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.
Iarnród Éireann Looks At Diesel Loco Replacement Options
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
The Stadler Class 99 electro-diesel locomotive for UK operator GB Railfreight was receiving close scrutiny from Iarnród Éireann at InnoTrans in Berlin, with the Irish national operator confirming to Railway Gazette International that it had discussed with the manufacturer how the type might be adapted for operation in Ireland.
Iarnród Éireann Chief Executive Jim Meade told Railway Gazette International ‘we will eventually need to replace our aging diesel fleet with dual-mode locomotives because our freight strategy will take us down that direction after we complete our electrification programme.
‘The replacement for the class 071s and 201s eventually will have to be a bi-mode electric with some form of HVO [renewable diesel fuel] traction in the long term; even the Class 201s are beyond mid-life already.
The Class 99 locomotive is a version of the Stadler Eurodual locomotive, which is described in this Stadler data sheet.
The Wikipedia entry for the Stadler Euro Dual is also informative and lists a dozen different versions of the locomotive, that have been sold to various countries and operators.
This paragraph summarises how the design can handle different gauges and electrical voltages.
The Euro Dual was designed from the onset as a highly modular platform, allowing it to be offered to customers in various different configurations, covering various gauges and voltage systems.
I doubt Stadler would have great difficulty producing an Irish gauge locomotive capable of running on whatever electrification, the Irish erect.
Will The Irish Class 99 Have Enough Power?
The power of the various diesel locomotives are as follows.
- Current Irish Class 071 – 1.68 MW
- Current Irish Class 201 – 2.4 MW
- UK Class 66 – 2.4 MW
- UK Class 99 – 1.79 MW
It would appear that the Class 99 is less powerful than the Irish Class 201 and the UK Class 66, but the Wikipedia entry for the Class 99 says this.
The chief executive of GBRf, John Smith, reports that the Class 99, despite having a less powerful diesel engine than the Class 66, will outperform the Class 66 at low speeds. The greater tractive effort means that the Class 99 on diesel power can deliver more power at the rail than the 66.
But as the Class 99 has 6.17 MW in electric mode, the solution must be to electrify the difficult sections.
I have just looked at the Felixstowe Branch Line, which will be very much Class 99 territory. I am fairly sure, that with some short lengths of electrification on the single-track sections, any performance problems with the Class 99 on the branch could be solved.
Could The Irish Class 99 Use Hydrogen As Secondary Power?
This OpenRailwayMap shows all the railways on the island of Ireland.
Note.
- All railways on the island of Ireland have an Irish gauge of 1.6 m.
- Only the DART in Dublin is electrified with 1,500 VDC overhead.
- There are 2,733 km. of track.
- New lines are still being added and old ones have been reopened in recent years.
- There will surely be pressure for the Irish to decarbonise their railways, both North and South of the Northern Irish border.
- There are no rail connections to another country, except for the link between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which is between two similar systems.
- It is unlikely, that there will ever be a rail link between the Irish gauge railways on the island of Ireland and the standard gauge railways of Europe.
Effectively, the island of Ireland has an isolated network of tracks on which they could build a zero-carbon railway system.
- Signalling could be an off-the-shelf digital system.
- Zero-carbon traction power could be trains powered by either electricity and/or hydrogen.
- Both electricity and hydrogen would need substantial amounts of new rolling stock.
- Electricity would require electrification at €1,000,000 per single track kilometer, which could be around €5.5 billion for the electrification alone.
- Electrification would also need many bridges, stations and tunnels to be modified or rebuilt.
- Hydrogen would need a refuelling infrastructure and could go anywhere that diesel can.
- Hydrogen locomotives and trains, would be one-to-one replacements for diesel locomotives and trains.
It would appear that because of their geographic isolation, hydrogen could be an ideal zero-carbon fuel for the railways of Ireland.
In Do Cummins And Stadler Have a Cunning Plan?, I speculated that the electro-diesel Class 99 locomotive could be converted into an electro-hydrogen Class 99 locomotive, as Cummins are building diesel engines that can be converted into hydrogen ones.
Ireland with its unusual network could change to a zero-carbon railway in the following way.
- Purchase a fleet of diesel locomotives and trains that can run on Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and be convertible to hydrogen.
- A version of the Class 99 with or without the electrical gubbins would satisfy the locomotive replacement.
- A version of the tri-mode Stadler FLIRT like a Class 745 train, would satisfy the train replacement.
- All new trains and locomotives would replace the current stock and run on HVO.
- The hydrogen infrastructure would be built.
- The new trains and locomotives would be gradually converted to run on green hydrogen.
Within a few years, the island of Ireland would have a zero-carbon railway.
Advantages Of A Fully-Hydrogen Railway
These are a few advantages.
- One fuel for all trains.
- All trains and locomotives would be one manufacturer.
- No expensive electrification.
- Hydrogen trains and locomotives have a long range.
- No infrastructure modification for gauge clearance.
- Ireland has plenty of onshore and offshore wind for hydrogen.
- Standard fuelling systems are being developed.
- There would be no disruption as the trains changed to HVO and little disruption as they changed to hydrogen.
I believe that there would be a large increase in train usage both from locals and visitors, which can only be good for the Irish economy.
Managing The Project
This could be one of those rare projects that flows well.
- The changeover to hydrogen could involve very little rail infrastructure work.
- The hydrogen filling stations could be more-or-less independent of the rail infrastructure.
- Trains and locomotives could go into service, when they are accepted and the staff have been trained.
- Trains and locomotives would only be converted to hydrogen, as routes are made hydrogen-capable.
- There should be no gauging problems with the new trains and locomotives.
- There is only one train manufacturer.
Hopefully, it will all be delivered on time and on budget.
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.
Hydrogen Energy Explained
The title of this post, is the same as this story on Centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
Hydrogen is a clean alternative to natural gas, when it’s burnt it doesn’t produce carbon dioxide, which is a harmful greenhouse gas. It has the potential to play a significant role in achieving net-zero and decarbonising various sectors.
The story is a good introduction to hydrogen.
In the 1960s, when I first worked in a hydrogen electrolyser at ICI in Runcorn, I would have found a document like this one from Centrica invaluable.
Australian Volgren Rolls Out First Hydrogen Bus Based On Wrightbus Chassis Technology
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Sustainable Bus.
These four paragraphs outline the progress.
Australian bus bodybuilder Volgren is rolling out of production a first hydrogen-powered bus model manufactured in cooperation with Northern Irish bus manufacturer Wrightbus.
Back in 2019, Volgren announced launch of its first battery-electric on BYD chassis. The deal with Wrightbus for fuel cell bus manufacturing in Australia dates back to May 2022.
With over 150 zero-emission buses already in operation, spanning six variants of both battery-electric and fuel-cell technologies, this hydrogen-powered bus represents the latest addition in Volgren’s offer.
A second hydrogen bus is already in production and will be delivered to the customer in the coming months, Volgren says.
It will be interesting to see how this deal develops.
Will it follow the successful path set by some of JCB’s deals around the world, or will the Chinese feel Australia is their patch and find a way to kick Wrightbus and its technology, out of the country?
UK Investment Summit Latest: Starmer Announces £1.1bn Expansion Of Stansted Airport
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
The Times has this sub-heading about Stansted
Analysis: Stansted Deal Prioritises Growth Over Climate
There are four paragraphs of analysis.
Over the weekend, Sir Keir Starmer made clear that his commitments to boost workers’ rights would not get in the way of his desire to bring in cash from the owners of P&O. As ministers now trumpet a deal to upgrade Stansted airport, it seems that growth and jobs also trump concerns about emissions.
Louise Haigh, the transport secretary who prompted the row with DP World by calling P&O a “rogue operator”, praised the Stansted deal as a “clear signal that Britain is open for business”. She argued that Stansted could be upgraded “while also meeting our existing environment obligations”, with the airport promising a new solar farm to generate electricity. But environmentalists will be dismayed by the prospect of more plane journeys and associated emissions.
The deal also raises fresh questions about a third runway at Heathrow after years of dithering under the Conservatives. No 10 has previously said it is “not opposed” to expansion if it can meet tests on emissions, climate change, noise pollution — and growth.
Starmer has said he will not duck decisions because they are “too difficult”. A decision on Heathrow offers a very clear test of that promise.
Is Hydrogen The Reason For The Choice Of Stansted?
I wonder if the choice of Stansted for expansion is down to the likelihood, that East Anglia will be a big centre for the generation of zero-carbon green and pink hydrogen, with gigawatts of offshore wind farms for the green and nuclear at Sizewell for the pink.
Aircraft of the future will surely need hydrogen for flying to their destinations.
Already, the massive construction of Sizewell C is going to be performed using zero-construction methods involving electricity and hydrogen, as far as is possible.
Large construction at Stansted Airport could be done in a similar manner, using perhaps a hydrogen pipeline between Sizewell and Stansted running along the A 14. This would probably be built anyway, so that East Anglia’s large numbers of heavy trucks could be converted to hydrogen.
Already the hydrogen buses to bring workers to the Sizewell C site have been ordered from Wrightbus in Ballymena.
Airbus, are planning to have their hydrogen-powered Boeing 737/A 320-size airliner in service by the mid-2030s. From visualisations released by Airbus, the Zeroe hydrogen Turbofan looks very much like a redesigned version of the current A320 neo, with two hydrogen turbofans (hopefully with RR on the side!) Converting an existing proven airliner, only means that the new parts need to be certified, so this would bring the plane into service quicker.
Airbus’s infographic shows the Zeroe hydrogen Turbofan will seat up to 200 passengers and have a range of 2,000 nautical miles or 3,700 km.
Discover the three zero-emission concept aircraft known as ZEROe in this infographic. These turbofan, turboprop, and blended-wing-body configurations are all hydrogen hybrid aircraft.
A typical A 320 neo will fly 165 passengers up to 3,500 nautical miles or 6.500 km.
A few distances from Stansted include.
- Athens – 2,400 km.
- Berlin – 905 km.
- Cairo – 3514 km.
- Copenhagen 913 km.
- Dublin – 470 km.
- Edinburgh – 509 km.
- Gander 3,800 km
- Geneva – 760 km.
- Glasgow – 540 km.
- Istanbul – 2480 km.
- Madrid – 1300 km.
- Milan – 960 km.
- Munich – 909 km.
- Palma de Mallorca – 1,400 km.
- Reykjavík – 1870 km.
- Rome – 1,442 km.
- Stockholm – 1,400 km.
- Tel-Aviv – 3,564 km.
- Tenerife North – 2944 km.
- Tenerife South – 2999 km.
- Warsaw 1,412 km.
These distances would mean, a lot of current European destinations could be reached, if the plane were filled at both airports, but a surprising number of popular places could be reached by only refuelling at Stansted.
It also appears to me, that with refuelling in Iceland and perhaps a stopover, in that delightful and different country, zero-carbon flights across the Atlantic would be possible.
If a hydrogen-powered aircraft has the 3,700 km. range that Airbus are promising, it will be an aircraft with a lot of possibilities!
Short Flights
- Amsterdam – 541 km.
- Cardiff – 253 km.
- Exeter – 284 km.
- Jersey – 344 km.
- Liverpool – 264 km.
- Newcastle – 373 km.
- Newquay – 399 km.
- Ronaldsway – 408 km.
- Southampton – 151 km.
Some of these flights would be competing with trains.
Flights Around The British Isles
One of the longest flights around the British Isles would be between Stansted and Sumburgh Airport in the Shetland Isles.
But this is only 894 kilometres, so a return trip would be possible.
I also feel that arranging hydrogen refuelling on Shetland will not be a difficult task, as the islands are likely to have copious supplies of green hydrogen.
Flights From Stansted To Europe
Applying a ten percent reserve probably means a safe one-way range of around 1,700 km.
This would mean that.
- Amsterdam – 541 km.
- Berlin – 905 km.
- Copenhagen – 913 km.
- Madrid – 1300 km.
- Milan – 960 km.
- Munich – 909 km.
- Palma de Mallorca – 1,400 km.
- Rome – 1,442 km.
- Stockholm – 1,400 km.
- Warsaw 1,412 km.
Should all be in range. of an out-and-back flight, after fully fuelling the plane at Stansted Airport.
Others like.
- Athens – 2,400 km.
- Bucharest – 2070 km.
- Cairo – 3514 km.
- Istanbul – 2480 km.
- Lisbon – 1630 km.
- Malta – 2107 km.
- Marrakech – 2350. km.
- Sofia – 2010 km.
- Tel-Aviv – 3,564 km.
- Tenerife North – 2944 km.
- Tenerife South – 2999 km.
Could be handled by refuelling at the destination.
Hopping Across The Atlantic
Consider.
- My great aunt Beatrice used to fly the Atlantic in the 1950s, although it was usually a succession of small hops between Heathrow Shannon and Gander Airports. I think she regularly used ships like the Queen Mary and Elizabeth, as she found them less stressful.
- Icelandair offer short stopovers in Reykjavik and I suspect they will offer this with hydrogen-fuelled aircraft.
- British Airways used to offer a London City Airport to New York flight via Shannon using an Airbus A 318.
I would certainly be interested to hop across from Stansted to New York in a hydrogen-powered aircraft, and I suspect others would do it for the environmental brownie points.
Legs could be.
- Stansted and Reykjavík – 1870 km.
- Reykjavík and Gander – 2568 km
- Gander and New York – 1767 km.
A stop could possibly be squeezed in at Boston.
It could be an interesting way to cross the Atlantic.
Hydrogen Production In East Anglia
I said earlier that East Anglia could produce a lot of zero-carbon green and prink hydrogen from wind and nuclear and this would be used for the following.
- Aviation out of Stansted and Southend Airports.
- Shipping out of the Port of Felixstowe, London Gateway and other smaller ports.
- Providing energy for heavy transport in East Anglia.
- Providing energy for Freeport East at Felixstowe and Harwich.
- Refuelling passing shipping.
- Supplying off-grid energy to rural properties and businesses in the East of England, which I wrote about in Developing A Rural Hydrogen Network.
Any spare hydrogen could always be sold to the Germans.
Decarbonisation Of The Railways In East Anglia
Undoubtedly, some hydrogen will be used to decarbonise some parts of East Anglia’s railways.
Many passenger trains are electrified, but some rural and cross-country services still use diesel. However, the Class 745 trains, that were built by Stadler for these services could be converted to hydrogen or battery-electric.
Similarly, locomotives that haul the freight trains out of the ports of East Anglia will be replaced with hydrogen or battery-electric locomotives.
I am fairly certain, that by 2040, all railways in East Anglia will be zero-carbon.
The East-West Rail Link
It is not known yet, whether the current government will continue to build the East West Rail Link, but it could be invaluable in connecting Stansted Airport to the West of England.
Connecting Stansted Airport To The North Of England and Scotland By Rail
If Stansted is developed as a zero-carbon airport, based on the new hydrogen-powered aircraft, travellers between say the North of England and Scotland, will surely want to travel to Stansted in a carbon-free manner.
So would it be sensible to run rail electric services between the North and Stansted?
Conclusion
Stansted could develop into the UK’s zero-carbon airport.
Vauxhall Begins UK Customer Trials Of Hydrogen Vans
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Stellantis.
These four bullet points, act as sub-headings.
- First customer trials of Vauxhall Vivaro HYDROGEN in the UK are underway
- Already sold in LHD markets by Opel, Vauxhall’s sister brand, Vivaro HYDROGEN is the first commercially available production hydrogen van
- Companies to take part in fleet evaluation process ahead of UK launch of Movano HYDROGEN later this year
- Movano HYDROGEN will offer a range of up to 311 miles (WLTP) and can be re-fuelled in under five minutes
- Orders for Movano HYDROGEN will open later this year, with first customer deliveries expected in 2025
- Vauxhall will be the only manufacturer offering two zero emission solutions (BEV & FCEV), enabling van fleets to choose the one that best suits their operational requirements
- Vauxhall was the UK’s number one electric van manufacturer in 2021, 2022 and 2023
This is one of Vauxhall’s accompanying images.
It just looks like a normal Movano with the H-word on the side.
These two paragraphs describe the van.
Based on the existing fully electric Vivaro Electric, the Vivaro HYDROGEN features a 45kW fuel cell and 10.5kWh lithium-ion battery located under the front seats for a driving range of 249 miles (WLTP). The 5kg hydrogen fuel tanks located under the floor can be re-filled in just five minutes – about the same time needed to fill up a conventional diesel or petrol vehicle.
The 10.5kWh lithium-ion battery provides dynamic peak power when required, such as at start-up and under acceleration. It also ensures the fuel cell can run at optimum operating conditions and allows for regenerative braking. The plug-in capability enables the battery to be re-charged externally if necessary, providing 31 miles of pure battery electric range.
It does strike me, that 45 kW could be a bit light for the engine power, when you consider a diesel Movano has a 103 kW turbo diesel. But then Stellantis should know what they are doing and as they say, the battery provides dynamic peak power when required. The Movano Electric for comparison has a 75 kWh battery.
I feel strongly, that where hydrogen is available, some operators will choose the Movano Hydrogen over the Movano Electric.
World’s First Public Demonstration Of Hydrogen Engine Motorcycle
This title of post, is the same as that of this news item from Kawasaki.
This is the sub-heading.
On July 20, Kawasaki Motors, a member of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Group, conducted the world’s first public demonstration run of a hydrogen ICE (internal combustion engine) motorcycle by a mass-production motorcycle manufacturer at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan.
These three paragraphs outline the demonstration.
The hydrogen ICE motorcycle was designed and built as part of research that began in March 2023, with test runs starting this year, culminating in the public demonstration run. Mounted in the machine is a hydrogen engine based on the 998 cm3 In-Line Four Supercharged Engine found in Kawasaki’s Ninja H2 motorcycle, with modifications made to allow direct injection of hydrogen fuel into the cylinders. The motorcycle’s chassis was designed to accommodate hydrogen fuel canisters and a hydrogen fuel supply system on-board.
Hydrogen ICE motorcycles run on hydrogen combustion, producing the rumble and pulsating sensation that riders enjoy when twisting the throttle, while emitting mainly water.
As part of their carbon neutral initiative, Kawasaki Motors is currently conducting research and development with the aim of realizing a functioning hydrogen ICE motorcycle*2 as one carbon-neutral option for riders in the early 2030s.
Some people will prefer quiet, hydrogen-fuel cell motorcycles.
Lawnmowers And Other Small-Engined Equipment
As hydrogen fuel spreads around the countryside, I can see lots of rural equipment using it for motive power.
The Anonymous Widower 