberside
- Lincolnshire
- East Anglia
- Thames Estuary
- Kent
- Sussex
Amongst the back up for these wind farms, there are only two modern nuclear stations; Sizewell B and the still-to-open Hinckley Point C.
If you look at a map of England and its power generation, there is a tremendous gap of capacity South of a line between Hinckley Point and Brighton, with little or no offshore wind and no nuclear.
There is probably a need for a large nuke near Weymouth.
Alternatively, perhaps several SMRs could be built underneath places like Salisbury Plain, Dartmoor and Exmoor!
Conclusion
We probably need the nuclear electricity from another Hinckley Point C-sized nuclear power station, so that we have adequate back-up for offshore wind.
But I am not sure that Sizewell is the right place to build it.
Signalling Team Trials Hydrogen Power
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
These two paragraphs outline the project.
The use of hydrogen to provide power for staff welfare compounds and to recharge battery tools and electric vehicles has been tested by Colas Rail UK’s signalling team during a project in the Gloucester area.
H-Power Tower fuel cell stacks designed by AFC Energy to replace diesel generators at off-grid construction sites were used to provide power for Eco-Cabins supplied by Sunbelt Rental. The H-Towers were also used to recharge battery-operated equipment and electric-hybrid vehicles.
There has been a large saving in carbon emission during the work.
Whilst living in the Suffolk countryside for nearly forty years, we had three major power outages.
The first was the smallest and Eastern Electricity or whoever it was around 1980, needed to change the transformer that fed the village where we lived. So a diesel generator was plugged in and it fed the village, whilst the new transformer was connected.
Then in the Great Storm of 1987, where we were without power for fourteen days until a load of happy foreigners from the other side of Offa’s Dyke, got the system up and singing again. I think today, that waiting two weeks to be reconnected would be unacceptable. Although the problems in 1987, were more down to the considerable amount of damage in Suffolk.
The last time, the power went just as we were going to bed on a summer evening.
We woke to find that the power had been restored.
The manner of the restoration was a textbook case of how power outages can be solved.
- Our house and the farm buildings around it, were fed from a transformer up a pole in the hedge by the drive.
- A driver who had known what they were doing had backed a full-size articulated lorry into the field alongside the transformer.
- Inside the trailer was a diesel generator and this had been connected to the transformer.
- When I investigated early in the morning, an engineer appeared from inside the trailer and asked if everything was OK.
- I said it was and asked a few technical questions.
- It turned out, that someone had brought the overhead cables down, whilst moving a load of straw near the prison.
So as our house was on one end of the cable that connected a few villages and farms to the grid, by temporarily connecting their mobile generator to the transformer everybody could be reconnected until the damage done near the prison could be repaired.
How long will it be before emergencies like these are handled by generators powered by hydrogen rather than diesel?
In HS2 Smashes Carbon Target, I describe how High Speed Two are making use of hydrogen electricity generators.
In UK Consortium To Develop Mobile Hydrogen Refuelling For Construction Sites, I talked about a UK government project to develop the hydrogen refuelling technology for construction sites. This would also work for the refuelling of emergency generators.
I can envisage the development of a series of zero-carbon hydrogen-powered trucks with onboard hydrogen generators of different sizes.
Conclusion
Hydrogen will bring a revolution in how we provide power on construction sites, in emergencies and in remote areas.
AI Tech Tracking Seabirds At Aberdeen Bay Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Vattenfall, Norwegian AI technology start-up Spoor, and British Trust for Ornithology have teamed up on a project that will test AI technology in tracking 3D flight paths of seabirds flying near the wind turbine blades at the Aberdeen Bay Offshore Wind Farm in Scotland.
This is the first paragraph.
The project has already started, with four cameras already installed and collecting data on birds’ 3D flight paths throughout the wind farm and in the immediate vicinity of the turbine blades. Data on seabird movements has already started coming in and validation trials have been completed both offshore, with an observer present, and onshore, with a drone, according to Vattenfall.
This looks like a very neat piece of technology, that hopefully will solve how birds interact with wind turbines.
From my experience of landing and taking off light aircraft at the old Ipswich Airport, where there were a lot of seabirds, my money would be on that birds will learn to use their AI (Avian Intelligence) to avoid the blades of wind turbines.
Cadent’s Hydrogen-Hybrid Solar Toilet
You see some strange sites on the streets of London, but this is one of the strangest I’ve seen for some years.
It describes itself as a Zero-Emission Support Unit, which is solar-powered with hydrogen back-up.
I suspect some of the conversation and banter amongst users is priceless to say the least.
But at least it doesn’t hide its achievement of a zero-carbon toilet under a bushel.
RWE Applies For Rampion 2 Development Consent, Reduces Number Of Offshore Wind Turbines
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Last month, RWE and its project partners submitted an application for the development consent order (DCO) for the Rampion 2 offshore wind farm in the UK. The Planning Inspectorate accepted the application for examination on 7 September and will start the examination process within three months.
RWE and other major wind developers may well have taken a pass in acquiring new offshore wind leases in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 5 last week, but RWE seem to be carrying on with the projects they already have.
Dates for the 1200 MW Rampion 2 wind farm include.
- Development Consent – Early 2025
- Construction Start – Late 2026 or Early 2027
- Fully Operational – End of the decade.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rampion 2 being earlier, as it is the only wind farm in the development queue in the South of England.
Two UK Offshore Wind Farm Extension Projects Sign ‘Good Neighbour Agreement’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The North Falls and Five Estuaries offshore wind projects, both extensions to existing offshore wind farms, have signed what is called a “good neighbour agreement” with regard to their connections to the UK grid.
I have flagged up this article as it shows the benefits that can accrue if infrastructure developers listen to the locals and cooperate with all stakeholders.
This paragraph describes the agreement,
The agreement enables closer liaison, information sharing and joint planning, and is a result of feedback gathered through public consultation, which has shown a preference for more cooperation and coordination between the two projects on the landfall location, onshore corridor route, substation location and stakeholder engagement.
It is probably helpful that RWE is involved in both projects.
North Falls wind farm is a 504 MW wind farm being developed by SSE Renewables and RWE.
Five Estuaries wind farm is under development by RWE and the size doesn’t seem to have been decided yet.
This is all good project management.
Let’s hope ur all goes well!
WES Starts Testing Combined Floating Wind And Wave Energy Models
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Wave Energy Scotland (WES) has started a series of tank tests of floating wind and wave energy structures at the University of Edinburgh’s FloWave facility to explore the potential benefits the synergy between the two technologies could bring.
These two paragraphs introduce the technology.
The tank tests currently being completed by WES use sea states which are representative of one of the future floating wind lease sites on the west coast of Scotland, leased through the ScotWind program and which has an appropriate water depth and wave resource for large-scale wave energy exploitation.
The physical model used for the testing incorporates multiple identical wave energy absorbers mounted onto a semi-submerged, triangular floating platform.
Have we got enough research facilities to test devices like these?
I can find these.
With Edinburgh, that makes five.
The Anonymous Widower 