The Anonymous Widower

Great Yarmouth Terminal Set For Redevelopment Under Port Of East Anglia Name

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

The UK’s Peel Ports Group has decided to invest a further GBP 10 million (approximately EUR 11.3 million) into its Great Yarmouth site, which is being rebranded as the Port of East Anglia.

These four paragraphs add details to the story.

The newly announced GBP 10 million brings this year’s total investment to GBP 70 million across the site and will be used to redevelop the port’s Northern Terminal, helping to accommodate the next generation of offshore wind projects across the region, according to Peel Ports.

Earlier this year, a substantial investment into its Southern Terminal was announced by the port, which has earmarked GBP 60 million to transform capacity and improve efficiencies.

This involves ensuring the port can support multiple hydrogen, carbon capture, offshore wind, and nuclear projects for decades to come.

Its existing terminals service a variety of construction customers, including infrastructure projects such as Sizewell C and offshore energy projects based in the southern North Sea.

Note.

  1. In Yarmouth Harbour To Be ‘Completed’ In £60m Project, I talk about the work to be done on the Southern Terminal.
  2. The work on the Southern Terminal includes a roll-on roll-off (RORO) lift ramp and a large storage area.
  3. Start on the work on the Southern Terminal will start in 2026.

With all the construction work mentioned in the last two paragraphs, I suspect that the Port of Great Yarmouth will be busy?

These are some further thoughts.

Why Is The Port Of Great Yarmouth Being Renamed?

The article says this.

The new name, which will come into effect in early 2026, also aligns with the creation of a new combined authority for Suffolk and Norfolk, according to Peel Ports.

Peel Ports name change is fairly sensible, but as I was conceived in Suffolk and I’m an Ipswich Town supporter, I don’t feel that the two counties should be merged.

 

Does The Mention Of Hydrogen Mean That The Port Of Great Yarmouth Will Be Hosting A Hydrogen Electrolyser, To Fuel Trucks And Ships?

I asked Google AI, “If A Hydrogen Electrolyser is To Be Built In The Port Of Great Yarmouth?”, and received this answer.

While there are no current public plans for an immediate construction of a large-scale hydrogen electrolyser within the Port of Great Yarmouth, significant port expansion and infrastructure upgrades are underway to ensure it can support future hydrogen projects and related clean energy initiatives.

Note.

  1. If technology to handle hydrogen, is copied from North Sea gas, there is certainly a lot of proven technology that can be used again.
  2. There may even be depleted gas fields, where captured carbon dioxide, hydrogen or North Sea gas can be stored.

I find the most exciting thing, would be to send hydrogen to Germany.

Why Would Anybody Export Hydrogen To Germany?

I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this section and received this answer.

Countries would export hydrogen to Germany because Germany has a large, growing demand for hydrogen to power its heavily industrialised economy and achieve its decarbonisation goals, but lacks sufficient domestic renewable energy capacity to produce the required amounts.

Germany also, uses a lot of bloodstained Russian gas and indigenous polluting coal.

How Could Anybody Export Hydrogen To Germany?

  1. Wilhelmshaven is one of the main import ports for hydrogen in North West Germany.
  2. Great Yarmouth is probably the closest larger port to Germany.
  3. Great Yarmouth and Wilhelmshaven are probably about 300 miles apart, by the shortest route.
  4. Great Yarmouth would need to build infrastructure to export hydrogen.

The easiest way to transport the hydrogen from Great Yarmouth to Wilhelmshaven, is probably to use a gas tanker built especially for the route.

This Google Map shows the route between Great Yarmouth and Wilhelmshaven.

 

Note.

  1. The North-East corner of East Anglia with Great Yarmouth to the North of Lowestoft, is in the bottom-left corner of the map.
  2. Wilhelmshaven is a few miles inland in the top-right corner of the map.
  3. Could a coastal tanker go along the Dutch and German coasts to Wilhelmshaven?

I have no skills in boats, but would Great Yarmouth to Wilhelmshaven to take hydrogen to Germany?

RWE Are Developing Three Wind Farms To The North-East of Great Yarmouth

RWE are a large German Electricity company and the UK’s largest generator of electricity.

The company is developing three wind farms to the North-East of Great Yarmouth.

  • Norfolk Boreas – 1.2 GW – 45 miles offshore
  • Norfolk Vanguard West – 1.2 GW – 29 miles offshore
  • Norfolk Vanguard East – 1.2 GW – 28 miles offshore

Note.

  1. The electricity for all three wind farms is to be brought ashore at Happisburgh South, which is about 22 miles North of Great Yarmouth.
  2. The original plan was to take the electricity halfway across Norfolk to the Necton substation to connect to the grid.
  3. The natives will not be happy about a 4.2 GW overhead line between Happisburgh and Necton.
  4. RWE have built offshore electrolysers before in German waters.
  5. Could an electrical cable or a hydrogen pipe be laid in the sea between Happisburgh South and the Port of Great Yarmouth?
  6. The electrolyser could either be offshore at Happisburgh or onshore in the Port of Great Yarmouth.

As I don’t suspect these three wind farms will be the last connected to the Port of Great Yarmouth, I would expect that RWE will put the electrolyser offshore at Happisburgh  and connect it by a hydrogen pipeline to the Port of Great Yarmouth.

Could There Be A Connection To The Bacton Gas Terminal?

Consider.

The Bacton Gas Terminal, which feeds gas into the UK Gas Network, is only 4.2 miles up the coast from Happisburgh South.

Some climate scientists advocate blending hydrogen into the gas supply to reduce carbon emissions.

In Better Than A Kick In The Teeth – As C Would Say!, I disclosed that I now have a new hydrogen-ready boiler, so I’m not bothered, if I get changed to a hydrogen blend.

So could hydrogen from the Norfolk wind farms be fed into the grid to reduce carbon emissions?

Could The Port Of Great Yarmouth Become A Hydrogen Distribution Centre?

Thinking about it, the port could also become a distribution centre for green hydrogen.

Consider.

  • Hydrogen-powered ships, tugs and workboats could be refuelled.
  • Hydrogen-powered trucks could also be refuelled.
  • Tanker-trucks could distribute hydrogen, to truck and bus operators, farms and factories, that need it for their transport and operations.
  • I believe, that construction equipment will be increasingly hydrogen-powered.

In my life, I have lived at times in two country houses, that were heated by propane and there are about 200,000 off-grid houses in the UK, that are heated this way.

The two houses, where I lived would have been a nightmare to convert to heat pumps, but it would have been very easy to convert them to a hydrogen boiler and power it from a tank in the garden.

It should be noted, that the new boiler in my house in London is hydrogen-ready.

So the Port of Great Yarmouth could be the major centre for hydrogen distribution in Norfolk.

In the 1960s, I used to work in ICI’s hydrogen plant at Runcorn. If you ride in a hydrogen bus in England, it is likely that the hydrogen came from the same plant. Handled correctly, hydrogen is no less safe and reliable than natural gas or propane.

 

 

 

 

October 31, 2025 Posted by | Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Energy Storage | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

ScottishPower Renewables Picks Port For East Anglia Two Pre-Assembly

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

ScottishPower Renewables, Iberdrola’s UK arm, has selected Peel Ports Great Yarmouth as the staging ground for pre-assembly works for its 960 MW East Anglia Two offshore wind project.

This is the introductory paragraph.

The companies have signed a reservation agreement that will see the Siemens Gamesa turbine components and sections come together for assembly at the Norfolk site before installation in the southern North Sea in 2028.

Note.

  1. The Port of Great Yarmouth was used for this task with East Anglia One.
  2. The turbine blades will be manufactured at Siemens Gamesa’s offshore wind blade factory in Hull.
  3. The monopiles will come from Sif in Rotterdam.

This is the first sentence of the Wikipedia entry for the East5 Anglia Array.

The East Anglia Array is a proposed series of offshore wind farms located around 30 miles off the east coast of East Anglia, in the North Sea, England. It has begun with the currently operational East Anglia ONE, that has been developed in partnership by ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall. Up to six individual projects could be set up in the area with a maximum capacity of up to 7.2 GW.

These articles on offshoreWIND.biz indicate that ScottishPower Renewables has been busy signing contracts for East Anglia Two.

They must have employed lawyers on roller skates to get five contracts signed in just over a month.

Conclusion

East Anglia Two appears to be definitely under way and the Wikipedia extract says there could be a lot more, if all the other wind farms are developed in the same way using the Port of Great Yarmouth.

A total capacity in the East Anglia Array of 7.2 GW will surely be good for both East Anglia and the UK as a whole, but will the natives be happy with all the onshore infrastructure?

I wouldn’t be surprised to see further wind farm developed to generate hydrogen offshore, which will be either brought ashore to the Bacton gas terminal, using existing or new pipelines or distributed using tanker ships to where it is needed.

 

 

December 9, 2024 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

H2ercules

H2ercules is a project that will create the German hydrogen network.

The H2ercules web site, introduces the project with these two paragraphs.

A faster ramp-up of the hydrogen economy in Germany is more important than ever in order to drive forward the decarbonisation programme, put the German energy system on a more robust footing, and thus contribute towards a green security of supply. What this needs is a geographical realignment of the infrastructure for energy in gas form: Instead of flowing from the east of Germany to the west and south of the country, the gas – natural gas now, hydrogen in the future – will have to make its way in future from generation locations in the north-west to centres of consumption located mainly in the west and south. That also means that new sources will have to be connected, and gaps in existing pipeline networks will have to be closed. To speed up this vital process, OGE and RWE have developed the national infrastructure project “H2ercules”, which is intended to supply consumers in Germany’s south and west with domestically produced green hydrogen from the north of the country, in addition to imported sources. This will involve connecting up the electrolyser capacities that are currently being planned and developing more besides. RWE wants to create up to 1 GW of additional electrolyser capacity as part of the H2ercules project. For the connection component, OGE is planning to put 1,500 km of pipelines in place. For the most part, this will mean converting pipelines from the existing natural gas network to hydrogen, supplemented by newly constructed facilities. Converting natural gas pipelines is not only the more cost-efficient solution, but it also allows for a faster schedule. The system is expected to be supplemented by the planned hydrogen storages of RWE.

The current plan is to complete the project in three stages between 2026 and 2030, in order to connect industries to the hydrogen supply as soon as possible. The aim of this collaboration across multiple value levels is to resolve the chicken-and-egg problem on a super-sized scale and also smooth the way forward for other projects.

Note.

There will be a lot of conversion of the existing natural gas network to hydrogen.

RWE wants to create up to 1 GW of additional electrolyser capacity as part of the H2ercules project.

The second paragraph indicates to me, that they want to move fast.

This map from the H2ercules web site, indicate the proposed size of the network in 2030.

These three paragraphs describe how H2ercules will be developed.

OGE and RWE are both strong companies that aim to combine forces as part of the H2ercules project in order to overcome this Herculean task. While the task for OGE will be to convert the required gas pipelines to hydrogen and construct new pipelines, RWE will expand its electrolyser capacity and import green hydrogen in addition. Gas-fired power stations with a capacity of at least 2 GW will be converted to hydrogen, and new H2 -storages as well as H2-storages repurposed from gas storages on the Dutch border will be connected to the hydrogen supply system.

H2ercules also opens up new opportunities to connect Germany’s future centres of hydrogen consumption to key import routes, first via pipelines from Belgium and the Netherlands, and later via Norway and also from southern and eastern Europe, with the added prospects of import terminals for green molecules in Germany’s north. The project is thus contributing significantly to the creation of a European hydrogen market.

The first additional companies and organisations have already indicated their interest in this project, and it is expected that in the future smaller businesses will benefit in addition to large-scale customers, as the entire industry is guided towards a decarbonised future.

These are my thoughts.

Why Is It Called H2ercules?

I suspect, it’s nothing more, than the Germans wanted a recognisable and catchy name.

  • Name selection is not helped by the German for hydrogen, which is wasserstoff.
  • Hercules is Herkules in German, which doesn’t really help.
  • Projekt Wasserstoff isn’t as memorable as H2ercules, which at least isn’t English.

It looks to me, that the Germans have come up with a good acceptable compromise.

The Wilhemshaven Hydrogen Import Terminal

German energy company; Uniper is building a hydrogen import terminal at Wilhemshaven to feed H2ercules and German industry with hydrogen from places like Australia, Namibia and the Middle East. I wrote about this hydrogen import terminal in Uniper To Make Wilhelmshaven German Hub For Green Hydrogen; Green Ammonia Import Terminal.

Wilhelmshaven and Great Yarmouth are 272 miles or 438 kilometres apart, so a pipeline or a tanker link would be feasible to export hydrogen from Notfolk to Germany.

I suspect RWE  will build a giant offshore electrolyser close to the Norfolk wind farms and the hydrogen will be exported by tanker or pipeline  to Germany or to anybody else who pays the right price.

RWE’s Norfolk Wind Farms

What is interesting me, is what Germany company; RWE is up to. Note they are one of the largest UK electricity producers.

In December 2023, they probably paid a low price, for the rights for 3 x 1.4 GW wind farms about 50 km off North-East Norfolk from in-trouble Swedish company; Vattenfall and have signed contracts to build them fairly fast.

In March 2024, I wrote about the purchase in RWE And Vattenfall Complete Multi-Gigawatt Offshore Wind Transaction In UK.

This map from RWE shows the three wind farms, with respect to the Norfolk coast.

Could it be, that RWE intend to build a giant offshore electrolyser to the East of Great Yarmouth?

  • The planning permission for an electrolyser, which is eighty kilometres offshore, would be far easier, than for one onshore.
  • The hydrogen pipeline between Norfolk and Germany  would be less than 400 kilometres.
  • Hydrogen could also be brought ashore in Norfolk, if the price was right.
  • The Bacton gas terminal is only a few miles North of Great Yarmouth.

But the big advantage, is that the only onshore construction could be restricted to the Bacton gas terminal.

Adding More Wind Farms To The Electrolyser

Looking at the RWE map, the following should be noted.

South of Norfolk Vanguard East, there is the East Anglian Array wind farm, which by the end of 2026, will consist of these wind farms.

  • East Anglia One – 714 MW – 2020
  • East Anglia One North – 800 MW – 2026
  • East Anglia Two – 900 MW – 2026
  • East Anglia Three – 1372 MW – 2026

Note.

  1. The date is the commissioning date.
  2. There is a total capacity of 3786 MW
  3. All wind farms are owned by Iberdrola.
  4. There may be space to add other sections to the East Anglian Array.

I doubt, it would be difficult for some of Iberdrola’s megawatts to be used to generate hydrogen for Germany.

To the East of Norfolk Boreas and Norfolk Vanguard East, it’s Dutch waters, so I doubt the Norfolk cluster can expand to the East.

But looking at this map of wind farms, I suspect that around 4-5 GW of new wind farms could be squeezed in to the North-West of the the Norfolk Cluster and South of the Hornsea wind farms.

The 1.5 GW Outer Dowsing wind farm, which is being planned, will be in this area.

I can certainly see 8-10 GW of green electricity capacity being available to electrolysers to the North-East of Great Yarmouth.

Conclusion

UK offshore electricity could be the power behind H2ercules.

  • The hydrogen could be sent to Germany  by pipeline or tanker ship, as the distance is under 400 kilometers to the Wilhelmshaven hydrogen hub.
  • Extra electrolysers and wind farms could be added as needed.
  • The hydrogen won’t need to be shipped halfway round the world.

The cash flow won’t hurt the UK.

 

 

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June 5, 2024 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

RWE And the Norfolk Wind Farms

In March 2024, I wrote RWE And Vattenfall Complete Multi-Gigawatt Offshore Wind Transaction In UK, which described how Vattenfall had sold 4.2 GW of offshore wind farms, situated off North-East Norfolk to RWE.

This map from RWE shows the wind farms.

Note.

  1. The Norfolk Zone consists of three wind farms; Norfolk Vanguard West, Norfolk Boreas and Norfolk Vanguard East.
  2. The three wind farms are 1.4 GW fixed-foundation wind farms.
  3. In Vattenfall Selects Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone O&M Base, I describe how the Port of Great Yarmouth had been selected as the O & M base.
  4. Great Yarmouth and nearby Lowestoft are both ports, with a long history of supporting shipbuilding and offshore engineering.

The wind farms and the operational port are all close together, which probably makes things convenient.

So why did Vattenfall sell the development rights of the three wind farms to RWE?

Too Much Wind?

East Anglia is fringed with wind farms all the way between the Wash and the Thames Estuary.

  • Lincs – 270 MW
  • Lynn and Inner Dowsing – 194 MW
  • Race Bank – 580 MW
  • Triton Knoll – 857 MW
  • Sheringham Shoal – 317 MW
  • Dudgeon – 402 MW
  • Hornsea 3 – 2852 MW *
  • Scroby Sands – 60 MW
  • East Anglia One North – 800 MW *
  • East Anglia Two – 900 MW *
  • East Anglia Three – 1372 MW *
  • Greater Gabbard – 504 MW
  • Galloper – 353 MW
  • Five Estuaries – 353 MW *
  • North Falls – 504 MW *
  • Gunfleet Sands – 172 MW
  • London Array – 630 MW

Note.

  1. Wind farms marked with an * are under development or under construction.
  2. There is 4339 MW of operational wind farms between the Wash and the Thames Estuary.
  3. An extra 6781 MW is also under development.

If all goes well, East Anglia will have over 11 GW of operational wind farms or over 15 GW, if the three Norfolk wind farms are built.

East Anglia is noted more for its agriculture and not for its heavy industries consuming large amounts of electricity, so did Vattenfall decide, that there would be difficulties selling the electricity?

East Anglia’s Nimbies

East Anglia’s Nimbies seem to have started a campaign against new overground cables and all these new wind farms will need a large capacity increase between the main substations of the National Grid and the coast.

So did the extra costs of burying the cable make Vattenfall think twice about developing these wind farms?

East Anglia and Kent’s Interconnectors

East Anglia and Kent already has several interconnectors to Europe

  • Viking Link – Bicker Fen and Jutland – 1.4 GW
  • LionLink – Suffolk and the Netherlands – 1.8 GW – In Planning
  • Nautilus – Suffolk or Isle of Grain and Belgium – 1.4 GW – In Planning
  • BritNed – Isle of Grain and Maasvlakte – 1.0 GW
  • NeuConnect – Isle of Grain and Wilhelmshaven – 1.4 GW – Under Construction
  • GridLink Interconnector – Kingsnorth and Warande – 1.4 GW – Proposed
  • HVDC Cross-Channel – Sellinge and Bonningues-lès-Calais – 2.0 GW
  • ElecLink – Folkestone and Peuplingues – 1.0 GW
  • Nemo Link – Richborough and Zeebrugge – 1.0 GW

Note.

  1. Five interconnectors with a capacity of 6.4 GW.
  2. A further four interconnectors with a capacity of 6 GW are on their way.

At 12.4 GW, the future capacity of the interconnectors between South-East England and Europe, is nor far short of South-East English wind power.

There are also two gas pipelines from the Bacton gas terminal between Cromer and Great Yarmouth to Europe.

The Wikipedia entry for the Bacton gas terminal gives these descriptions of the two gas pipelines.

Interconnector UK – This can import gas from, or export gas to, Zeebrugge, Belgium via a 235 km pipeline operating at up to 147 bar. There is a 30-inch direct access line from the SEAL pipeline. The Interconnector was commissioned in 1998.

BBL (Bacton–Balgzand line) – This receives gas from the compressor station in Anna Paulowna in the Netherlands. The BBL Pipeline is 235 km long and was commissioned in December 2006.

It would appear that East Anglia and Kent are well connected to the Benelux countries, with both electricity and gas links, but with the exception of the Viking Link, there is no connection to the Scandinavian countries.

Did this lack of connection to Sweden make convincing the Swedish government, reluctant to support Vattenfall in their plans?

Bringing The Energy From The Norfolk Wind Farms To Market

It looks to me, that distributing up to 4.2 GW from the Norfolk wind farms will not be a simple exercise.

  • Other wind farms like the 2852 MW Hornsea 3 wind farm, may need a grid connection on the North Norfolk coast.
  • The Nimbies will not like a South-Western route to the National Grid at the West of Norwich.
  • An interconnector to Denmark or Germany from North Norfolk would probably help.

But at least there are two gas pipelines to Belgium and the Netherlands.

RWE, who now own the rights to the Norfolk wind farms, have a large amount of interests in the UK.

  • RWE are the largest power producer in the UK.
  • They supply 15 % of UK electricity.
  • They have interest in twelve offshore wind farms in the UK. When fully-developed, they will have a capacity of almost 12 GW.
  • RWE are developing the Pembroke Net Zero Centre, which includes a hydrogen electrolyser.

RWE expects to invest up to £15 billion in the UK by 2030 in new and existing green technologies and infrastructure as part of this.

Could this be RWE’s plan?

As the Norfolk wind farms are badly placed to provide electricity to the UK grid could RWE have decided to use the three Norfolk wind farms to produce hydrogen instead.

  • The electrolyser could be placed onshore or offshore.
  • If placed onshore, it could be placed near to the Bacton gas terminal.
  • There are even depleted gas fields, where hydrogen could be stored.

How will the hydrogen be distributed and/or used?

It could be delivered by tanker ship or tanker truck to anyone who needs it.

In Developing A Rural Hydrogen Network, I describe how a rural hydrogen network could be developed, that decarbonises the countryside.

There are three major gas pipelines leading away from the Bacton gas terminal.

  1. The connection to the UK gas network.
  2. Interconnector UK to Belgium.
  3. BBL to The Netherlands.

These pipelines could be used to distribute hydrogen as a hydrogen blend with natural gas.

In UK – Hydrogen To Be Added To Britain’s Gas Supply By 2025, I describe the effects of adding hydrogen to the UK’s natural gas network.

 

 

 

 

May 16, 2024 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

RWE Acquires 4.2-Gigawatt UK Offshore Wind Development Portfolio From Vattenfall

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from RWE.

These three bullet points, act as sub-headings.

  • Highly attractive portfolio of three projects at a late stage of development, with grid connections and permits secured, as well as advanced procurement of key components
  • Delivery of the three Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone projects off the UK’s East Anglia coast will be part of RWE’s Growing Green investment and growth plans
  • Agreed purchase price corresponds to an enterprise value of £963 million

These two paragraphs outline the deal.

RWE, one of the world’s leading offshore wind companies, will acquire the UK Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone portfolio from Vattenfall. The portfolio comprises three offshore wind development projects off the east coast of England – Norfolk Vanguard West, Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Boreas.

The three projects, each with a planned capacity of 1.4 gigawatts (GW), are located 50 to 80 kilometres off the coast of Norfolk in East Anglia. This area is one of the world’s largest and most attractive areas for offshore wind. After 13 years of development, the three development projects have already secured seabed rights, grid connections, Development Consent Orders and all other key permits. The Norfolk Vanguard West and Norfolk Vanguard East projects are most advanced, having secured the procurement of most key components. The next milestone in the development of these two projects is to secure a Contract for Difference (CfD) in one of the upcoming auction rounds. RWE will resume the development of the Norfolk Boreas project, which was previously halted. All three Norfolk projects are expected to be commissioned in this decade.

There is also this handy map, which shows the location of the wind farms.

Note that there are a series of assets along the East Anglian coast, that will be useful to RWE’s Norfolk Zone development.

  1. In Vattenfall Selects Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone O&M Base, I talked about how the Port of Great Yarmouth will be the operational base for the Norfolk Zone wind farms.
  2. Bacton gas terminal has gas interconnectors to Belgium and the Netherlands lies between Cromer and Great Yarmouth.
  3. The cable to the Norfolk Zone wind farms is planned to make landfall between Bacton and Great Yarmouth.
  4. Sizewell is South of Lowestoft and has the 1.25 GW Sizewell B nuclear power station, with the 3.2 GW Sizewell C on its way, for more than adequate backup.
  5. Dotted around the Norfolk and Suffolk coast are 3.3 GW of earlier generations of wind farms, of which 1.2 GW have connections to RWE.
  6. The LionLink multipurpose 1.8 GW interconnector will make landfall to the North of Southwold
  7. There is also the East Anglian Array, which currently looks to be about 3.6 GW, that connects to the shore at Bawdsey to the South of Aldeburgh.
  8. For recreation, there’s Southwold.
  9. I can also see more wind farms squeezed in along the coast. For example, according to Wikipedia, the East Anglian Array could be increased in size to 7.2 GW.

It appears that a 15.5 GW hybrid wind/nuclear power station is being created on the North-Eastern coast of East Anglia.

The big problem is that East Anglia doesn’t really have any large use for electricity.

But the other large asset in the area is the sea.

A proportion of Russian gas in Europe, will have been replaced by Norfolk wind power and hydrogen, which will be given a high level of reliability from Suffolk nuclear power.

I have some other thoughts.

Would Hydrogen Be Easier To Distribute From Norfolk?

A GW-range electrolyser would be feasible but expensive and it would be a substantial piece of infrastructure.

I also feel, that placed next to Bacton or even offshore, there would not be too many objections from the Norfolk Nimbys.

Hydrogen could be distributed from the site in one of these ways.

  • By road transport, as ICI did, when I worked in their hydrogen plant at Runcorn.
  • I suspect, a rail link could be arranged, if there was a will.
  • By tanker from the Port of Great Yarmouth.
  • By existing gas interconnectors to Belgium and the Netherlands.

As a last resort it could be blended into the natural gas pipeline at Bacton.

In Major Boost For Hydrogen As UK Unlocks New Investment And Jobs, I talked about using the gas grid as an offtaker of last resort. Any spare hydrogen would be fed into the gas network, provided safety criteria weren’t breached.

I remember a tale from ICI, who from their refinery got a substantial amount of petrol, which was sold to independent petrol retailers around the North of England.

But sometimes they had a problem, in that the refinery produced a lot more 5-star petrol than 2-star. So sometimes if you bought 2-star, you were getting 5-star.

On occasions, it was rumoured that other legal hydrocarbons were disposed of in the petrol. I was once told that it was discussed that used diluent oil from polypropylene plants could be disposed of in this way. But in the end it wasn’t!

If hydrogen were to be used to distribute all or some of the energy, there would be less need for pylons to march across Norfolk.

Could A Rail Connection Be Built To The Bacton Gas Terminal

This Google Map shows the area between North Walsham and the coast.

Note.

  1. North Walsham is in the South-Western corner of the map.
  2. North Walsham station on the Bittern Line is indicated by the red icon.
  3. The Bacton gas terminal is the trapezoidal-shaped area on the coast, at the top of the map.

ThisOpenRailwayMap shows the current and former rail lines in the same area as the previous Google Map.

Note.

  1. North Walsham station is in the South-West corner of the map.
  2. The yellow track going through North Walsham station is the Bittern Line to Cromer and Sheringham.
  3. The Bacton gas terminal is on the coast in the North-East corner of the map.

I believe it would be possible to build a small rail terminal in the area with a short pipeline connection to Bacton, so that hydrogen could be distributed by train.

There used to be a branch line from North Walsham station to Cromer Beach station, that closed in 1953.

Until 1964 it was possible to get trains to Mundesley-on-Sea station.

So would it be possible to build a rail spur to the Bacton gas terminal along the old branch line?

In the Wikipedia entry for the Bittern Line this is said.

The line is also used by freight trains which are operated by GB Railfreight. Some trains carry gas condensate from a terminal at North Walsham to Harwich International Port.

The rail spur could have four main uses.

  • Taking passengers to and from Mundesley-on-Sea and Bacton.
  • Collecting gas condensate from the Bacton gas terminal.
  • Collecting hydrogen from the Bacton gas terminal.
  • Bringing in heavy equipment for the Bacton gas terminal.

It looks like another case of one of Dr. Beeching’s closures coming back to take a large chunk out of rail efficiency.

Claire Coutinho And Robert Habeck’s Tete-a-Tete

I wrote about their meeting in Downing Street in UK And Germany Boost Offshore Renewables Ties.

  • Did Habeck run the RWE/Vattenfall deal past Coutinho to see it was acceptable to the UK Government?
  • Did Coutinho lobby for SeAH to get the contract for the monopile foundations for the Norfolk Zone wind farms?
  • Did Coutinho have a word for other British suppliers like iTMPower.

Note.

  1. I think we’d have heard and/or the deal wouldn’t have happened, if there had been any objections to it from the UK Government.
  2. In SeAH To Deliver Monopiles For Vattenfall’s 2.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Project, I detailed how SeAH have got the important first contract they needed.

So it appears so far so good.

Rackheath Station And Eco-Town

According to the Wikipedia entry for the Bittern Line, there are also plans for a new station at Rackheath to serve a new eco-town.

This is said.

A new station is proposed as part of the Rackheath eco-town. The building of the town may also mean a short freight spur being built to transport fuel to fire an on-site power station. The plans for the settlement received approval from the government in 2009.

The eco-town has a Wikipedia entry, which has a large map and a lot of useful information.

But the development does seem to have been ensnared in the planning process by the Norfolk Nimbys.

The Wikipedia entry for the Rackheath eco-town says this about the rail arrangements for the new development.

The current rail service does not allow room for an extra station to be added to the line, due to the length of single track along the line and the current signalling network. The current service at Salhouse is only hourly during peak hours and two-hourly during off-peak hours, as not all trains are able to stop due to these problems. Fitting additional trains to this very tight network would not be possible without disrupting the entire network, as the length of the service would increase, missing the connections to the mainline services. This would mean that a new 15-minute shuttle service between Norwich and Rackheath would have to be created; however, this would interrupt the main service and cause additional platforming problems. Finding extra trains to run this service and finding extra space on the platforms at Norwich railway station to house these extra trains poses additional problems, as during peak hours all platforms are currently used.

In addition, the plans to the site show that both the existing and the new rail station, which is being built 300m away from the existing station, will remain open.

. As the trains cannot stop at both stations, changing between the two services would be difficult and confusing, as this would involve changing stations.

I feel that this eco-town is unlikely to go ahead.

Did RWE Buy Vattenfall’s Norfolk Zone To Create Green Hydrogen For Europe?

Consider.

  • Vattenfall’s Norfolk Zone is a 4.2 GW group of wind farms, which have all the requisite permissions and are shovel ready.
  • Bacton Gas terminal has gas pipelines to Europe.
  • Sizewell’s nuclear power stations will add security of supply.
  • Extra wind farms could be added to the Norfolk Zone.
  • Europe and especially Germany has a massive need for zero-carbon energy.

The only extra infrastructure needing to be built is the giant electrolyser.

I wouldn’t be surprised if RWE built a large electrolyser to supply Europe with hydrogen.

 

 

 

December 23, 2023 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Vestas and Vattenfall Sign 1.4 GW Preferred Supplier Agreement For UK Offshore Wind Project And Exclusivity Agreements For 2.8 GW For Two Other UK Projects

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Vestas.

These are the first two paragraphs.

Vattenfall, one of Europe’s largest producers and retailers of electricity and heat, and Vestas have signed agreements to elevate the partnership between the two companies and their offshore wind business towards 2030. The agreements are another step in the right direction for offshore wind energy in the UK and follow the UK Government’s recent announcement about the parameters for the next Contracts for Difference Auction round, which sent a very positive signal to renewable energy investors.

The agreements for the three projects include a preferred supplier agreement (PSA) for the 1,380 MW Norfolk Vanguard West project, comprising 92 of Vestas’ V236-15 MW offshore wind turbine. Vattenfall and Vestas have further signed exclusivity agreements for the Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Boreas projects with a total installed capacity of 2,760 MW. The two latter projects will potentially feature up to 184 V236-15 MW turbines. Once installed, the agreements also include that Vestas will service the projects under long-term Operations and Maintenance (O&M) service contracts. The agreements are another step forward for what will be one of the largest offshore wind zones in the world, with a capacity to power over 4 million UK homes.

It looks like Norfolk Boreas is back on Vattenfall’s list of active projects.

Vattenfall’s Norfolk zone now includes the following.

  • Norfolk Vanguard West – 92 x V236-15 MW – 1380 MW
  • Norfolk Vanguard East – 92 x V236-15 MW – 1380 MW
  • Norfolk Boreas – 92 x V236-15 MW – 1380 MW

Note.

  1. All turbines appear identical.
  2. The deal includes long-term Operations and Maintenance (O&M) service contracts.
  3. 276 identical turbines plus service contracts looks like a good deal for Vestas.

Since I wrote Vattenfall Stops Developing Major Wind Farm Offshore UK, Will Review Entire 4.2 GW Zone in July 2023, which has this sub-heading.

Vattenfall has stopped the development of the Norfolk Boreas offshore wind power project in the UK and will review the way forward for the entire 4.2 GW Norfolk Zone, the Swedish energy company revealed in its interim report.

I have written the following posts.

It appears that with the deal announced with Vestas, Vattenfall now have everything they need to develop 4.2 GW of offshore wind.

  • The O & M base will be Great Yarmouth.
  • SeAH will build the monopile foundations on Teesside. Will all monopiles be identical?
  • An energy price rise could change the cash flow of the project.
  • Aker Solutions will build the offshore substations.Will all sub-stations be identical?
  • Vestas will build the wind turbines.Will all turbines be identical?

Nothing has been said since July 2023 about how the power will be brought ashore.

In February 2022, I wrote Norfolk Wind Farms Offer ‘Significant Benefit’ For Local Economy, where I published this map from Vattenfall, which shows the position of the farms and the route of the cable to the shore.

Note.

  1. The purple line appears to be the UK’s ten mile limit.
  2. Norfolk Boreas is outlined in blue.
  3. Norfolk Vanguard West and  Norfolk Vanguard East are outlined in orange.
  4. Cables will be run in the grey areas.
  5. Cables to deliver 4.1 GW across Norfolk to the National Grid, will bring out the Nimbys in droves.

Landfall of the cables will be just a few miles to the South of the Bacton gas terminal.

In SeAH To Deliver Monopiles For Vattenfall’s 2.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Project, I asked if there could be an alternative approach.

Consider.

  • If Vattenfall develop all three wind farms; Boreas, Vanguard East and Vanguard West, they will have 4.2 GW of capacity, when the wind co-operates.
  • But East Norfolk is not noted for industries that need a large amount of electricity.
  • I also feel, that the locals would object to a steelworks or an aluminium smelter, just like they object to electricity cables.

But would they object to a 4 GW electrolyser?

Could this be Vattenfall’s alternative approach?

  • A giant electrolyser is built close to the landfall of the cable to the wind farms.
  • The hydrogen could be piped to Bacton, where it could be blended with the UK’s natural gas.
  • Bacton also has gas interconnectors to Balgzand in the Netherlands and Zeebrugge in Belgium. Could these interconnectors be used to export hydrogen to Europe?
  • The hydrogen could be piped to Yarmouth, where it could be exported by tanker to Europe.

There would be only a small amount of onshore development and no overhead transmission lines to connect the wind farms to the National Grid.

There would be even less onshore development, if the electrolyser was offshore.

From their decisions, Vattenfall seem to have a new plan.

 

December 20, 2023 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

SeAH To Deliver Monopiles For Vattenfall’s 2.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Project

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

Vattenfall has signed a contract with SeAH Wind to provide the monopiles for the 2.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard East and Norfolk Vanguard West offshore wind farms in the UK.

These two paragraphs outline the order.

The monopiles for the Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farms will weigh up to around 2,200 tonnes and have a length of up to 96 metres.

Production is due to start in 2026 at SeAH Wind’s new under-construction facility in Teesside, northeast England.

Note.

  1. Norfolk Vanguard now appears to be two 1.4 GW wind farms; East and West, which adds up to a 2.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard wind farm.
  2. There is no mention of the 1.4 GW Norfolk Boreas wind farm in the article, except that it has a Contract for Difference (CfD), whereas I don’t think Norfolk Vanguard has a contract.
  3. Would anybody buy wind farm foundations without a contract?

It looks like there has been some very tough negotiations between Vattenfall, the Crown Estate and the UK Government.

Is There An Alternative Approach?

Consider.

  • If Vattenfall develop all three wind farms; Boreas, Vanguard East and Vanguard West, they will have 4.2 GW of capacity, when the wind co-operates.
  • But East Norfolk is not noted for industries that need a large amount of electricity.
  • I also feel, that the locals would object to a steelworks or an aluminium smelter, just like they object to electricity cables.

But would they object to a 4 GW offshore electrolyser?

Could this be Vattenfall’s alternative approach?

  • A giant electrolyser is built close to the landfall of the cable to the wind farms.
  • The hydrogen could be piped to Bacton, where it could be blended with the UK’s natural gas.
  • Bacton also has gas interconnectors to Balgzand in the Netherlands and Zeebrugge in Belgium. Could these interconnectors be used to export hydrogen to Europe?
  • The hydrogen could be piped to Yarmouth, where it could be exported by tanker to Europe.

There would be only a small amount of onshore development and no overhead transmission lines to connect the wind farms to the National Grid.

There would be even less onshore development, if the electrolyser was offshore.

From their decisions, Vattenfall seem to have a new plan.

December 13, 2023 Posted by | Hydrogen | , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Neptune Energy, Ørsted And Goal7 Explore Powering Integrated Energy Hubs With Offshore Wind

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Neptune Energy.

These four paragraphs outline the agreement.

Neptune Energy today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ørsted and Goal7 to explore powering new integrated energy hubs in the UK North Sea with offshore wind-generated electricity.

Integrated energy hubs have the potential to combine multiple energy systems, including existing oil and gas production assets, carbon storage and hydrogen production facilities. They could extend the life of producing fields and support the economic case for electrification with renewable energy, to keep carbon emissions low.

The agreement will see the companies examine the potential to supply renewable electricity from Ørsted’s Hornsea offshore windfarm projects to power future Neptune-operated hubs in the UK North Sea.

Goal7 will provide project management support and technical input.

Note.

  1. Neptune Energy has three oil and gas fields in the UK North Sea; Cygnus (operational), Isabella (exploration) and Seagull (development)
  2. Gas from Cygnus comes ashore at the Bacton Gas Terminal.
  3. Ørsted owns the Hornsea wind farm, which when fully developed will have a capacity of around 6.5 GW.
  4. Cygnus and Hornsea could be not much further than 50 km apart.
  5. Seagull and Isabella are further to the North and East of Aberdeen.
  6. Ørsted has an interest in the Broadshore wind farm, which was numbered 8 in the ScotWind Leasing round.

These are my thoughts.

The Cygnus Gas Field And The Hornsea Wind Farm

This could be like one of those stories where boy meets the girl next door and they hit it off from the first day.

This page on the Neptune web site says this about the Cygnus gas field.

The biggest natural gas discovery in the southern North Sea in over 30 years is now the largest single producing gas field in the UK, typically exporting over 250 million standard cubic feet of gas daily. Cygnus contributes six per cent of UK gas demand, supplying energy to the equivalent of 1.5 million UK homes. It has a field life of over 20 years.

Two drilling centres target ten wells. Cygnus Alpha consists of three bridge-linked platforms: a wellhead drilling centre, a processing/utilities unit and living quarters/central control room. Cygnus Bravo, an unmanned satellite platform, is approximately seven kilometres northwest of Cygnus Alpha.

In 2022, we plan to drill two new production wells at Cygnus, with the first of these expected to come onstream in 4Q. The second well is due to be drilled in the fourth quarter and is expected onstream in the first quarter of 2023, with both wells helping to maintain production from the field and offset natural decline.

Gas is exported via a 55 km pipeline. Cygnus connects via the Esmond Transmission System (ETS) pipeline to the gas-treatment terminal at Bacton, Norfolk. Neptune Energy has a 25% minority interest in ETS.

Note.

  1. Cygnus with a twenty year life could be one of the ways that we bridge the gap until we have the two Cs (Hinckley Point and Sizewell) and a few tens of offshore wind gigawatts online.
  2. The two extra wells at Cygnus will help bridge the gap.
  3. The gas field has a pipeline to Bacton.

So what can the gas field and the wind farm, do for each other?

Hornsea Can Supply The Power Needs Of Cygnus

Typically, ten percent of the gas extracted from the wells connected to a gas platform, will be converted into electricity using one or more gas-turbine engines; which will then be used to power the platform.

So, if electricity from the Hornsea wind farm, is used to power the platform, there are two benefits.

  • More gas will be sent through the pipeline to Bacton.
  • Less carbon dioxide will be emitted in recovering the gas.

Effectively, electricity has been turned into gas.

Electricity Can Be Stored On The Sea-Bed

The Hornsea One wind farm has an area in the order of 150 square miles and it is only one wind farm of four, that make up the Hornsea wind farm.

I would argue that there is plenty of space between the turbines and the wells of the Cygnus gas field to install some form of zero-carbon underwater battery to store electricity.

But does this technology exist?

Not yet! But 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.

Excess Electricity Can Be Converted Into Hydrogen

Any spare electricity from the wind farm can drive an electrolyser to convert it into hydrogen.

The electrolyser could be mounted on one of the Cygnus platforms, or it could even float.

The hydrogen produced would be blended with the gas and sent to Bacton.

Carbon Dioxide Can Be Stored In The Depleted Cygnus Gas Field

As the gas field empties of natural gas, the gas pipes to the Cygnus gas field can be reversed and used to bring carbon dioxide to the gas field to be stored.

The Cygnus gas field has gone full circle from providing gas to storing the same amount of carbon that the gas has produced in its use.

These are two paragraphs from the press release.

Neptune Energy’s Director of New Energy, Pierre Girard, said: “The development of integrated energy hubs is an important part of Neptune’s strategy to store more carbon than is emitted from our operations and the use of our sold products by 2030.

“Neptune has submitted three applications under the recent Carbon Dioxide Appraisal and Storage Licensing Round, and securing the licences would enable us to develop future proposals for integrated energy hubs in the UK North Sea.

I can envisage a large gas-fired power-station with carbon capture being built in Norfolk, which will do the following.

  • Take a supply of natural gas from the Cygnus gas field via the Bacton gas terminal.
  • Convert the hydrogen in the gas into electricity.
  • Convert the carbon in the gas into carbon dioxide.
  • Store the carbon dioxide in the Cygnus gas field via Bacton.
  • I also suspect, that if a Norfolk farmer, manufacturer or entrepreneur has a use for thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide, they would be welcomed with open arms.

Would the ultra-greens of this world, accept this power station as zero-carbon?

The Isabella And Seagull Gas Fields And The Broadshore Wind Farm

Could a similar set of projects be applied to the Isabella and Seagull gas fields, using the Broadshore wind farm?

I don’t see why not and they could work with the Peterhead power stations.

December 30, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shell’s Jackdaw Gas Field Given Go-Ahead By Regulators

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

These are the first two paragraphs.

Development of a major North Sea gas field has been approved by regulators.

The Jackdaw field, east of Aberdeen, has the potential to produce 6.5% of Britain’s gas output.

This is Greenpeace’s response

But environmental campaigners have condemned the move.

The activist group Greenpeace said it believed the approval could be unlawful and it was considering legal action.

“Approving Jackdaw is a desperate and destructive decision from Johnson’s government, and proves there is no long-term plan,” said Ami McCarthy, a political campaigner for Greenpeace.

I have my thoughts.

The Short Term Problem

We are all paying the high gas price, brought about by Vlad the Mad’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

On the other hand, I am all for cutting carbon emissions, but stopping the development of the Jackdaw gas field will do nothing to cut total emissions in the short term.

In my view, the only way to cut carbon emissions is to replace the use of natural gas with hydrogen or electricity produced by renewable sources like solar, tidal, wave or wind power.

This change to every heating system and important industries like cement, chemicals, glass and steelmaking to hydrogen and renewable energy is not a short term or low-cost project. Especially whilst we’re still recovering from the pandemic and trying to handle Vlad the Mad.

We will need a supply of natural gas for a few years and if we don’t have enough gas will Greenpeace and their ilk, be happy to see everybody freezing and a large increase in unemployment?

The Government is between a rock and a hard place, where they can either bow to Greenpeace or buy Putin’s bloodstained gas, where there are two alternatives.

  • Buy liquified natural gas (LNG) from countries like Australia, Canada, Qatar or the United States.
  • Develop our own proven resources.

The advantages of taking the second route include.

  • Some of the countries from where gas is available, have bizarre views on human rights and keeping their people safe.
  • Gas is transported over long distances in a liquid form. Liquifying natural gas uses a lot of energy. Is that energy renewable?
  • Countries from where gas is available are thousands of miles away. How much carbon dioxide will be emitted liquifying and transporting it?
  • Gas from our own resources is delivered by pipeline.
  • Development of gas fields like Jackdaw, will surely create employment in the UK.

At a first look, I feel that developing Jackdaw and other similar fields, may well be a sensible option to help us through these difficult times.

Exporting Gas To Europe

If you look at the geographical position, you would feel, that the gas will be landed at St. Fergus gas terminal, which is to the North of Aberdeen.

But no! The gas will be landed at Bacton in Norfolk through the SEAL pipeline, which is 475 km. long

Could this be because Shell want to make sure the South of England gets its gas?

Possibly, but much of the UK’s gas imports arrive at LNG terminals in the South.

But Bacton has other assets, in that it has two undersea gas pipelines to the Continent. One is to Belgium and the other is to the Netherlands.

Surely, if we export our gas to other countries, then it is their business what they do with the carbon dioxide.

Not our’s or Shell’s!

Perhaps, we should develop other proven gas fields, as they will create employment in the UK and valuable exports. It will also help our friends out in Europe, in their time of need!

Will Shell Play The Market?

I have just been informed, that recently, improvements have been made to the pipelines in the area and Jackdaw’s gas could now go to St. Fergus.

This surely would give the gas from Jackdaw three destinations.

  • Scotland via St. Fergus.
  • England via Bacton
  • Europe via Bacton and the undersea pipelines.

So will Shell play the markets?

If in the future, we start to produce massive amounts of green hydrogen, I’m sure Europe, will be happy to buy that instead.

Powering Platforms With Renewable Energy

The BBC article says this.

And it plans also to re-power its offshore platforms with renewable electricity rather than burning gas.

Looking at the map, Jackdaw will not be far from the 2 GW wind farm, that Shell are developing.

Will they build a short interconnector from this wind farm to the gas platforms of Jackdaw and other nearby fields?

Will Shell Produce Hydrogen Offshore?

This article on Gas Processing And LNG is entitled Construction Of World’s Largest PEM Electrolyzer Completed.

This is the first two paragraphs.

Air Liquide has completed the construction of the world’s largest PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) electrolyzer. Supplied with renewable energy, this unit is now producing up to 8.2 tons per day of low-carbon hydrogen in Bécancour, Québec. With this large-scale investment, the Group confirms its long-term commitment to the hydrogen energy markets and its ambition to be a major player in the supply of low-carbon hydrogen.

The new 20 MW PEM electrolyser, equipped with Cummins technology, is the largest operating unit of its kind in the world and will help meet the growing demand for low-carbon hydrogen in North America. Bécancour’s proximity to the main industrial markets in Canada and the United States will help ensure their supply of low-carbon hydrogen for industrial use and mobility. The commissioning of this electrolysis unit increases by 50% the capacity of Air Liquide’s Bécancour hydrogen production complex.

Note.

  1. This article is about a year old and electrolysers will get larger.
  2. 20 MW of electricity will produce 8.2 tons per day of low carbon or green hydrogen.
  3. It may surprise some, that the electrolyser has been built by Cummins, who are diesel engine manufacturers. They are a company, who appear to have seen the way the wind is blowing and are making sure they lead the revolution.

How much hydrogen could a 2 GW wind farm produce?

  • Wind farms have a capacity factor, which is how much energy they actually produce compared to their rating.
  • Shell’s 2 GW wind farm will be a floating wind farm and these typically have a capacity factor of at least 50 percent.
  • I will assume the capacity factor of 50 percent.

This will give 8,200 tonnes per day of green hydrogen. This is nearly three million tons per year.

How Will The Hydrogen Be Brought Ashore?

The HyDeploy project is investigating blending of hydrogen into our natural gas grid.

  • It appears that up to 25 % of hydrogen can be added without the need to change boilers and appliances.
  • This blending of hydrogen into our natural gas supply, would cut our carbon emissions by a worthwhile amount.

So will we see gas piped to nearby gas platforms like Jackdaw for blending with fresh virgin natural gas?

This would have the following advantages for Shell.

  • They wouldn’t need to install an electric cable to the shore with all its associated onshore and offshore substations.
  • The hydrogen could be brought ashore at either Bacton or St. Fergus gas terminals.
  • Shell could invite other local wind farms to share their electrolyser.
  • Shell would need to new onshore installations.

If Shell get this right, they could cut the project cost.

Will Shell Produce Blue Hydrogen Offshore?

I wonder if Shell have a cunning plan.

  • It is known, that Shell have developed a catalyst-based blue hydrogen process, which splits natural gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide, with the addition of oxygen from the air.
  • I suspect the process could need a lot of energy to work. But at least a GW from the nearby wind farm will probably be a good start.
  • Could that carbon dioxide be captured and stored in a depleted gas field.
  • The hydrogen could be piped to either Bacton or St. Fergus, as I previously described.

This hybrid method might be a more economic way to produce zero-carbon hydrogen.

Conclusion

I wouldn’t be surprised if Shell will produce hydrogen offshore.

 

June 2, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Shell Resurrects Plans For Rejected North Sea Gasfield

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.

This is the first two paragraphs.

Shell has submitted a revised plan for a North Sea gasfield that was rejected by regulators on environmental grounds last year.

The oil and gas major is seeking to develop the Jackdaw field, about 155 miles east of Aberdeen, which it says could produce 6.5 per cent of UK domestic gas output at peak — enough to heat 1.4 million homes. It hopes to start production in 2025 at the field, which would keep producing until 2033.

Other points in the article include.

  • The platform would be unmanned.
  • One of the problems with the field is that the gas naturally contains a lot of carbon dioxide.
  • Shell plans to capture and store this carbon dioxide.
  • The gas would be brought to shore using a nineteen mile pipeline to the Shearwater platform.

Surprisingly, the Shearwater platform is connected by the 295 mile SEAL pipeline to the Bacton terminal in Norfolk. But then Bacton is connected by the BBL pipeline to the Netherlands.

  • There are depleted gas fields connected to Bacton, that can be used to store the carbon dioxide from the Jackdaw gas field.
  • Shell manage the BBL pipeline.
  • Shell are sitting in the middle with gas, that can be sold to the highest bidder.

It could be good for Shell without a great deal of expenditure on infrastructure.

In the short term, Jackdaw could make up our gas shortage, but as we start to blend wind-produced hydrogen into the gas network, we can export the surplus gas to the Continent. Shell might have plans for other gas fields to participate in the export of British gas to Germany, that has been replaced by wind-produced hydrogen.

It would be an interesting point, as to who would be responsible for the carbon dioxide produced by Jackdaw’s gas, that is burned in Germany. I suspect it will be the Germans.

In the long-term, when Shearwater and Jackdaw have given up all their gas, I wonder if Shell’s plans could be.

  • Surround the platforms serving these fields with floating wind farms.
  • Put a giant electrolyser on the Shearwater platform and bring hydrogen to the shore in the SEAL pipeline.
  • Distribute the hydrogen from Bacton to the UK or through the BBL pipeline to the Continent.

I feel that Shell could do very nicely thank you out of the Jackdaw gas-field.

But it is also a plan, that produces a lot of energy, without emitting vast amounts of carbon dioxide.

 

March 19, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , | 1 Comment

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