Nuclear Plan For Decommissioned Coal Power Station
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Nuclear power could be generated on the site of a former coal power station in Nottinghamshire.
These first four paragraphs add details.
Cottam Power Station was decommissioned in 2019, and in August its eight 114m (375ft) cooling towers were demolished.
Three businesses – American energy firm Holtec International, EDF UK, and real estate manager Tritax – have now signed an agreement to set up a small modular reactor (SMR) to power “advanced” data centres at the 900-acre site.
Holtec said the project could create “thousands of high-skilled manufacturing and construction jobs”, as well as “long-term roles”.
The SMR at Cottam would be the second of its kind, following the creation of a plant at Palisades in Michigan, in the US.
Note.
- Cottam was a 2,000 MW power station, that could run on coal, oil and biomass.
- If a nuclear power station is built at Cottam, it will be one of the first nuclear stations not close to the coast.
I asked Google AI for details of the plant at Palisades in Michigan and received this reply.
The Palisades SMR project at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan will feature two Holtec SMR-300 units, each producing at least 300 megawatts of power, for a combined total of at least 600-640 megawatts of net power. This project aims to have the first US dual-unit SMR 300 system operational by 2030, and the SMRs are designed to produce electricity and provide steam for other industrial purposes.
It does appear that the new generation of reactors from Holtec, Rolls-Royce and X-energy are smaller than many nuclear reactors built in the last twenty years.
This Google Map shows the Cottam site.
Note.
- The River Trent surrounds the site.
- Could the Trent be used for cooling water?
- The cooling towers are still in place, so the image must have been taken before August.
- The sub-station is in the South-West corner of the site.
- The railway over Torksey viaduct is disused.
It would appear that there is generous space for the SMRs and a few data centres.
The Cottam Solar Project
In DCO Decision On 480MW West Burton Solar NSIP Delayed Until 2025, I wrote about three large solar projects in Eastern England.
The Cottam Solar Project was one of the projects and wants to use the Cottam site.
- The Cottam Solar Project has a web site.
- It will have a capacity of 600 MW, with a battery, with a battery with a 600 MW output and a 600 MWh capacity.
- The solar farm will use the grid connection of the former coal-powered Cottam power station.
- The project is massive and will cover 1270 hectares.
Will this solar project lease space for the SMR, so they can co-exist?
Conclusion
It does appear that there are more than one use for old coal-fired power station sites.
Back To The Dark Ages In West Virginia?
This article on WBOY is entitled West Virginia Senators Aim To Revitalize Coal Industry.
These are the introductory paragraphs.
If you’re tired of rising utility bills, you are not alone. West Virginia senators say they share the same feelings and believe the answer is right under our feet.
Revitalizing West Virginia’s coal industry and bringing down utility costs for customers is the goal of two pieces of legislation originating in the Senate.
A resolution known as the Coal Renaissance Act aims to keep current coal operations running as well as open up new opportunities for the industry, expanding mining in West Virginia.
According to Senators in support of the act, the optimum capacity factor for coal plants to run at is 69%. Currently, industry leaders say that number is down to around 30% to 40%.
A new bill known as the Reliable and Affordable Electricity Act incentivizes utility companies to rely on West Virginia coal.
There is also going to be a Senate bill, that will abolish tax breaks for wind farms.
In the UK, it is my belief, that coal died with the Aberfan disaster in 1966, which is described in this first paragraph of the disaster’s Wikipedia entry.
The Aberfan disaster (Welsh: Trychineb Aberfan) was the catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip on 21 October 1966. The tip had been created on a mountain slope above the Welsh village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, and overlaid a natural spring. Heavy rain led to a build-up of water within the tip which caused it to suddenly slide downhill as a slurry, killing 116 children and 28 adults as it engulfed Pantglas Junior School and a row of houses. The tip was the responsibility of the National Coal Board (NCB), and the subsequent inquiry placed the blame for the disaster on the organisation and nine named employees.
I do have memories of coal mining in my brain.
- As a young child, I can remember being driven past the Kentish collieries and seeing the blackened landscape of the Garden of England.
- Newspapers of the 1950s and 1960s published, their share of mining disasters.
- In the 1980s, I drove through coal mining country in the United States and was appalled at all the fumes and smoke from the coal-fired power stations and the trucks delivering coal. Nothing as civilised as a merry-go-round train was used.
- In 2015, I visited Katowice and wrote An Excursion In Katowice. The air was thick with coal smoke from the coal-fired power stations.
I also remember at the Jobs Fair, when I left Liverpool University in 1968, seeing the recruiter from the National Coal Board sitting there alone, as if he’d got the plague. Graduates had decided, that no way, were they going to work in the coal industry.
The West Virginia senators, should be certified, if they want to bring back coal.
Last Of The Many
I took a train to East Midlands Parkway station, this morning and took these pictures of the cooling towers of the last coal-fired power station to generate electricity in the UK.
Note.
- The power station was commissioned in 1968.
- It has a nameplate capacity of 2.116 GW.
- Dogger Bank wind farm is intended to have a capacity of 3 GW
- There are eight cooling towers.The diesel locomotive hauling a freight train past the site is a Class 66 locomotive.
- These locomotives are likely to be scrapped in the next few years, to improve air quality in areas, where they run. Some will be replaced by electric or even hydrogen locomotives.
This Google Map shows a map view of the power station in 2024.
As the famous estate agent Roy Brooks would have said in the 1960s, it is a site with enormous potential.
Ensuring A Sustainable Future For A Coal-Fired Power Station Site Approaching Closure
The title of this section is that of an ARUP report on the future of the Radcliffe-on-Soar site.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Operating for more than 50 years, the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station closed in September 2024. Its buildings, cooling towers and other structures will be decommissioned and demolished, making the site and surrounding land suitable to be redeveloped as a zero-carbon technology and energy hub for the East Midlands. Arup, working with Uniper, the site owner, supported Rushcliffe Borough Council to establish a Local Development Order (LDO) to make the most out of the potential development opportunities of the site.
ARUP’s report is a good start for one of the most important sites in the Midlands.
Energy In – Hydrogen And Carbon Dioxide Out
This article was inspired by this article in the Sunday Times, which is entitled ‘It’s A Slog’: Life Inside Britain’s Last Coal Power Station.
The article is about Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, which is next to East Midlands Parkway station.
This is the first paragraph of the station’s Wikipedia entry.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by Uniper at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, England. Commissioned in 1968 by the Central Electricity Generating Board, the station has a capacity of 2,000 MW. It is the last remaining operational coal-fired power station in the UK, and is scheduled to close in September 2024.
I took these pictures of the power station in 2019.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar is the last of a number of large coal-fired power stations, that were built in the area, mainly along the River Trent.
- Rugeley – 600 MW – 1961
- Drakelow – 1630 MW – 1964
- Willington – 800 MW – 1962
- Castle Donington – 600 MW – 1958
- Ratcliffe-on-Soar – 2000 MW – 1968
- High Marnham – 1000 MW – 1959
- Cottam – 2000 MW – 1968
- West Burton – 2000 MW – 1968
Note.
- The date is the commissioning date.
- That is 10,630 MW of electricity.
- There are also a few large gas-fired power stations along the river, that are still operating.
- Both coal and gas-fired stations use the water from the River Trent for cooling.
At the mouth of the river, there is the Keadby cluster of gas-fired power stations.
- Keadby 1 – 734 MW – 1996
- Keadby 2 – 849 MW – 2023
- Keadby 3 – 910 MW – 2027
- Keadby Hydrogen – 900 MW – 2030
Note.
- The date is the commissioning date.
- That is 3,393 MW of electricity.
- Keadby 2 is the most efficient CCGT in the world.
- Keadby 3 will be fitted with carbon capture.
- Keadby 2 has been designed to be retrofitted with carbon capture.
- Keadby Hydrogen will be fuelled by zero-carbon hydrogen.
As the years progress, I can see the Keadby cluster of power stations becoming a large zero-carbon power station to back-up wind farms in the North Sea.
- Hydrogen power stations will emit no carbon dioxide.
- Carbon dioxide from all gas-fired stations will be captured.
- Some carbon dioxide will be sold on, to companies who can use it, in industries like construction, agriculture and chemical manufacture.
- The remaining carbon dioxide will be stored in depleted gas fields.
As technology improves, more carbon dioxide will be used rather than stored.
Other Power Sources In The Humberside Area
In the next few sub-sections, I will list the other major power sources in the Humberside area.
Drax Power Station
Drax power station is a shadow of its former self, when it was one of the power stations fed by the newly discovered Selby coalfield.
These days it is a 2,595 MW biomass-fired power station.
Eastern Green Link 2
Eastern Green Link 2 will be a 2 GW interconnector between Peterhead in Scotland and Drax.
It is shown in this map.
Note.
- Most of the route is underwater.
- It is funded by National Grid.
- Contracts have been signed, as I talk about in Contracts Signed For Eastern Green Link 2 Cable And Converter Stations.
- It is scheduled to be completed by 2029.
This interconnector will bring up to 2 GW of Scottish wind-generated electricity to Drax and Humberside.
Drax has the substations and other electrical gubbins to distribute the electricity efficiently to where it is needed.
2 GW could also reduce the amount of biomass used at Drax.
In the long term, if the concept of the four Eastern Green Links is successful, I could see another Eastern Green Link to Drax to replace imported biomass at Drax.
I also, don’t see why a smaller Drax can’t be run on locally-sourced biomass.
Solar Farms And Batteries Along The River Trent
As the coal-fired power stations along the River Trent are demolished, solar farm developers have moved in to develop large solar farms.
Salt End Power Station And Chemical Works
These two paragraphs from the Wikipedia entry for Salt End describes the hamlet and its power station and chemical works.
Salt End or Saltend is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in an area known as Holderness. It is situated on the north bank of the Humber Estuary just outside the Hull eastern boundary on the A1033 road. It forms part of the civil parish of Preston.
Salt End is dominated by a chemical park owned by PX group, and a gas-fired power station owned by Triton Power. Chemicals produced at Salt End include acetic acid, acetic anhydride, ammonia, bio-butanol, bio-ethanol, ethyl acetate (ETAC) and ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) with animal feed also being produced on site.
I wonder, if running the complex on hydrogen would give cost and marketing advantages.
Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage Facility
This page on the SSE Thermal web site is entitled Plans For World-Leading Hydrogen Storage Facility At Aldbrough.
This is the most significant paragraph of the page, that is definitely a must-read.
With an initial expected capacity of at least 320GWh, Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage would be significantly larger than any hydrogen storage facility in operation in the world today. The Aldbrough site is ideally located to store the low-carbon hydrogen set to be produced and used in the Humber region.
This is a hydrogen storage facility for a much wider area than Humberside.
Rough Gas Storage Facility
This is the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry for the Rough Gas Storage Facility.
Rough is a natural gas storage facility under the North Sea off the east coast of England. It is capable of storing 100 billion cubic feet of gas, nearly double the storage capacities in operation in Great Britain in 2021.
In Wood To Optimise Hydrogen Storage For Centrica’s Rough Field, I describe Centrica’s plans to convert the Rough gas storage into a massive hydrogen storage.
The Location Of Aldbrough Gas Storage, Rough Gas Storage, Salt End And Easington Gas Terminal
This Google Map shows between Salt End and the coast.
Note.
- The river crossing the South-West corner of the map is the Humber.
- Salt End with its power station and chemical works is on the North Bank of the Humber, where the river leaves the map.
- Aldbrough Gas Storage is marked by the red arrow at the top of the map.
- Easington Gas Terminal is in the South-East corner of the map.
- According to Wikipedia, gas flows into and out of the Rough Gas Storage are managed from Easington.
Looking at the map, I feel that the following should be possible.
- The two gas storage sites could be run together.
- Salt End power station and the related chemical works could run on hydrogen.
- Salt End will always have a reliable source of hydrogen.
- This hydrogen could be green if required.
All the chemical works at Salt End, could be run on a zero-carbon basis. Would this mean premium product prices? Just like organic does?
Enter The Germans
The Germans have a huge decarbonisation problem, with all their coal-fired power stations and other industry.
Three massive projects will convert much of the country and industry to hydrogen.
- H2ercules, which is a project of OGE and RWE, will create a hydrogen network to bring hydrogen, to where it is needed.
- In Uniper To Make Wilhelmshaven German Hub For Green Hydrogen; Green Ammonia Import Terminal, I describe how Uniper are going to build a hydrogen import terminal at Wilhelmshaven.
- AquaVentus is an RWE project that will use 10.3 GW of offshore wind power in German territorial waters to create a million tonnes per year of green hydrogen.
These would appear to be three of Europe’s largest hydrogen projects, that few have ever heard of.
AquaVentus And The UK
This video shows the structure of AquaVentus.
I clipped this map from the video.
Note.
- The thick white line running North-West/South-East is the spine of AquaVentus, that delivers hydrogen to Germany.
- There is a link to Denmark.
- There appears to be an undeveloped link to Norway.
- There appears to be an undeveloped link to Peterhead in Scotland.
- There appears to be a link to just North of the Humber in England.
- Just North of the Humber are the two massive gas storage sites of Aldbrough owned by SSE and Brough owned by Centrica.
- There appear to be small ships sailing up and down the East Coast of the UK. Are these small coastal tankers, that are distributing the hydrogen to where it is needed?
In the last century, the oil industry, built a substantial oil and gas network in the North Sea.
It appears now the Germans are leading the building of a substantial hydrogen network in the North Sea.
These are my thoughts about development of the AquaVentus network.
Hydrogen Production And AquaVentus
This RWE graphic shows the layout of the wind farms feeding AquaVentus.
Note.
- There is a total of 10.3 GW.
- Is one of the 2 GW web sites on the UK-side of AquaVentus, the 3 GW Dogger Bank South wind farm, which is being developed by RWE?
- Is the 0.3 GW wind farm, RWE’s Norfolk wind farm cluster, which is also being developed by RWE?
Connecting wind farms using hydrogen pipelines to Europe, must surely mitigate the pylon opposition problem from Nimbys in the East of England.
As the AquaVentus spine pipeline could eventually connect to Peterhead, there will be other opportunities to add more hydrogen to AquaVentus.
Hydrogen Storage And AquaVentus
For AquaVentus to work efficiently and supply a large continuous flow of hydrogen to all users, there would need to be storage built into the system.
As AquaVentus is around 200 kilometres in length and natural gas pipelines can be up to 150 centimetres in diameter, don’t underestimate how much hydrogen can be stored in the pipeline system itself.
This page on the Uniper web site is entitled Green Wilhelmshaven: To New Horizons.
This is a sentence on the page.
Access to local hydrogen underground storage at the Etzel salt cavern site.
An Internet search gives the information, that Etzel gas storage could be developed to hold 1 TWh of hydrogen.
That would be enough hydrogen to supply 10 GW for a hundred hours.
Note that the UK branch of AquaVentus reaches the UK, just to the South of the massive hydrogen storage facilities at Aldbrough and Rough.
It would appear that both Germany and the UK are connected to AquaVentus through substantial storage.
I am certain, that all country connections to AquaVentus will have substantial storage at the country’s hydrogen terminal.
AquaDuctus
This would appear to be the first part of the AquaVentus network and has its own web site.
The web site is entitled Nucleus Of A Offshore Hydrogen Backbone.
These are the first two paragraphs.
The project partners are focusing on a scalable, demand-driven infrastructure: By 2030, AquaDuctus will connect the first large hydrogen wind farm site, SEN-1, with a generation capacity of approximately one gigawatt. SEN-1 is located in the German EEZ in the northwest of Helgoland. The pipeline will transport at a length of approx. 200 km green hydrogen produced from offshore wind to the German mainland and from there to European consumers via the onshore hydrogen infrastructure.
In the next project stage, AquaDuctus will be extended to the remote areas of the German exclusive economic zone towards the tip of the so-called duck’s bill. By that, additional future hydrogen wind farm sites will be connected. Along its way AquaDuctus will provide interconnection points with the opportunity for linking of adjacent national offshore hydrogen infrastructures originating from Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and United Kingdom which opens the door for Europe-wide offshore hydrogen transport by pipeline.
There is also an interactive map, that gives more details.
This paragraph explains, why the Germans have chosen to bring the energy ashore using hydrogen, rather than traditional cables.
Recent studies show that offshore hydrogen production and transport via pipelines is faster, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly than onshore electrolysis with a corresponding connection of offshore wind turbines via power cables. The German federal government has also recognized this advantage and has clearly expressed its intention to promote offshore hydrogen production in the North Sea.
I suspect, that some UK offshore wind farms will use the same techniques.
Hydrogen Production For The UK
Electrolysers will probably be built along the East Coast between Peterhead and Humberside and these will feed hydrogen into the network.
- Some electrolysers will be offshore and others onshore.
- Turning off windfarms will become a thing of the past, as all surplus electricity will be used to make hydrogen for the UK or export to Europe.
- Until needed the hydrogen will be stored in Albrough and Rough.
Backup for wind farms, will be provided using hydrogen-fired power stations like Keadby Hydrogen power station.
Financial Implications
I reported on Rishi Sunak’s Manifesto Speech, which he made on June 11th. This is an extract
This document on the Policy Mogul web site is entitled Rishi Sunak – Conservative Party Manifesto Speech – Jun 11.
These are three paragraphs from the speech.
We don’t just need military and border security. As Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has shown, we need energy security too. It is only by having reliable, home-grown sources of energy that we can deny dictators the ability to send our bills soaring. So, in our approach to energy policy we will put security and your family finances ahead of unaffordable eco zealotry.
Unlike Labour we don’t believe that we will achieve that energy security via a state-controlled energy company that doesn’t in fact produce any energy. That will only increase costs, and as Penny said on Friday there’s only one thing that GB in Starmer and Miliband’s GB Energy stands for, and that’s giant bills.
Our clear plan is to achieve energy security through new gas-powered stations, trebling our offshore wind capacity and by having new fleets of small modular reactors. These will make the UK a net exporter of electricity, giving us greater energy independence and security from the aggressive actions of dictators . Now let me just reiterate that, with our plan, we will produce enough electricity to both meet our domestic needs and export to our neighbours. Look at that. A clear, Conservative plan not only generating security, but also prosperity for our country.
I can’t remember any reports about an energy security policy, which he outlined in the last paragraph of my extract from his speech.
He also said we would have sufficient electricity to export to our neighbours. As I said earlier some of this energy will be in the form of hydrogen, which has been created by offshore electrolysers.
If we are exporting electricity and hydrogen to Europe, this is likely to have three effects.
- An improvement in Europe’s energy security.
- H2ercules will improve and decarbonise German industry, using UK hydrogen.
- The finances of UK plc will improve.
It looks like there would be winners all round.
Rishi Sunak had the cards and he played them very badly.
It is now up to Keir Starmer, Great British Energy and Jürgen Maier to play those cards to link the energy systems of the UK and Germany to ensure security and prosperity for Europe.
Jurgen Maier To Chair Great British Energy
This article in The Times is entitled Pylons Are The Price Of Lower Bills, Keir Starmer Tells Rural Britain.
These are two paragraphs from the article.
Starmer confirmed that Jürgen Maier, the former UK chief executive of the Siemens conglomerate, would chair the energy company.
Maier has advised Labour on rail and transport since December. He was openly critical of the party’s decision to drop a pledge to spend £28 billion a year on green investment, saying the figure was an “absolute minimum” and that scrapping the promise was “not good for climate change or for the growth of our economy”.
Note.
- His Wikipedia entry is impressive.
- He has dual Austrian and British citizenship.
- He went to school in Leeds and is a graduate of Nottingham Trent University.
- He rose to be Chief Executive of Siemens UK and retired in 2019 at 55.
- I have heard him several times on the radio and he seems to talk a lot of sense.
In my view he could be an excellent choice as Chair of Great British Energy.
I also have some further thoughts.
Jürgen Maier And Peter Hendy
Jürgen Maier and Peter Hendy, who is Starmer’s Rail Minister, have remarkably similar backgrounds and I wouldn’t be surprised if they know each other well, through dealings around Siemens’ contract for Transport for London’s new trains for the Piccadilly Line.
When last, were two technological heavyweights, so close to the heart of a UK government?
RWE
German energy company; RWE are the UK’s largest power generator.
- RWE have five gas-fired power stations with a total output of 6.56 GW.
- RWE have two onshore wind farms in operation with a total output of 67 MW.
- RWE have four offshore wind farms in operation with a total output of 1.88 GW.
- RWE have eight offshore wind farms under development with a total output of 9.90 GW.
- RWE also has other electrical gubbins, like an electrolyser in South Wales.
Would Jürgen Maier be an ideal person, to persuade RWE to keep investing in the UK?
When he was with Siemens, he certainly invested heavily in the UK.
The German Problem
Germany’s problem is how they generate electricity.
Sources are as follows for Germany and the UK.
- Coal – 26 % – 1 %
- Natural Gas – 10.5 % – 32 %
- Wind – 32 % – 29.4 %
- Solar 12.2 % – 4.9 %
- Biomass – 9.7 % – 12.3 %
- Nuclear – 1.5 % – 14.2 %
- Hydro – 4.5 % – 1.8 %
- Oil – 0.7 % – 0 %
- Other – 2.9 % – 0 %
- Storage – 0 % – 1 %
- Imports – 0 % – 10.7 %
Note.
- Figures are for 2023.
- Germany is the first percentage.
- UK is the second percentage.
- Germany has pledged to end coal-fired electricity production by 2030.
- Both countries seem to generate similar amounts of electricity from wind, biomass and hydro.
To replace the coal and make up for lack of nuclear, Germany needs to find a new power source.
The German Solution
The Germans are going for hydrogen in a big way.
The title of this page of the RWE web site is Welcome To The Age Of Hydrogen.
The page starts with this paragraph.
RWE is actively involved in the development of innovative hydrogen projects. The H2 molecule is considered to be an important future building block of a successful energy transition. RWE is a partner in over 30 H2 projects and is working on solutions for decarbonising the industry with associations and corporations like Shell, BASF and OGE. Hydrogen projects are comprehensively supported in the separate Hydrogen department of the subsidiary RWE Generation.
I also suggest, that you read this page on the RWE web site called AquaVentus.
The page starts with this RWE graphic.
It appears that 10.3 GW of hydrogen will be created by wind farms and piped to North-West Germany.
These two paragraphs outline the AquaVentus initiative .
Hydrogen is considered the great hope of decarbonisation in all sectors that cannot be electrified, e.g. industrial manufacturing, aviation and shipping. Massive investments in the expansion of renewable energy are needed to enable carbon-neutral hydrogen production. After all, wind, solar and hydroelectric power form the basis of climate-friendly hydrogen.
In its quest for climate-friendly hydrogen production, the AquaVentus initiative has set its sights on one renewable energy generation technology: offshore wind. The initiative aims to use electricity from offshore wind farms to operate electrolysers also installed at sea on an industrial scale. Plans envisage setting up electrolysis units in the North Sea with a total capacity of 10 gigawatts, enough to produce 1 million metric tons of green hydrogen.
The page also gives these numbers.
- Total Capacity – 10 GW
- Tonnes Of Green Hydrogen – 1 million
- Members – 100 +
The web site says this about commissioning.
Commissioning is currently scheduled for early/mid 2030s.
The Germans can’t be accused of lacking ambition.
AquaVentus And The UK
This video shows the structure of AquaVentus.
I clipped this map from the video.
Note.
- There is a link to Denmark.
- There appears to be a undeveloped link to Norway.
- There appears to be a link to Peterhead in Scotland.
- There appears to be a link to just North of the Humber in England.
- Just North of the Humber are the two massive gas storage sites of Aldbrough owned by SSE and Brough owned by Centrica.
- There appear to be small ships sailing up and down the East Coast of the UK. Are these small coastal tankers distributing the hydrogen to where it is needed?
In the last century, the oil industry, built a substantial oil and gas network in the North Sea. It appears now the Germans are leading the building of a substantial hydrogen network.
AquaVentus And Aldbrough And Rough Gas Storage
Consider.
- In The Massive Hydrogen Project, That Appears To Be Under The Radar, I describe the Aldbrough Gas Storage.
- In Wood To Optimise Hydrogen Storage For Centrica’s Rough Field, I describe Centrica’s plans to turn Rough Gas Storage into the world’s largest hydrogen store.
- There is a small amount of hydrogen storage at Wilhelmshaven.
It looks like the East Riding Hydrogen Bank, will be playing a large part in ensuring the continuity and reliability of AquaVentus.
Dogger Bank South And AquaVentus
This Google Map shows the North Sea South of Sunderland and the Danish/German border.
Note.
- Sunderland is in the top-left hand corner of the map.
- A white line in the top-right corner of the map is the Danish/German border.
- Hamburg and Bremen are in the bottom-right hand corner of the map.
If you lay the AquaVentus map over this map, I believe that RWE’s Dogger Bank South wind farm could be one of the three 2 GW wind farms on the South-Western side of the AquaVentus main pipeline.
- Two GW would be converted to hydrogen and fed into the AquaVentus main pipeline.
- Two GW of hydrogen will be a nice little earner for UK plc.
- One GW of electricity would be sent to the UK.
But this is only one of many possibilities.
Conclusion
Could Jürgen Maier, be the man to develop British links to AquaVentus for the benefit of both the UK and Germany?
- The UK’s wind farms could provide a lot of hydrogen for AquaVentus.
- Aldbrough And Rough Gas Storage are conveniently places to add the hydrogen storage, that AquaVentus needs.
- AquaVentus can certainly be expanded to Norway, and possibly Orkney and Shetland.
He certainly has a lot of relevant experience.
RWE Plans Hydrogen-Ready Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine At Gersteinwerk In Werne
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from RWE.
These two bullet points act as sub-headings.
- Italian-Spanish consortium commissioned to plan 800-megawatt plant
- Investment decision to be made once H2 grid connection and regulatory framework are in place and economic viability has been established
These two paragraphs introduce the project.
RWE is planning to build hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants at the company’s power plant sites in Germany to contribute to a successful coal phase-out by 2030. Following Weisweiler in the Rhenish mining area, the company is now pressing ahead with plans for such a plant at a possible second site in Werne in the southern Münsterland region. An H2-ready combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant with a nominal capacity of around 800 megawatts may be built at the Gersteinwerk power plant.
Following intensive technical soundings, RWE has commissioned an Italian-Spanish consortium to plan the project. Work on the planning approval process is already underway.
These are my thoughts.
The current coal-fired power station at Gersteinwerk has a capacity of 2127 MW and was built in 1984.
This is a visualisation of the two power stations.
Note.
- The new gas/hydrogen-fired power station is in the foreground.
- The coal-fired power station, with its three cooling towers is behind.
This Google Map shows the site.
I suspect that due to the size of the original coal-fired power station, more than one hydrogen-fired power station will be needed.
Project Timeline
These paragraphs lay out the project timeline and the route to 100 % hydrogen operation.
Work on the planning process is already underway. This is the prerequisite for RWE to be able to start implementing the project as soon as an investment decision has been made.
According to current planning, the plant in Werne could start producing electricity by 2030.
At the time of commissioning, the plant should be able to use a fuel mix with at least 50 per cent hydrogen content, and it is intended to run it entirely on hydrogen at a later stage.
Germany is aiming for a coal phase-out by 2030.
The Scale Of German Power Decarbonisation
This article on Power Technology is entitled Germany To Invest €16bn In Hydrogen-Ready Gas-Fired Power Plants.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Germany’s Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has agreed to provide subsidies of €16bn for the construction of 10GW of hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants.
The subsidy scheme has been significantly reduced since August 2023 when the proposal was first unveiled. A maximum of 23.8GW was anticipated at that time.
These power stations will need a lot of green hydrogen and I believe the most convenient place to source some of the hydrogen, will come from the windy waters of the UK’s North Sea.
RWE already have leases to build 7.2 GW of wind farms in UK waters.
UK Transmission-Connected 100MW BESS Online At Former Coal Plant Site
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
These are the first three paragraphs.
A 100MW battery storage project in the UK connected to National Grid’s transmission network has gone online, developed by Pacific Green on the former site of a coal plant.
UK transmission system operator (TSO) National Grid has plugged in the 100MW/100MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project to its 400kV Richborough substation.
The project, dubbed the Richborough Energy Park battery, is owned by asset manager Sosteneo Infrastructure Partners which acquired it from developer Pacific Green in July 2023.
A Transmission-Connected Battery
Thye Energy Storage News article says this about transmission-connected batteries.
Most BESS projects in the UK connect into the lower-voltage networks run by distribution network operators (DNOs) rather than National Grid’s high-voltage network. Benefits of the latter include a more reliable connection and better visibility in National Grid control rooms.
This would look to be a better way to connect a battery to the grid, but the battery must be able to supply electricity at 400 kV.
This Google Map shows the location of Richborough Energy Park.
Note.
- Richborough Energy Park is marked by the red arrow.
- The coast is the East Coast of Kent.
- The Prince’s Golf Club lies between the Energy Park and the sea.
This second Google Map shows the energy park in more detail.
Note.
- Richborough Energy Park is marked by the red arrow.
- The 336 MW coal-fired Richborough power station used to occupy the site.
- To its West is Richborough 400kV substation.
- There is a large solar park to the North.
- The 1 GW Nemo Link connects to the grid at the energy park.
- The 300 MW Thanet Wind Farm connects to the grid here.
It looks like an ideal place to put a 100MW/100MWh battery energy storage system, so that it can balance the wind and solar farms.
Sheaf Energy Park
This page on the Pacific Green web site is entitled Delivering Grid-Scale Energy Storage With A Global Reach.
Four battery projects are shown.
- Richborough Energy Park – In Operation
- Sheaf Energy Park – In Construction
- Limestone Coast Energy Park – In Origination
- Portland Energy Park – In Origination
The first two projects are in Kent and the others are in Australia. That is certainly global reach by Pacific Green.
I then found this page on the Pacific Green web site, that is entitled Pacific Green Acquires Sheaf Energy Limited – 249 MW / 373.5 MWh Battery Energy Storage Development In The UK.
These two paragraphs describe the acquisition and development of Sheaf Energy Park.
Pacific Green Battery Energy Parks 2 Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pacific Green Technologies, Inc. has acquired 100% of the shares in Sheaf Energy Limited (“Sheaf Energy Park”) for £7.5 million (US$9.1 million) from UK-based energy originator, Tupa Energy (Holdings) Limited.
Sheaf Energy Park will be a 249 MW / 373.5 MWh battery energy storage system (“BESS”) located next to the Richborough Energy Park in Kent, England. Design and construction will begin in the first half of 2023, with the energy park commencing its 35-year operating life in April 2025.
It looks to me that Pacific Green have found the figures for the construction and operation to their liking at Richborough Energy Park and have decided that to more than triple their investment in energy storage at the site will be very much to their advantage.
Conclusion
I suspect we’ll see other locations in the UK and around the world, with wind, solar, interconnectors and batteries working in harmony to make the most of the electricity available.
Ørsted Receives Development Consent For 2.6 GW Hornsea Four Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has granted development consent to Hornsea Project Four, a 2.6 GW offshore wind farm Ørsted plans to build some 69 kilometres off the Yorkshire Coast.
This is the first paragraph.
The UK government, in a press release issued on 12 July, stated that Hornsea Four was the 126th Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and 73rd energy application to have been examined by The Planning Inspectorate within the timescales laid down in the Planning Act 2008.
It certainly looks like The Planning Inspectorate has been working overtime.
Note that the four Hornsea wind farms are planned to have at least the following sizes.
- Hornsea 1 – 1218 MW
- Hornsea 2 – 1386 MW
- Hornsea 3 – 2852 MW
- Hornsea 4 – 2600 MW
These four wind farms give the Hornsea complex, a total capacity of at least 8056 MW.
When I worked at ICI in Runcorn in the late 1960s, I used to cross the Runcorn Bridge twice every day and would see Fiddlers Ferry power station, with its eight cooling towers, on the North Bank of the River Mersey to the East. It was generally thought of as a large coal-fired power station.
These pictures of Fiddlers Ferry power station were taken in 2021, from a Liverpool-bound train on the railway bridge.
This Google Map shows the power station.
Note.
- Fiddlers Ferry may have been large for its time at 1989 MW, but it is still less than a quarter of the size of the Hornsea wind farm!
- Drax power station in 1986 at 3960 MW, was larger than Fiddlers Ferry, but was still less than half of the size of Hornsea!
Hornsea wind farm is a true green giant!
This paragraph is from the Hornsea Project 4 section of the Wikipedia entry for the Hornsea wind farms.
Construction of the wind farm was provisionally expected to start in 2023, and be operational by 2027, at the earliest. The project’s capacity is unknown by Ørsted due to the ever increasing size of available wind turbines for the project.
When completed, it could be even bigger.
The Anonymous Widower 