Denmark Exploring Multiple Platforms As Alternative To Building Artificial Island
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
After concluding that the current concept of its North Sea Energy Island would be too expensive for the State, the Danish government, the transmission system operator (TSO) Energinet, and other relevant agencies are now looking into the concept for the island to be established on several large platforms.
I feel this could be a sensible decision, as it would fit well with a modular approach to the building of offshore wind farms.
Suppose, the floating turbines used by a company like Ørsted were all similar. This would surely simplify management of their portfolio of wind farms.
If it works for floating wind turbines, surely, it would work for substations, electrolysers and other offshore hardware.
Conclusion
Artificial energy islands may seem an impressive way to go, but I suspect that the modular approach using standard components, that either sit on the sea bed or float may be a more affordable and faster way to build offshore wind farms.
Thoughts On The Future Of Orkney
This article on the BBC is entitled Orkney Votes To Explore ‘Alternative Governance‘
This is the sub-heading.
Orkney councillors have voted to investigate alternative methods of governance amid deep frustrations over funding and opportunities.
These paragraphs outline the story.
Council leader James Stockan said the islands had been “held down” and accused the Scottish and UK governments of discrimination.
His motion led to media speculation that Orkney could leave the UK or become a self-governing territory of Norway.
It was supported by 15 votes to six.
It means council officers have been asked to publish a report to Orkney’s chief executive on options of governance.
This includes looking at the “Nordic connections” of the archipelago and crown dependencies such as Jersey and Guernsey.
A further change which would see the revival of a consultative group on constitutional reform for the islands was accepted without the need for a vote.
My Thoughts On The Economic Future Of The Islands
The economic future of Orkney looks good.
Tourism and the traditional industries are on the up, but the islands could play a large part in renewable energy.
The West of Orkney offshore wind farm, which will be a 2 GW wind farm with fixed foundations, is being developed and a large hydrogen production hub at Flotta is being proposed, along with the development of a large quay in Scapa Flow for the assembly of floating wind farms.
The West of Orkney wind farm could be the first of several.
If the future wind farms are further from shore, they will most likely be based on floating technology, with the turbines and their floats assembled in Scapa Flow, from components shipped in from mainland UK and Europe.
Political Future
With a good financial future assured, I believe that Orkney will be able to choose where its political future lies. It could be a Crown Dependency or join Norway.
Whichever way it goes, it could be an island that effectively prints money, by turning electricity into hydrogen and shipping it to countries like Germany, The Netherlands, Poland and Sweden!
From a UK point of view, a Crown Dependency could be a favourable move.
Would Shetland follow the same route?
Offshore Hydrogen Production And Storage
Orkney is not a large archipelago and is just under a thousand square kilometres in area.
It strikes me, that rather than using up scarce land to host the large electrolysers and hydrogen storage, perhaps it would be better, if hydrogen production and storage was performed offshore.
Aker Northern Horizons
In Is This The World’s Most Ambitious Green Energy Solution?, I talk about Northern Horizons, which is an ambitious project for a 10 GW floating wind farm, which would be built a hundred kilometres to the North-East of Shetland, that would be used to produce hydrogen on Shetland.
Other companies will propose similar projects to the West and East of the Northern islands.
This map shows the sea, that could be carpeted with armadas of floating wind farms.
Consider.
- There are thousands of square miles of sea available.
- As the crow flies, the distance between Bergen Airport and Sumburgh Airport in Shetland is 226 miles.
- A hundred mile square is 10,000 square miles or 2590 square kilometres.
- In ScotWind Offshore Wind Leasing Delivers Major Boost To Scotland’s Net Zero Aspirations, I calculated that the floating wind farms of the Scotwind leasing round had an energy density of 3.5 MW per km².
- It would appear that a hundred mile square could generate, as much as nine GW of green electricity.
How many hundred mile squares can be fitted in around the UK’s Northern islands?
National Grid And SSEN Transmission Agree Joint Venture For UK’s Largest Ever Electricity Transmission Project
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
This is the sub-heading.
Joint Venture Agreement Important Milestone In Subsea Electricity Superhighway – Eastern Green Link 2
These four paragraphs outline the project.
National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and SSEN Transmission have taken a big step forward in the development of a new subsea electricity superhighway project along the east coast of Scotland after reaching agreement on the terms of their joint venture (JV).
The ‘Eastern Green Link 2’ (EGL2) project will see the creation of a 525kW, 2GW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea transmission cable from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in England. The UK’s single largest electricity transmission project ever.
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.
The EGL2 link will support the growth of new renewable electricity generation, creating jobs and delivering a pathway to net zero emissions targets, as well as helping to alleviate existing constraints on the electricity network.
The Wikipedia entry for Eastern HVDC has a detailed description of the two 2GW Scotland-England interconnectors, that are planned.
This is the first section.
Eastern HVDC and Eastern HVDC projects are the names used by Ofgem for two planned HVDC submarine power cables from the East coast of Scotland to Northeast England to strengthen the National Grid. The two links combined will deliver 4 GW of renewable energy from Scottish wind farms to England.
Ofgem state that “At an estimated cost of £3.4 billion for the two links, the Eastern HVDC projects would be the largest electricity transmission investment project in the recent history of Great Britain.
The Project Background Document for SEGL1 can be viewed here.
EGL2 also has its own web site.
Take A 360° Tour Of World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm In Operation
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Located some 89 kilometres off the Yorkshire Coast, the UK, the 1.3 GW Hornsea Two comprises 165 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines and is currently the world’s largest fully commissioned offshore wind farm.
The article has a link to an excellent Ørsted video, about they access and service the wind farm.
Crown Estate Scotland Joins Scapa Flow Deepwater Port Plan
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Riviera Maritime Media.
This is the sub-heading.
Orkney Islands Council (OIC) and Crown Estate Scotland have signed an agreement to work together in developing a deepwater quay at Scapa Flow
The picture and the words, indicate it is not a small facility.
The final comment of Crown Estate Scotland’s director of marine Colin Palmer, are a strong statement of intent about how Crown Estate Scotland will help Scotland towards net-zero.
Brits Are Future Proofing Their Homes, Increasingly Valuing Sustainable Elements
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Centrica.
These are the first two paragraphs.
It may still be true that for many, their home is their ‘castle’ but if so, it better be a well-insulated castle, as new research shows that Brits increasingly value energy efficient and environmentally friendly houses.
A survey from Hive revealed that the top selling points on a dream home for modern Brits are related to sustainability, with solar panels (68 percent) and good roof insulation (67 percent) valued more than design features such as natural lighting (53 percent), wooden flooring (22 per cent) and reclaimed woodwork (21 percent). Smart home technology such as a smart heating system (62 percent), a smart energy meter (48 percent) and an EV charger on the driveway (39 percent) were also top considerations.
As I fitted solar panels and good roof insulation to my house, their research could fit me.
I haven’t fitted an EB charger as I don’t drive.
Centrica Bolsters UK’s Energy Security By Doubling Rough Storage Capacity
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Centrica.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Following further engineering work and investment, Centrica has announced increased gas storage capacity at Rough, the UK’s largest gas storage facility.
The facility, which is 18 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire, stopped storing gas in 2017 but was re-opened for gas storage in October 2022. Rough now provides half of the UK’s total gas storage.
At the time of reopening Rough for gas storage it was able to store approximately 30 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas for UK homes and businesses. Further investment in the facility means Rough will now be able to store up to 54 bcf of gas, boosting the UK’s energy resilience for the coming winter – this would provide the equivalent volume of gas to heat 2.4 million homes over winter.
This work and investment has increased the storage capacity by a massive eighty percent.
The news item finishes with this quote from Centrica Group Chief Executive, Chris O’Shea.
We stand ready to invest £2 billion to repurpose the Rough field into the world’s biggest methane and hydrogen storage facility, bolstering the UK’s energy security, delivering a net zero electricity system by 2035, creating 5,000 skilled jobs and decarbonising the UK’s industrial clusters by 2040. But to do this we need the right regulatory support framework. This world class North Sea asset has the potential to help the UK economy return to a position of being a net exporter of energy once again.
As East Yorkshire also boasts the Aldbrough Gas Storage in the salt formations under Hull, the area will have plenty of gas to keep them warm in the winter.
How Britain’s Biggest Natural Battery Can Help Deliver Net Zero
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in the New Statesman.
This is the sub-heading.
SSE wants to double the nation’s flexible electricity storage capacity.
These two paragraphs introduce the article.
After previous delays and false starts, governments and businesses across the world are pushing towards the common goal of net zero. The energy sector is arguably the area with the biggest responsibility to work towards this target, and there is no time for complacency.
Ensuring clean, renewable energy sources such as hydrogen, wind and solar power become a larger part of the grid will be critical for the sector in its push towards net zero. A key facet of the clean energy drive will be having sufficient storage for each renewable power source kept in reserve, to be used as and when required as a crucial back-up mechanism. In last spring’s energy security review the government outlined its commitment to support long duration storage projects.
It is certainly very comprehensive and a must read.
This sentence illustrates the financial problem with pumped storage.
SSE is calling on the UK government to help it commit to building the Coire Glas storage facility by providing one simple policy decision that will send a clear signal as to how government intends to support the deployment of long duration electricity storage. The project doesn’t need subsidising, SSE states, but it would benefit from revenue stabilisation, and clarity on such support sooner rather than later.
Hopefully, this article will help get the required support.
Coire Glas
Coire Glas will have an output of 1500 MW and a storage capability of 30 GWh.
There is more information at the Coire Glas web site.
The project could be up and running by the early 2030s.
Loch Sloy Pumped Storage
The article also mentions the Loch Sloy Pumped Storage scheme, that has been recently announced by SSE.
I wrote about this 25 GWh scheme in SSE Unveils Redevelopment Plans For Sloy Hydro-Electric Power Station.
SSE haven’t announced much more about this scheme and it is not mentioned on the Sloy/Awe web site.
Irish Offshore Wind Developer Teams Up With Norwegian Seaweed Farming Company
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Ireland-headquartered Simply Blue Group and Norwegian seaweed farming company, Arctic Seaweed, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which they will jointly explore solutions for co-locating seaweed farms and offshore wind farms.
Simply Blue Group has an informative web site.
This news item on the Simply Blue Group web site gives full details of the project.
Arctic Seaweed has a web site, with this philosophy on the home page.
At Arctic Seaweed, our philosophy revolves around leveraging disruptive technology to revolutionize the seaweed cultivation industry.
We believe that by embracing scale and cutting-edge innovations, we can drive a transformative shift in the market.
Through our commitment to pushing boundaries and fostering collaborations, we are paving the way for a future where disruptive technology creates unprecedented opportunities in seaweed cultivation.
Both companies seem to be very professional.
The Anonymous Widower 