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.
UK Consortium To Develop Mobile Hydrogen Refuelling For Construction Sites
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on H2 View.
These first two paragraphs outline the project.
A UK consortium has secured over £3m ($3.7m) in government funding to develop mobile hydrogen refuelling for construction sites.
The Ryze-led consortium, made up of iGAS, Wrightbus, Skanska, Mace Dragados and Sizewell C, has been awarded £3.2m ($3.99m) from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s Red Diesel Replacement Programme to develop and demonstrate a new suite of production-ready hydrogen refuelling equipment suitable for construction sites.
It appears to be a very comprehensive project and everything will be tested in a working quarry.
Having recently had a diesel-powered truck outside my house, that was clearing up the mess left by a dead tree, I feel that the health benefits of zero-carbon construction sites could be immense.
Sizewell C
I find it interesting that Sizewell C is part of the consortium.
Does this mean, that all construction on Suffolk’s new nuclear power station will use hydrogen and electric power, to lower the carbon footprint?
In Ryze Hydrogen’s Suffolk Freeport Hydrogen Vision Takes Shape, I gave this quote from this article on S & P Global.
Ryze Hydrogen plans to install a 6 MW electrolyzer at the Sizewell nuclear site in Suffolk as a launchpad for mass production of low carbon hydrogen in and around the future freeport of Felixstowe, company founder Jo Bamford told S&P Global Platts March 3.
As Sizewell C is to be built by a consortium led by EDF Energy and the French company operates Sizewell B, will the Sizewell electrolyser be built first and powered by Sizewell B, so that the hydrogen can be used to lower the carbon footprint of Sizewell C?
The Zero-Carbon Toilet
In Cadent’s Hydrogen-Hybrid Solar Toilet, I describe how Cadent are looking after their workers on a site in London.
These ideas will inspire a lot more.
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.
New Freight Interchange Connects To West Coast Main Line
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the sub-heading.
Rail passengers have been thanked after major work to connect a new rail to road freight interchange with the West Coast main line was completed.
These two paragraphs outline the project.
The work, which took nine days, saw new track, points and signalling systems installed to connect the existing railway to the new sidings at the under-construction freight facility at SEGRO logistics park in Northampton.
Once complete, the facility will provide 5 million square ft of warehouse space and employ up to 7,000 people.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the location of SEGRO logistics park in Northampton (SLPN).
Note.
- SEGRO logistics park in Northampton is in the middle of the map.
- The M1 motorway runs along the North-East side of the logistics park
- The complex junction of the M1 at the Eastern side of the logistics park is Junction 15.
- The orange line down the West side of SLPN is the Northampton Loop Line.
- A loop from the Northampton Loop Line is used to create a Rail Freight Interchange on the West side of the logistics park.
- The red line running across the South-West corner of the map is the West Coast Main Line.
The SEGRO logistics park has a comprehensive web site, which shows seven plots.
These are my thoughts.
Freight Trains
Initial plans talk of four freight trains per day, with more to come in the future.
This picture from Network Rail shows the Northern end of the Rail Freight Interchange.
Note.
- There is a freight train, which looks like it’s going North on the Northampton Loop Line.
- There are tunnels at the Northern end of the site.
- This page on the Network Rail web site has another picture and a video.
- It looks like there will be a lot of concrete.
It will be interesting to see the final layout in a year or so.
There Is No Mention Of A Rail Station
In everything I’ve read about the SLPN, there is no mention of a railway station, so this must mean that all the seven thousand or more workers on the site, will get there by road.
The only thing I can see about transport for workers to and from the site is this sentence.
A sustainable bus route will connect SLPN to the town centre and local neighbourhoods to the south.
Well-designed and implemented, it would properly suffice.
Nothing though is said about cycling or walking!
There Is No Mention Of Hydrogen
It is likely, that in the life of SLPN, there will be a significant move to hydrogen-powered heavy trucks.
Has SLPN been designed with hydrogen in mind.
Solar Thermal Heating
The buildings are noted as having solar thermal heating. That is a new one on me, but it seems possible.
I took these pictures as I passed the site on my return from Birmingham on September 21st 2023
One concrete tunnel is clearly visible.
First Turbines Up At World’s Biggest Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The first two wind turbines have been installed at Dogger Bank A, the first of the three phases of the UK’s 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm, the world’s biggest offshore wind farm under construction.
It is a good article that documents how a fixed-foundation wind farm is assembled.
The Dogger Bank wind farm will contain these separate wind farms.
- Dogger Bank A – 1235 MW – 95 x 13 MW – Under Construction – Commission in 2023
- Dogger Bank B – 1235 MW – 95 x 13 MW – Pre-Construction – Commission in 2024
- Dogger Bank C – 1218 MW – 87 x 14 MW – Pre-Construction – Commission in 2025
- Dogger Bank D – 1320 MW – Early Planning
- Dogger Bank South – 3000 MW – Early Planning
Note.
- The Dogger Bank wind farms are currently planned to be a shade over 8 GW.
- I have used data from Wikipedia’s List of offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom.
This family of wind farms could provide almost a third of our electricity or as I showed in The Mathematics Of Blending Twenty Percent Of Hydrogen Into The UK Gas Grid, it could provide enough hydrogen to blend 20 % of hydrogen into the UK gas grid.
Conclusion
Dogger Bank will have moved from a joke in the Shipping Forecast to one of our most important natural resources.
Cummins Agrees To Integrate Its Hydrogen ICE Technology Into Terex® Advance Trucks
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on H2 View.
These three paragraphs outline the deal.
Cummins and Terex® Advance have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to integrate hydrogen internal combustion engines (ICE) into Terex’s Commander Series.
The Commander Series trucks are currently powered by Cummins’ diesel engines, but the company will now provide its X15H hydrogen ICE when series production of the technology begins later this decade.
The X15H is based on familiar combustion engine technology, with integration into the truck chassis being straightforward and doesn’t require a major overhaul of vehicle design or business operations.
Note.
This page is the Terex Advance web site.
This page on the Terex web site shows the Terex Advance Commander series.
I think it is true to say to UK and European eyes, these trucks are an unusual design.
In Cummins Fuel-Agnostic X Series Platform, there is a link to a Cummins video, which explains Cummins multi-fuel technology.
This is a side view of the top-of-the-range monster.
Note.
- Front is to the right.
- I suspect the driver doesn’t have to get out of the cab to discharge the concrete.
- The engine is at the rear with vertical exhausts.
- All axles are driven.
You’d certainly notice one of these if they were to be used in the City of London.
And this is the baby of the range.
Three axles is normal for the UK. so I wonder if this machine will ever make it across the pond.
This last paragraph in the article describes the X15H hydrogen internal combustion engine.
The X15H was showcased at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in May (2023), along with its hydrogen ICE-powered concept truck. The X15H features a 700-bar pressure 80kg capacity hydrogen storage system and a range of more than 500 miles, with up to 500 horsepower.
Could one of these trucks really deliver ready-mix concrete from London to Manchester and return?
Conclusion
The article says that integration of the hydrogen technology is straightforward and if you watch the Cummins video, the animation says it is.
But surely the big advantage on construction sites, is that all the workers will not get the dose of pollution, that they would currently get from a diesel cement mixer delivering a load of ready-mixed concrete, that had to be distributed and laid.
I think this could be a very neat application of hydrogen technology and Cummins will be looking for more applications of a similar nature.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Electric Coach Driveline Coming From Wrightbus
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on RouteOne.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Wrightbus has been awarded up to £534,000 of government funding via the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) for the development, testing and validation of a hydrogen fuel cell-electric coach driveline.
The Ballymena manufacturer will receive the money from an £11 million pot administered by APC as a second round of the Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator scheme (ARMD2), which itself is part of over £50 million of public funding towards 30 “cutting edge manufacturing projects” in the UK.
I have never driven a coach, but I do feel that this project could be a winner.
- From riding in hundreds of their products over the years, I’m sure Wrightbus could produce a coach that satisfies the demands of coach companies and their passengers.
- Long routes like London and Scotland are popular coach routes and are of the order of 400 miles. Would passengers tolerate a thirty minute stop halfway to charge the batteries on an electric coach?
- Through, the experiences of the vehicle leasing company, I owned, I know that finance for quality coaches is not hard to come by and they are a good investment.
I also believe that a hydrogen-powered coach could be a flagship product for the hydrogen-powered transport sector.
We’ve all been on a motorway and seen coaches in the fast lane at 70 mph.
What effect will that have if the coach was emblazoned with “Green Hydrogen Coach – London-Glasgow Non-Stop In 7 Hrs”?
Airbus, Rolls-Royce, EasyJet Headline Formation Of UK Hydrogen Alliance
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article from Future Flight.
These two paragraphs outline the story.
A group of leading companies in the UK aviation and renewable energy sectors including EasyJet, Rolls-Royce, and Airbus has established the Hydrogen in Aviation (HIA) alliance to accelerate the delivery of zero-carbon aviation, the companies said Tuesday. HIA, whose partners also include Ørsted, GKN Aerospace, and Bristol Airport, said decarbonization efforts involving hydrogen should assume more urgency at a time when sustainable aviation fuel and batteries have drawn so much of the sector’s attention.
Working with government, local authorities, and the aviation and hydrogen sectors, the group plans to draw on members’ expertise to propose “a clear and deliverable pathway” to achieving hydrogen-powered aviation. Efforts center on clearing a pathway for preparing the needed infrastructure as well as policy, regulatory, and safety frameworks.
This Airbus infographic describes the aircraft in Airbus’s ZEROe project.
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.
These are my thoughts.
Do The ZEROe Turboprop And The ZEROe Turbofan Have Similar Hydrogen Systems?
This is Airbus’s summary of the design of the ZEROe Turboprop
Two hybrid-hydrogen turboprop engines, which drive eight-bladed propellers, provide thrust. The liquid hydrogen storage and distribution system is located behind the rear pressure bulkhead
This screen capture taken from an Airbus video, shows a rear view of the plane.
Note the sizeable cone-shaped rear end to the fuselage with no windows.
This is Airbus’s summary of the design of the ZEROe Turbofan
Two hybrid hydrogen turbofan engines provide thrust. The liquid hydrogen storage and distribution system is located behind the rear pressure bulkhead.
This screen capture taken from an Airbus video, shows the plane.
Note how there are no windows at the back of the fuselage, as the hydrogen tank doesn’t need them.
It looks to me, that similar cone-shaped tanks for hydrogen, customised for each aircraft could be placed behind the rear bulkhead.
There would probably be space for any pumps needed to distribute the hydrogen to the engines.
All the stored hydrogen and its gubbins could be safely sealed behind the rear bulkhead.
I am fairly certain that the ZEROe Turboprop and the ZEROe Turbofan will have similar hydrogen systems.
Do The ZEROe Turboprop And The ZEROe Turbofan Have Auxiliary Power Units?
The auxiliary power unit or APU in an aircraft that provides energy for functions other than propulsion.
In Airbus To Trial In-flight Auxiliary Power Entirely Generated By Hydrogen, I wrote about Airbus’s development of APU’s based on fuel cells and running on hydrogen.
This surely could be a way to go.
- A battery could store power.
- Fuel cells are proving to be reliable.
- The plane would have two independent electrical systems.
Power would always be available for the cockpit, flying controls and to restart the engines, just as it is in any airliner today.
Do The ZEROe Turboprop And The ZEROe Turbofan Have The Same Cockpit?
The cockpits of the A 320 neo and the A 320 ceo seem to have a similar profile, but the cockpit of the ZEROe Turbofan seems to have been reprofiled.
In ZEROe – Towards The World’s First Zero-Emission Commercial Aircraft, I showed these front on views of the cockpits of the ZEROe Turboprop and ZEROe Turbofan.
I questioned if the two cockpits were related.
- A single cockpit for both aircraft would surely ease manufacture, maintenance and pilot training.
- I’m no aerodynamicist, but it certainly looks that the new cockpit will reduce drag and fuel consumption.
This common cockpit concept was used for the Boeing 757 and the Boeing 767 in the 1980s, so it is not a new concept.
Although the cockpit, appears to be being used in the ZEROe for the first time, I would expect it is already under development and might feature in any later version of the A 320 neo.
Do Airbus Have A Preferred Development Order?
Consider.
- My product development experience indicates that the development of the ZEROe Blended-Wing Body will involve more flight testing and aerodynamic checks than the other two aircraft, so I would make it the last aircraft to enter service.
- The ZEROe Turboprop appears to be a development of the ATR 72.
- The ZEROe Turbofan appears to be a development of an A 320 neo.
- The ZEROe Turboprop and ZEROe Turbofan would appear to have similar designs of cockpit, hydrogen systems and auxiliary power units.
- It looks to me that either of the ZEROe Turboprop or ZEROe Turbofan could be developed first.
I would develop the ZEROe Turboprop first, as it is the smaller aircraft.
Why Bristol Airport?
This page on the Airbus web site is entitled Airbus In The United Kingdom, where this is the first paragraph.
Building on a proud 100-year British aviation heritage, Airbus is part of the very fabric of the UK – which is one of the company’s four home markets, alongside France, Germany and Spain. Its 11,000-strong UK workforce is part of a global family of 125,000 employees.
This is said under Commercial Aircraft.
The sites at Filton and Broughton design, test and manufacture the wings for all Airbus’ A320 family, A330 and A350 commercial aircraft, directly sustaining more than 8,000 full-time jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships.
A220 family wings are designed and built by Spirit AeroSystems in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Broughton has a proud tradition of aerospace manufacturing dating back 80 years, having supplied the RAF with vital aircraft during the Second World War. Employing almost 5,000 people, Broughton is a global centre of excellence for manufacturing and delivers over 500 wing sets per year for the A320 family, A330 and A350. Airbus has invested more than £2 billion in the Broughton plant over the past 10 years.
Core activities at Filton, where an additional 3,000 people work, are the design, engineering and support for Airbus wings, fuel systems and landing gear systems. Teams also work on aerodynamics research, development and test facilities, including our future zero-emissions programme, ZEROe, while wings for the A400M transporter are assembled on site.
It would appear that Filton in Bristol, is a very important part of Airbus’s operations in the UK.
- It appears to have major responsibility for all Airbus wings except the smallest.
- It has a large responsibility with respect to the ZEROe family of aircraft.
- Filton Airfield is now closed.
- Filton can do substantial assembly if required.
So was it just a logical decision to phone up Bristol Airport and ask, if they’d like to join the project?
In addition.
- Bristol Airport has a 2000 metre East West asphalt runway.
- The airport can handle a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A330.
- It is the eighth busiest airport in the UK.
- It is a busy general aviation airfield.
- There is plenty of electricity in the area and Hinckley Point C will open down the road in a couple of years.
Bristol Airport is probably typical of many provincial airports around the world.
Why EasyJet?
These paragraphs from the Future Flight article help to explain.
“There is no doubt that the UK has the potential to become a world leader in hydrogen aviation, which could bring with it a £34 billion per annum boost to the country’s economy by 2050, but in order to capture this opportunity, rapid change is needed and the time to act is now,” said Johan Lundgren, CEO of EasyJet and HIA’s first chairman.
“We must work together to deliver the radical solutions required for a hard-to-abate industry like aviation so we can protect and maximize the benefits that it brings to the UK economy and society and that we know British consumers want to be preserved.”
Under its Zero-E program, Airbus aims to bring to market the first hydrogen-powered narrowbody commercial airplane by 2035. Separately, a partnership between Rolls-Royce and EasyJet signed last year saw the companies test hydrogen fuel in gaseous form in an adapted AE2100-A turbine, the engine that powers the Saab 2000 regional airliner. The November 2022 test, which used hydrogen produced in the Orkney Islands by the European Marine Energy Centre using renewable energy, marked the first run of a modern engine using hydrogen.
EasyJet seems to be enthusiastic about hydrogen and their CEO will be the HIA’s first chairman.
EasyJet also has a series of routes from Bristol Airport.
- Alicante – 907 miles
- Amsterdam – 326 miles
- Athens – 1592 miles
- Antalya – 1981 miles
- Barcelona – 733 miles
- Basel/Mulhouse – 530 miles
- Belfast–City – 259 miles
- Belfast–International – 269 miles
- Berlin – 694 miles
- Bilbao – 559 miles
- Bodrum – 1772 miles
- Bordeaux – 462 miles
- Catania – 1295 miles
- Chania – 1719 miles
- Copenhagen – 694 miles
- Corfu – 1356 miles
- Dalaman – 1981 miles
- Dubrovnik – 1155 miles
- Edinburgh – 316 miles
- Enfidha – 1241 miles
- Faro – 1026 miles
- Fuerteventura – 1687 miles
- Funchal – 1473 miles
- Geneva – 536 miles
- Gibraltar – 1060 miles
- Glasgow – 317 miles
- Gran Canaria – 1749 miles
- Grenoble – 556 miles
- Heraklion – 1768 miles
- Hurghada – 2526 miles
- Ibiza – 887 miles
- Innsbruck – 693 miles
- Inverness – 429 miles
- Isle of Man – 203 miles
- Kefalonia – 1451 miles
- Kos – 1770 miles
- Kraków – 991 miles
- La Rochelle – 366 miles
- Lanzarote – 1649 miles
- Larnaca – 2126 miles
- Lisbon – 925 miles
- Lyon – 529 miles
- Madrid – 755 miles
- Málaga – 1020 miles
- Marrakesh – 1393 miles
- Marseille – 662 miles
- Menorca – 863 miles
- Milan–Malpensa – 682 miles
- Murcia – 945 miles
- Mykonos – 1670 miles
- Nantes – 251 miles
- Naples – 1085 miles
- Newcastle upon Tyne – 256 miles
- Nice – 704 miles
- Olbia – 929 miles
- Palma de Mallorca – 859 miles
- Paphos – 2087 miles
- Paris–Charles de Gaulle – 285 miles
- Paris–Orly – 290 miles
- Pisa – 808 miles
- Porto – 755 miles
- Prague – 746 miles
- Preveza/Lefkada – 1421 miles
- Pula – 885 miles
- Reykjavík–Keflavík – 1121 miles
- Rome–Fiumicino – 968 miles
- Rovaniemi – 1436 miles
- Salzburg – 745 miles
- Santorini – 1726 miles
- Sharm El Sheikh – 2507 miles
- Sofia – 1359 miles
- Split – 927 miles
- Tenerife–South – 1766 miles
- Toulouse – 569 miles
- Turin – 645 miles
- Venice – 798 miles
- Zakynthos – 1484 miles
Note.
- There are nine routes under 400 miles, which might enable a round trip without refuelling in a ZEROe Turboprop.
- There are nine routes under 800 miles, which might enable a round trip without refuelling in a ZEROe Turbofan.
- There are only four routes over 2000 miles, which might make a single trip difficult in a ZEROe Turbofan.
- Bristol and Toulouse is a convenient 569 miles for Airbus and its employees, customers and contractors.
It does appear that, EasyJet’s routes fit the 1000 mile range of a ZEROe Turboprop and the 2000 mile range of a ZEROe Turbofan exceedingly well.
Conclusion
Bristol will be important in the development of Airbus’s three ZEROe aircraft.
Offshore Wind Could Secure Scottish Green Hydrogen Potential – Report
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
New and existing offshore wind farms could help generate large amounts of green hydrogen and support the UK and EU meet their net zero targets, if the necessary infrastructure can be put in place, according to a new report commissioned by Crown Estate Scotland.
This page on the Crown Estate Scotland gives the full report.
The report contains a lot of interesting information.
Malta Months Away from First Offshore Wind Tender, Identifies Six Floating Wind Areas
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Malta’s Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise has issued a draft National Policy for the Deployment of Offshore Renewable Energy for public consultation and has demarcated six floating offshore wind development areas located beyond the country’s 12-nautical-mile territorial waters and into its potential Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
These are the first three paragraphs.
According to the Ministry, an international call for expressions of interest will be launched after the public consultation and the subsequent updating of the policy document, while a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) will be prepared at the same time. The completion of a plan-level SEA will help further narrow down the preliminary areas and pinpoint the preferred locations for offshore renewable installations.
The six areas, as well as the rest of Malta’s potential EEZ, have been deemed most suitable for floating offshore wind and solar technologies and, according to the policy, the government has taken into account the possibility of having projects that combine the two technologies.
Looking at other offshore and marine renewables, the government has determined that, although not precluded, wave and tidal energy potential for Malta is considered very limited.
Note.
- Malta has no domestic resource of fossil fuels and no gas distribution network.
- Renewable energy on Malta has one of the lowest shares in the European Union.
- Malta has four operational electricity plants , with a total capacity of 537.8 MW.
- There is a 200 MW interconnector to Sicily.
- Malta has run a pilot project to assess floating solar power.
- The article embraces solar power, but dismisses wave and tidal power.
As the article says that Malta has 25 GW of offshore wind potential, I suspect that Malta will attract bids for the offshore wind licences around the island from some of the world’s largest, experienced and most well-respected offshore wind companies.
I do have a few thoughts.
A Large Generation Capacity
If Malta develops its full 25 GW of offshore wind potential, it will have more than enough electricity for its normal use.
This could mean.
- Malta could have all the electricity needed to run air-conditioners everywhere.
- Malta could export electricity to Sicily.
- Malta could become a hydrogen production centre.
- I also suspect, it could mean that Malta would need some energy storage.
I’ll look at the last two points, in the next two sections.
Hydrogen Production
In the last year or so I’ve written several posts about Offshore Hydrogen Production and Malta would it seems be an ideal location to develop this industry.
- Hydrogen could be used for transport on the island.
- Hydrogen could replace imports of gas.
- Hydrogen could be exported by tanker.
- Lhyfe and other companies are developing offshore hydrogen production.
I don’t think, there would be a problem recruiting engineers to develop the industry.
Energy Storage
Because of the large generation capacity around Malta, even with substantial hydrogen production, I am sure there will be a need for some energy storage around the island.
In UK Cleantech Consortium Awarded Funding For Energy Storage Technology Integrated With Floating Wind, I described a technique called Marine Pumped Hydro, which is being developed by the STORE Consortium.
- Energy is stored as pressurised water in 3D-printed hollow concrete spheres fitted with a hydraulic turbine and pump.
- The spheres sit on the sea-bed.
- This page on the STORE Consortium web site, describes the technology in detail.
- The technology is has all been used before, but not together.
I think it is excellent technology and the UK government has backed it with £150,000 of taxpayers’ money.
I also believe that Marine Pumped Hydro or something like it, could be the solution to the intermittency of wind farms.
It could be ideal to use in the seas around Malta.
Conclusion
Malta could be a renewable energy hub in the middle of the Mediterranean.
I think the Malta renewable energy developments, will show how various technologies can work together.
The Anonymous Widower 