UK Infrastructure Bank, Centrica & Partners Invest £300M in Highview Power Clean Energy Storage Programme To Boost UK’s Energy Security
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Highview Power.
This is the sub-heading.
Highview Power kickstarts its multi-billion pound renewable energy programme to accelerate the UK’s transition to net zero in Carrington, Manchester.
These three paragraphs outline the investment.
Highview Power has secured the backing of the UK Infrastructure Bank and the energy industry leader Centrica with a £300 million investment for the first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant in the UK.
The £300 million funding round was led by the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) and the British multinational energy and services company Centrica, alongside a syndicate of investors including Rio Tinto, Goldman Sachs, KIRKBI and Mosaic Capital.
The investment will enable the construction of one of the world’s largest long duration energy storage (LDES) facilities in Carrington, Manchester, using Highview Power’s proprietary LAES technology. Once complete, it will have a storage capacity of 300 MWh and an output power of 50 MWs per hour for six hours. Construction will begin on the site immediately, with the facility operational in early 2026, supporting over 700 jobs in construction and the supply chain.
Note.
- The backers are of a high quality.
- The Carrington LDES appears to be a 50 MW/300 MWh battery.
It finally looks like Highview Power is on its way.
These are my thoughts on the rest of news item.
Centrica’s Involvement
This paragraph talks about Centrica’s involvement.
Energy leader Centrica comes on board as Highview Power’s strategic partner and a key player in the UK’s energy transition, supporting Carrington and the accelerated roll-out of the technology in the UK through a £70 million investment. The programme will set the bar for storage energy systems around the world, positioning the UK as the global leader in energy storage and flexibility.
I suspect that Centrica have an application in mind.
In Centrica Business Solutions Begins Work On 20MW Hydrogen-Ready Peaker In Redditch, I talk about how Centrica is updating an old peaker plant.
In the related post I refer to this news item from Centrica Business Systems.
This paragraph in the Centrica Business Systems news item, outlines Centrica’s plans.
The Redditch peaking plant is part of Centrica’s plans to deliver around 1GW of flexible energy assets, that includes the redevelopment of several legacy-owned power stations, including the transformation of the former Brigg Power Station in Lincolnshire into a battery storage asset and the first plant in the UK to be part fuelled by hydrogen.
As Redditch power station is only 20 MW, Centrica could be thinking of around fifty assets of a similar size.
It seems to me, that some of these assets could be Highview Power’s LDES batteries of an appropriate size. They may even be paired with a wind or solar farm.
Larger Systems
Highview Power’s news item, also has this paragraph.
Highview Power will now also commence planning on the next four larger scale 2.5 GWh facilities (with a total anticipated investment of £3 billion). Located at strategic sites across the UK, these will ensure a fast roll-out of the technology to align with UK LDES support mechanisms and enable the ESO’s Future Energy Scenario Plans.
Elsewhere on their web site, Highview Power say this about their 2.5 GWh facilities.
Highview Power’s next projects will be located in Scotland and the North East and each will be 200MW/2.5GWh capacity. These will be located on the national transmission network where the wind is being generated and therefore will enable these regions to unleash their untapped renewable energy potential and store excess wind power at scale.
So will the four larger systems have a 200MW/2.5GWh capacity?
They could, but 200 MW may not be an appropriate output for the location. Or a longer duration may be needed.
Highview Power’s design gives the flexibility to design a system, that meets each application.
Working With National Grid
Highview Power’s news item, also has this sentence.
Highview Power’s technology will also provide stability services to the National Grid, which will allow for the long-term replacement of fossil fuel-based power plants for system support.
Highview Power’s technology is also an alternative to Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) of a similar capacity.
How does Highview Power’s technology compare with the best lithium-ion systems on price, performance and reliability?
Curtailment Of Wind Farms
Highview Power’s news item, also has these two paragraphs.
This storage will help reduce curtailment costs – which is significant as Britain spent £800m in 2023 to turn off wind farms.
Highview Power aims to accelerate the roll-out of its larger facilities across the UK by 2035 in line with one of National Grid’s target scenario forecasts of a 2 GW requirement from LAES, which would represent nearly 20% of the UK’s long duration energy storage needs. By capturing and storing excess renewable energy, which is now the cheapest form of electricity, storage can help keep energy costs from spiralling, and power Britain’s homes with 24/7 renewable clean energy.
I can see several wind farms, that are regularly curtailed would have a Highview Power battery installed at their onshore substation.
Receently, I wrote Grid Powers Up With One Of Europe’s Biggest Battery Storage Sites, which described how Ørsted are installing a 300 MW/600 MWh Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at Swardeston substation, where Hornsea Three connects to the grid.
I would suspect that the purpose of the battery is to avoid turning off the wind farm.
Would a Highview Power battery be better value?
What’s In It For Rio Tinto?
I can understand, why most companies are investing, but Rio Tinto are a mining company. My only thought is that they have a lot of redundant holes in the ground, that cost them a lot of money and by the use of Highview Power’s technology, they can be turned into productive assets.
Collateral Benefits
Highview Power’s news item, also has this paragraph.
Beyond contributing to the UK’s energy security by reducing the intermittency of renewables, Highview Power’s infrastructure programme will make a major contribution to the UK economy, requiring in excess of £9 billion investment in energy storage infrastructure over the next 10 years – with the potential to support over 6,000 jobs and generate billions of pounds in value add to the economy. It will also contribute materially to increasing utilisation of green energy generation, reducing energy bills for consumers and providing significantly improved energy stability and security.
If Highview Power can do that for the UK, what can it do for other countries?
No wonder companies of the quality of Centrica, Rio Tinto and Goldman Sachs are investing.
Recurrent Energy’s Middle Road Project Sold To Centrica
The title of this post, is the same as that pf this article on Solar Power Portal.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Recurrent Energy, a global solar and energy storage developer and a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, announced the sale of its 49.9 MWp Middle Road solar project in Harbury, Warwickshire, to Centrica Business Solutions. The subsidy-free project, slated for construction this summer, will commence operations in 2025.
The Middle Road project is just one piece of Recurrent Energy’s expanding UK pipeline, which boasts over 2.6 GWp of solar PV and 6.7 GWh of battery storage projects. This mirrors the broader trend of increased investment in UK solar. Indeed, Recurrent announced €1.3 billion of financing for EU and UK solar projects earlier this week.
This 49.9 MW solar project shows three ways to make money from a solar project.
The Developer
Recurrent Energy would appear to have developed the expertise to put together these solar farms and do all the legals and administration to connect them to the National Grid.
They obviously can show their financial backers, the cash flow, that the farms generates.
So if you’re good at building solar farms, I suspect you can develop a substantial pipeline of projects, each with their own case flow.
The Operator
Initially in the early days, Recurrent Energy will probably be the operator, so they can sort out any teething problems and build the financial profile of the site.
The Owner
But as at Middle Road, they may decide to cash in their investment.
Centrica have now taken over the ownership and they can operate the farm themselves or pay, Recurrent Energy a fee.
Note.
- Developer, operator and owner all have ways of making money from this solar farm.
- Developer and owner can use the solar farm, as an asset on which to raise money.
- Similar cash flows and inside probably apply to batteries and wind farms.
By buying, selling and updating the various assets, a financial operator, can use their assets to make money.
As Centrica are also an electricity supplier, they can probably suggest to developers, where a solar farm or battery-electric storage system is needed.
Are Centrica Developing A Pipeline Of Projects?
In Centrica Set For Solar Boost With Acquisition Of Two Projects In South-West England, I talked about how Centrica had acquired two projects in South-West England.
The Middle Road project is the third project that Centrica has purchased this year.
As a Control and Electrical Engineer, I know, that by careful management of the assets, Centrica can achieve the following.
- Delivery of electricity to their customers at a competitive price.
- If a battery is included in the local grid, higher supply reliability can be achieved.
- Batteries also allow the local network to carry out other tasks, like frequency stabilisation.
The flexibility of the local network should allow other assets to be added.
Korean Hydrogen Bus Adoption Emerging To Block Low-Priced Electric Buses From China
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on BusinessKorea.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Major Korean business groups such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and POSCO are expanding the introduction of hydrogen buses. They are more efficient than electric buses, and can run 635 kilometers on a single charge, making them suitable for long-distance commuting. Expanding hydrogen mobility, including buses, is considered the first step in building an entire hydrogen ecosystem.
SK Group is one of the most active companies in expanding hydrogen buses. According to SK Group on May 26, SK siltron has decided to replace its commuter buses for employees of its Gumi plant in North Gyeongsang Province with hydrogen buses. Additional deployments are under consideration after a pilot run in the first half of the year. In early May, SK hynix introduced three of the Universe model, Hyundai’s hydrogen bus for commuting. SK E&S recently completed the world’s largest liquefied hydrogen plant in Incheon and plans to soon expand its hydrogen refueling stations nationwide to 20.
The Korean bus seem to have developed a strategy to protect themselves from the Chinese.
I have a few thoughts.
Korea And HiiROC
Hyundai and Kia have joined Centrica in taking stakes in Hull-based startup HiiROC, which I wrote about in Meet HiiROC, The Startup Making Low-Cost Hydrogen Free From Emissions.
London’s Future Bus Fleet
There are rumours on the Internet that Sadiq Khan, will replace all London’s buses with new Chinese buses.
How will I get around, as I don’t ride in anything that was made in China?
Conclusion
We live in interesting times.
Developing A Rural Hydrogen Network
On my last stud farm, we had three regular fuel deliveries.
- Propane to heat the house and offices.
- Red diesel to power the tractor and farm machinery.
- Road diesel to power the horse box and a couple of diesel cars, that went on the roads.
Note.
- Like most farms in the UK, we didn’t have mains gas.
- The local low-life of whom you never speak their name, used to regularly steal the diesel.
- Stealing of diesel in rural areas of the UK is a big industry.
- The police did nothing to stop the thefts as the culprits are untouchable.
- We had two boilers, that both ran on the propane.
- Modern boilers can be converted from propane to use hydrogen.
- All cars, trucks, farm vehicles and machinery on the stud farm could in the future use hydrogen.
Propane and diesel would be replaced by clean hydrogen.
Delivering The Fuel
Consider.
- Propane and diesel are currently delivered in rural areas by truck.
- Hydrogen will be delivered the same way and stored in a tank designed for hydrogen, which could be similar in appearance to current propane tanks.
- Boilers would be directly piped to the hydrogen tank.
- The technology exists to fill hydrogen-powered vehicles and equipment from hydrogen tanks.
- I believe that a thief-proof hydrogen tank would be possible.
- The hydrogen will be delivered as needed in a hydrogen-powered truck.
I believe companies like Centrica, will develop the technology so that farms and businesses could have their own hydrogen system.
Supplying The Hydrogen
Electrolysers would be needed around the country.
Some could be based on nuclear sites, where others could be powered by offshore wind.
Hydrogen Safety
Hydrogen safety has its own Wikipedia entry.
The entry starts with a description of the Hindenberg Disaster, which has a detailed Wikipedia entry of its own.
I’ve spoken to someone, who was there; Dory Previn, who later wrote a song about it.
The Hydrogen safety Wikipedia entry has this paragraph.
There are many codes and standards regarding hydrogen safety in storage, transport, and use. These range from federal regulations, ANSI/AIAA, NFPA, and ISO standards. The Canadian Hydrogen Safety Program concluded that hydrogen fueling is as safe as, or safer than, compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling,
I’ve also talked to German schoolchildren about their hydrogen trains and as you are educated about hydrogen, the fear decreases and the safety increases.
Hydrogen-Powered Lawnmowers And Garden Tractors
Everybody likes a lush, green lawn.
Surely, yours is better, if your lawnmower emits no carbon dioxide!
Electric will work, but if you have a hydrogen-powered lawnmower, that can be filled from your central heating tank, that is better.
Collateral Benefits
These would be collateral benefits.
- One set of tankers would be replaced by a single zero-carbon hydrogen tanker, thus reducing road traffic.
- I believe there would be less fuel theft.
- Rural businesses, that needed gas like blacksmiths could be supplied.
- A lot of buildings with a propane-fuelled boiler could be converted to hydrogen.
It would be a path to decarbonisation of the rural economy.
How Big Is The Off-Grid Energy Market?
A document on the House of Commons web site says this.
An estimated 4.4 million households across Great Britain were not connected to the gas grid in 2021. This was 15.1% of domestic properties.
If the average gas bill is £100/month, then that is £1200/year, which works out at £5,280,000,000.
When you add in off-grid businesses, that would need fuel and hydrogen fuel for vehicles and agricultural equipment, the market can’t be much short of £10 billion.
Conclusion
As it is a multi-billion pound marketplace. someone will develop it.
Sizewell C And Hydrogen
The Sizewell C web site has a page with a title of Hydrogen and SZC.
The page asks this question.
Why Does Sizewell C Want To Produce Hydrogen?
It gives this answer.
Nuclear is a great way of producing hydrogen as it generates huge amounts of reliable, low-carbon energy. Nuclear and hydrogen are also two clean technologies that can help us make big reductions in carbon emissions. While both technologies are vital on their own, at Sizewell C we have an exciting vision to bring them together.
The page is worth a read about how they will use the hydrogen, which will include.
- Providing Wrightbus hydrogen-powered buses to link the main construction site with Park-and-Ride sites on the A 12 at Darsham and Wickham Market.
- Powering vehicles and machinery on the main construction site.
- Supplying hydrogen to Freeport East.
- Refuelling hydrogen vehicles.
I have a few thoughts.
Supplying Hydrogen To Users
On my last stud farm, we had three fuel deliveries.
- Propane to heat the house.
- Red diesel to power the farm machinery.
- Road diesel to power the horse box and a couple of diesel cars, that went on the roads.
Note.
- Like most farms in East Anglia, we didn’t have mains gas.
- The local low-life of whom you never speak their name, used to regularly steal the diesel.
- We had two boilers, that ran on the propane.
- All farm vehicles and machinery will in the future use hydrogen.
- Propane and diesel would be replaced by clean hydrogen.
I believe companies like Centrica, will develop the technology so that farms and businesses could have their own hydrogen system, that would be topped-up accordingly, by road tankers, which themselves would be fuelled by hydrogen.
One set of tankers would be replaced by another zero-carbon set.
Sizewell sits on the Suffolk Coast and it appears, there will be a new road link to the A 12, which connects to Suffolk’s main road system.
This map shows Sizewell C and East Suffolk.
Note.
- The Sizewell site is outlined in pink on the coast, about halfway up the map.
- The A 12 road and the East Suffolk Line run almost parallel to the coast between Ipswich in the South and Lowestoft and Yarmouth in the North.
Energy use in East Suffolk would be transformed and all because there will be a plentiful supply of zero-carbon hydrogen.
Hydrogen And The Arts
Suffolk has been an artistic county for hundreds of years and some works of art, like casting bronzes, firing pottery or working with glass or wrought iron need a lot of energy. Local hydrogen networks supplied by tanker, as propane is now could help to decarbonise one of the most difficult of professions.
Pink Hydrogen
This page on the National Grid web site explains the various hydrogen colours.
It describes pink hydrogen like this.
Pink hydrogen is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy. Nuclear-produced hydrogen can also be referred to as purple hydrogen or red hydrogen.
In addition, the very high temperatures from nuclear reactors could be used in other hydrogen productions by producing steam for more efficient electrolysis or fossil gas-based steam methane reforming.
I also call it Barbie hydrogen.
Sizewell C would be an ideal place to create pink hydrogen.
Before Sizewell C is up and running, the electrolyser at Sizewell could be powered by Sizewell B or even offshore wind.
Centrica Set For Solar Boost With Acquisition Of Two Projects In South-West England
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
These three bullet points act as sub-headings.
- Two green energy schemes adding 32MW of solar and battery capacity – enough to power 7,800 homes per year
- Site in Dorset sees construction of a 16MW solar farm and 3MW of battery storage, with a second operational site in Wiltshire adding 13MW of solar capacity
- Investment part of Centrica’s £4bn green-focused investment plan by 2028
These four paragraphs give more details of the Dorset site.
In Dorset, the business has acquired development rights for the construction of a 16MW solar farm and 3MW battery storage plant near Winterborne Whitechurch.
The project breaks ground in early 2024, with the first power exported to the grid in 2025.
The site at Winterborne Whitechurch will be a co-located asset, with the solar farm and battery storage facilities using the same connection point to the grid, helping to maximise the grid connection.
The site is able to power 4,600 homes a year, supported by the battery that can deliver two-hours of energy for a similar number of properties.
But this is no bog-standard wind farm with an attached battery.
This web site introduces Blandford Hill Eco Hub.
This is the second paragraph on the web site’s home page.
The Blandford Hill Eco Hub project consists of an electric vehicle (EV) charging station, a 15 megawatt ground-mounted solar farm and a 3 megawatt battery storage faciality on land south of the A354 at Blandford Hill, Winterborne Whitechurch near Blandford Forum in Dorset. By combining green electricity generation, storage and charging, we’re maximising the green potential with charging for up to 19 EVs at a time.
Note.
- It’s rather a coincidence that the solar farm and battery are almost the same size to those in Centrica’s acquisition.
- The site appears to have been developed by a company called the Pegasus Group, that has used the trade name of Naturalis.
- It does look to me, that Centrica have bought this electric vehicle service station site.
- Centrica get a site to charge nineteen EVs at a time, with its own solar farm and battery.
- The location close to the village means that staff from the village could walk or cycle to work.
- All plans and planning permissions have been thought through and obtained.
- The site even has a dog-walking area, so you can walk the dog, whilst charging your car.
Perhaps, Centrica have a plan to roll out lots of electric vehicle service stations and it was cheaper to buy a innovative prototype, than do the research themselves?
Pegasus Group do seem to design quality projects.
This Google Map shows the location of the site.
Note.
- The village is Winterborne Whitechurch.
- The road going South-West and North-East is the A354 road, which runs between Dorchester in the South-West and Blandford Forum in the North-East.
- The electric vehicle service station appears to be in the large field to the South of the A 354.
It looks like the service station meets the three most important properties of a development; location, location and location.
Could This Site Be Updated To Hydrogen?
Consider.
- Centrica have a substantial interest in a company called HiiROC, who use a technique called plasma electrolysis to extract hydrogen from any hydrocarbon gas.
- The HiiROC process could be used to extract hydrogen from methane, where there is a reliable electricity supply.
- If Winterborne Whitechurch is connected to the gas grid, then I’m certain, that a HiiROC system connected to the solar farm/battery system should be able to fuel passing hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Updates like this could see hydrogen-powered vehicles finally increase their market share.
The Second Site In Wiltshire
This paragraph details the Wiltshire site.
In addition, the business has also acquired the operational Roundponds Solar Farm in Wiltshire. The 13MW solar farm was commissioned in 2015 and is capable of providing energy for around 3,200 homes every year.
This looks like one of those investments, where big companies let small companies get all the permissions and build the asset, before they buy it.
Conclusion
These two projects fit into Centrica’s future development plan.
The last paragraphs, gives a few details of some of Centrica’s new assets.
The Winterborne and Roundponds projects will contribute towards Centrica’s long-term plan to deliver a portfolio of green energy transition assets. They follow the construction of an 18MW solar farm at Codford, Wiltshire which was commissioned in 2023 and a 20MW hydrogen-ready gas-fired peaking plant in Worcestershire. In addition, Centrica is delivering a 50MW battery storage project in Brigg, Lincolnshire, which is nearing completion.
It will be interesting to see what other assets Centrica acquire in the next couple of years.
Centrica And Moog Inc. Agree Major Solar Power Purchase Agreement
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
Centrica Business Solutions has completed a long-term solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with aerospace defence designer and manufacturer, Moog Inc. The solar array will accelerate the decarbonisation of its aerospace manufacturing site in Wolverhampton and help the business achieve its net zero goals.
These three paragraphs introduce the project.
The agreement sees Centrica lease roof space from Moog Inc. to install a 2,200 solar panel array capable of generating circa 1MW. The energy company will finance the project and have agreed on a PPA with Moog Inc. for the renewable electricity generated on site.
Construction is set to complete in the spring and the panels will provide Moog Inc. with 800 MWh of renewable, reliable energy every year for the next 25 years – around 10 per cent of the site’s existing electricity requirements.
This gives Moog Inc. price certainty and access to green electricity without any upfront costs, and it will reduce operational CO2 emissions by 175 tonnes every year.
Note.
- The roof is one of Centrica’s biggest roof top solar arrays to date.
- It’s the first retrofit on an existing manufacturing plant of a solar array for Moog Inc. and wthe’re looking forward to doing more.
The Wikipedia entry for Moog Inc. starts with this paragraph.
Moog is an American-based designer and manufacturer of electric, electro-hydraulic and hydraulic motion, controls and systems for applications in aerospace, defense, industrial and medical devices. The company operates under four segments: aircraft controls, space and defense controls, industrial controls, and components. Moog is headquartered in Elma, New York and has sales, engineering, and manufacturing facilities in twenty-six countries.
Bill Moog, who founded the company, was a cousin of the guy who invented the Moog synthesizer.
Their products feature on the Airbus A 350, the Boeing 787, the Lockheed Martin F 35 and are used to operate the roofs on Centre Court and Court One at Wimbledon.
Conclusion
We will see a lot more solar installations like these.
I am not sure of the type of solar panels used on Moog’s Wolverhampton factory, but these roofs must be an ideal place to use BIPVco steel solar panels as Network Rail used at Denmark Hill station.
This roof became operational in 2021.
This picture shows a Ventum Dynamics turbine on Skegness Pier.
On the Ventum Dynamics web site, there are several pictures of buildings with flat roofs, that have several turbines on each.
I believe these turbines would fit neatly on some large industrial roofs with solar panels to form an efficient wind/solar application.
The Modern Way To Grow Tomatoes
I was looking around the Centrica Business Solutions web site, when I found this page, which is entitled Second CHP Powers New Greenhouses At Frank Rudd & Sons, that describes how tomatoes are grown in large greenhouses.
These paragraphs introduce Frank Rudd & Sons and what they do.
Frank Rudd & Sons is a family-run producer of cherry vine and plum tomatoes, generating around 1,500 tonnes of produce every year. Based in Over Peover, near Knutsford, the business was started in 1939 and is now run by the third generation of the Rudd family.
Their greenhouses use an innovative growing system, with suspended grow bags full of nutrient seed. This means they’re able to grow tomatoes for 11 months of the year – and also means they have a continual need for heat.
What’s more, when they constructed new greenhouses – going from 9 acres of glass to 15 acres – Frank Rudd & Sons needed an energy partner who could support their increase in demand.
These paragraphs describes Centrica Business Solutions’s solution.
Centrica Business Solutions originally partnered with Frank Rudd & Sons in 2017 to install a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit to power their operations. When Frank Rudd & Sons began to expand their greenhouses in 2023, they needed to install a second CHP to meet their increased demand. Once again, they invited Centrica Business Solutions to support.
We designed and installed a turnkey 1.5MW CHP system to power their production processes. The CHP generates heat and carbon dioxide, which are both fed into their greenhouses and are vital components to the growing process. The system also generates electricity, which Frank Rudd & Sons sells back to the grid through an export agreement – giving the business a significant ongoing revenue stream.
One of the pictures shows that the CHP unit is from Rolls-Royce mtu.
National Gas To Trial Gravitricity’s H2 Storage Solution
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.
This is the sub-heading.
Gravitricity’s H2FlexiStore system for underground hydrogen storage could see a pilot built in 2025 after National Gas secured Ofgem funding to explore the technology.
There is then a graphic, which gives a good visual explanation.
The patented system uses lined geological shafts to store up to 100 tonnes of pressurised hydrogen at 220 bar, equivalent to about 3.33GWh of energy. Unlike natural storage such as salt caverns and disused gas fields, the shafts can be sited anywhere. Gravitricity has previously stated its preference for co-locating the storage near to renewable generation and potential major consumers of hydrogen such as heavy industry.
I can see that this simple system can have a lot of diverse uses.
In Centrica Completes Work On 20MW Hydrogen-Ready Peaker In Redditch, I talked about how Centrica had refurbished a decommissioned peaker plant.
One of these stores would keep a 20 MW peaker plant running for a week.
It would also work well with a HiiROC hydrogen system.
Centrica Completes Work On 20MW Hydrogen-Ready Peaker In Redditch
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
Construction is complete on Centrica’s new 20MW hydrogen-blend-ready gas-fired peaking plant in Worcestershire, transforming the previously decommissioned Redditch power plant.
These paragraphs give more details of the project.
The plant is designed to support times of high or peak demand for electricity. Peaking plants only operate when production from renewables can’t meet demand, supporting the energy transition by maintaining a stable electricity supply. The Redditch site can power the equivalent of 2,000 homes for a full day, helping to maintain stability and reliability on the grid.
The plant is capable of using a blend of natural gas and hydrogen, futureproofing the site and supporting the UK’s transition towards a decarbonised energy system.
The Redditch peaking plant forms part of Centrica’s plans to invest between £600m – £800m a year until 2028 in renewable generation, security of supply, and its customers, including building out a portfolio of flexible energy assets. That includes the redevelopment of several legacy power stations, including the Brigg Energy Park in to a power generation and battery storage asset, and the first power station in the UK to be part-fuelled by hydrogen.
I also wrote Centrica Business Solutions Begins Work On 20MW Hydrogen-Ready Peaker In Redditch, about this project.
HiiROC
I wonder if this power station will be fitted with a HiiROC system, which will split the natural gas into two useful products; hydrogen and carbon black.
I wrote about HiiROC in Centrica Partners With Hull-Based HiiRoc For Hydrogen Fuel Switch Trial At Humber Power Plant.
I can see lots of HiiROC systems creating a hydrogen feed, to decarbonise various processes.
Whose Engines Are Used At Redditch?
Centrica still haven’t disclosed, whose engines they are using.
The Anonymous Widower 