Giant Solar Farm Project In Doubt After Disagreement Between Mike Cannon-Brookes And Andrew Forrest
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Guardian.
This is the sub-heading.
Australian billionaires had backed $30bn Sun Cable venture designed to help power Darwin, Indonesia and Singapore but the company has gone into voluntary administration.
It does look like the administrators will be able to continue the project and look for more funding.
Qatar must be in the frame, as this link will probably cut some of their gas sales.
I wrote about this monster project in Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink.
I wonder if this administration will have any effects on the prospects of the other giant intercontinental interconnectors?
- EuroAfrica Interconnector – See The EuroAfrica Interconnector
- EuroAsia Interconnector – See The EuroAsia Interconnector
- Morroco-UK Power Project – See Moroccan Solar-Plus-Wind To Be Linked To GB In ‘Ground-Breaking’ Xlinks Project
- TransPacific Interconnector – See Chile Wants To Export Solar Energy To Asia Via 15,000km Submarine Cable
The economics will decide. But I do think, the last one could be a bit ambitious.
Hyperbat In Multimillion-Pound Deal To Supply Battery Packs For Lotus Supercar
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
Lotus or supercars for that matter, will not be a big market for battery packs, but they will be a high-profile one. The article in The Times may well flush out a few good sales leads from companies who want to decarbonise their products.
Many years ago, I did a consultancy job for Cummins, where my software was used to look for faults in their engine testing system. One of their engineers explained to me that they had a sales and production philosophy that could handle all markets from the large down to small niche ones. He said that we can’t tell which niche markets are going to be successful.
In the last couple of years Cummins have embraced hydrogen very strongly and it looks like they are adopting a similar philosophy.
So in the Cummins engine business model, it looks like the niche market is important.
I suspect that what goes for the diesel engine market will also go for the electric transmission market, with niche markets being nicely profitable and an important part of sales.
It looks to me that Hyperbat are going for that market, backed up by the engineering and battery experience of Williams Advanced Engineering and the manufacturing knowledge and logistics of Unipart.
Note that Williams Advanced Engineering is now owned by Australian billionaire; Andrew Forrest, through his company; Fortescue Future Industries. I wrote about this purchase in Fortescue Buys Williams Engineering In Major Push Into High Performance Batteries.
On the Hyperbat web site, this is said about their manufacturing facility.
The facility is about to double in size to meet current needs, with plans to double again in the next 2 years.
The factory is based on the site of a former exhaust plant and reintroduces manufacturing to the area, with an environmentally sustainable future.
Capacity of the factory is approximately 10,000 packs per year.
I;m sure the company, has enough backing for a very successful future.
The Australian Tycoon With Designs On U.S. Coal Mines
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on Politico.
The article is a must-read, as it is an interview with Andrew Forrest about his very strong views on the future of the coal industry in the United States.
This is a typical question from the interview and Forrest’s forthright answer.
Biden put jobs at the center of his climate messaging. Does the messenger actually need to be someone with a track record of creating jobs?
It’s a bloody good point. I think I can deliver that message much stronger, because I’m not a politician. I’m not looking for votes, this is the hardcore reality.
Rio Tinto’s Big Energy Project Attracts Multiple Bidders
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Mining Technology.
The article has this subtitle.
The company seeks to offset its power consumption with a massive renewable plant.
These two paragraphs introduce the project.
British and Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has attracted multiple bids for a massive renewable power infrastructure project.
The company currently seeks suppliers to build up to 4GW of renewable generation for its alumina and aluminium operations in Queensland, Australia. Speaking to the Melbourne Mining Club, the company’s CEO of Australia, Kellie Parker, said that it had received proposals for “a lot more than 4GW”. Parker also said that construction of the project “would not be easy” due to the cost of construction for Australian projects.
In the UK, we may talk of wind farms like Hornsea, which could produce 6 GW, but the Aussies can produce similar amounts of energy from the sun.
This will be the fourth major renewable power development in Australia to be announced in the last few months.
- The Asian Renewable Energy Hub could generate up to 26 GW in Western Australia.
- I wrote about Andrew Forrest’s ambitions in Andrew Forrest Snaps Up Pilbara And Gascoyne Cattle Stations For Green Energy Production.
- The Australia-Asia Power Link will export solar power from Australia to Singapore.
Australia is certainly looking to power the world.
Energy Storage
Rio Tinto are also talking about energy storage, as other systems of this type and size do. Could this be one of a number of Australian projects mentioned on the Highview Power web site?
Australian Mining Billionaire Touts A Green Revolution In U.S. Coal Country — With Skepticism Trailing Close Behind
The title of this post, is the same as this article on Forbes.
It is a definite must-read about Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, making one of the most difficult hydrogen pitches in the world, to coal miners in West Virginia.
Perhaps we need Mr Forrest to convince the RMT, that their views are wrong and so nineteenth century.
Green Hydrogen Magnate Forrest Sanctioned By Russia After Calling Putin A ‘Murderer’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Recharge.
Andrew Forest’s reply or the part that can be printed included.
You’re not worth talking to unless you’ve been sanctioned
I think that to many experts, Forrest’s plans for green hydrogen are one of the biggest threats to Russia’s oil industry.
Could Fortescue Future Industries’ Green Hydrogen Help Europe Ditch Russian Energy?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Motley Fool Australia.
This is the first paragraph.
Green hydrogen may help interrupt the Kremlin’s ability to conduct “war games”, says Fortescue chief Andrew Forrest.
I very much think that Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest is right.
My last three hydrogen articles were.
- Poland May Become A Green Hydrogen Tycoon.
- Will The Orkney Become A Major Green Hydrogen Production Centre?
- Wind And Solar Boom Will Bring Energy Surplus.
If the projects in these articles don’t blow the bottom out of the market for Russia’s bloodstained gas, with a little bit of help from Twiggy’s hydrogen kanganaut, then I’ll be very surprised. Especially, as countries like Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Namibia, Morocco, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United States are all planning to produce green hydrogen in large quantities.
Will Twiggy Save The World?
This article on the Sydney Morning Herald is entitled ‘No One’s Married To Coal’: How Forrest Is Taking On The World To Save The Climate.
The article is the story of Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s Damascene conversion to hydrogen.
These three paragraphs sums up Andrew Forrest‘s vision and ambitions.
Forrest’s companies, including its mining arm, Fortescue, and its green energy arm, Fortescue Future Industries, would be net zero by 2030. This would necessitate inventing and then developing hydrogen-powered trucks, trains and ships. This way the mining operation would avoid burning up to a billion litres in diesel a year.
The project would include the construction of vast solar and wind power stations in the Pilbara that would create green hydrogen to first fuel the trains, trucks and ships of the iron ore empire and then for export to a clean-energy starved world. The electrolysers needed to make the hydrogen for the early phases of the plan would be built by a vast new factory in Queensland, that itself would double the global supply of the machines.
Hydrogen would soon become the world’s largest shipborne trade. The Fortescue revolution would occur at a blistering pace set by the demands of addressing global warming, and it would be done for profit, to remove the excuses of governments and businesses that objected to ambitious climate action.
Note.
- How many other companies are intending to be net-zero by 2030?
- Certainly not many Chinese, German or Russian companies.
- And how many companies have planned to achieve net-zero at a profit?
If Forrest achieves his ambitions, the world will be a much better place.
Andrew Forrest Snaps Up Pilbara And Gascoyne Cattle Stations For Green Energy Production
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
This is the first paragraph.
Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has continued his land acquisition in Western Australia, purchasing another three cattle stations in the state’s north-west to generate renewable energy.
These are some points for the article.
- Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries has purchased three cattle stations in northern WA
- The stations will continue to run stock, and contribute to the production of green energy
- FFI says it is looking at other parts of WA to acquire land for similar projects
- The energy created will be used to decarbonise Andrew Forrest’s mining operations by 2030.
- A renewable hub of 340 wind turbines alongside solar panels will be created, which will generate 5 GW of energy.
- The possibility of offshore energy is mentioned.
- There is no mention of energy storage.
I have a few thoughts.
For A Reliable 5 GW Of Energy, Storage Is Surely Needed
I would think that this is probably understood by Fortescue Future Industries and given their ambitions for hydrogen, this must surely be part of an energy storage strategy.
Will Hydrogen Be Exported By Fortescue Future Industries From Australia?
I would expect this depends on three things.
- How much green energy is generated.
- The energy needs of Andrew Forrest’s mining companies.
- How much hydrogen can be sold in Australia.
Fortescue Future Industries will certainly have the market, if they have a surplus.
How Much Energy Will Fortescue Future Industries Generate Per Hectare?
This paragraph from the article gives useful information.
The hub would consist of 340 wind turbines alongside solar panels across Emu Creek and Uaroo Stations, in a development envelope of more than 65,000 hectares of land and a disturbance footprint of more than 10,000 hectares.
- If you look at the 65,000 hectares, as the area of the renewable energy hub, 0.77 MW is generated per hectare.
- If you look at the 10,000 hectares, as the area of the renewable energy hub, 0.5 MW is generated per hectare.
- If you look at Shell’s Scotwind E2 lease, that is 2 GW in 86,000 hectares, where 0.023 MW is generated per hectare.
So on a brief look Australia is a more efficient place for renewable energy, than the seas around the UK.
Conclusion
Andrew Forrest is developing a more detailed plan.
Fortescue And E.ON To Supply Europe With Green Hydrogen
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Fortescue Future Industries Pty Ltd. of Australia and E.ON SE, energy giant from Germany, have teamed up to supply green hydrogen to Europe. This strategy is meant to help the EU to reduce its reliance on Russian energy.
These are other points from the article.
- FFI intends to supply five million tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2030.
- The hydrogen will be produced by renewable hydrogen in Australia.
- E.ON will handle the distribution.
- Five million tonnes is about a third of Germany’s energy imports.
I have some further thoughts.
How Much Energy Is Needed to Produce Five Million Tonnes Per Year Of Hydrogen?
In Can The UK Have A Capacity To Create Five GW Of Green Hydrogen?, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
55.2 MWh/tonne is 55.2 kWh/kg.
To produce five million tonnes of hydrogen will need 55.2 * 5.000,000 / 10 MWh.
- This is 27,600,000 MWh or 27,600 GWh.
- It works out at an average of 75.6 GWh per day or 3.15 GWh per hour.
This article on vox is entitled The Economic Limitations Of Wind And Solar Power, where this is said.
“Capacity factor” refers to how often a power plant runs and thus how much power it produces relative to its total potential (capacity). Nuclear power plants in the US run around 90 percent of the time, so they have a 90 percent capacity factor. On average, the capacity factor of solar ranges anywhere from 10 to just over 30 percent. For wind, it ranges from 20 to just over 50 percent, averaging around 34 percent in the US.
If FFI is using solar to generate electricity in Australia, I suspect that the capacity factor will be around twenty percent at best.
So will FFI need around 16 GW of solar power to satisfy the supply to Germany?
The Wikipedia entry for Solar Power In Australia gives a good insight into its capability of providing the 16 GW of energy needed. This statement is key.
Using solar to supply all the energy needed would use less than 0.1% of land.
It does look that Australia could provide Germany with some of the hydrogen it needs.
Would It Be Cheaper To Produce The Hydrogen In The North Sea?
This is probably heresy to Andrew Forrest, who is the Australian billionaire behind Fortescue Future Industries.
Consider.
- North Sea Hydrogen could be piped to Germany.
- Australia and Germany would probably need transfer by liquid hydrogen tanker.
- Electrolysers would need to be used to create hydrogen from renewable energy in both Australia and the North Sea.
- Floating wind farms in the North Sea could be more efficient than solar in Australia, as the capacity factor is higher.
We obviously won’t know until both wind and solar technologies are fully developed.
Will There Be Price Competition Between Australian And North Sea Hydrogen?
It does appear that Andrew Forrest believes in research and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his company developing ideas that drop the price of solar-produced hydrogen.
Research and good engineering on both sides will also drop prices, so I suspect price competition will occur.
Will Fortescue Future Industries Develop North Sea Hydrogen?
Given the ambition being shown by Andrew Forrest to be the Hydrogen King, I wouldn’t be surprised if he joined the streams of international investors in the North Sea, who are developing wind farms.
Conclusion
Go! Aussie! Go!
The Anonymous Widower 