The Anonymous Widower

Thoughts About Electrification Through Devon And Cornwall

Distances

I’ll start by looking at a few distances.

  • Penzance and Taunton – 162.3 miles
  • Penzance and Exeter St. David’s – 131.5 miles
  • Penzance and Plymouth – 79.5 miles
  • Taunton and Exeter St. David’s – 30.7 miles
  • Plymouth and Exeter St. David’s – 52 miles
  • Taunton and Newbury – 89.6 miles
  • Plymouth and Taunton – 82.8 miles
  • Taunton and Paignton – 59 miles
  • Taunton and Patchway – 51.7 miles

Note.

  1. Patchway and Newbury are already electrified to Cardiff Central and London Paddington respectively.
  2. Bombardier’s engineer told me eight years ago, that the battery-electric Class 379 had a range of sixty miles.
  3. Stadler’s FLIRT Akku has a Guinness world record of 139 miles on one battery charge. See this page on the Stadler web site.
  4. Even Stadler’s Class 777 trains for Merseyrail have a range of 84 miles on battery power. See New Merseyrail Train Runs 135km On Battery.

The rail distances in Devon and Cornwall are getting closer to being within the capability of trains fitted with batteries.

Station Stop Times

These are typical times that trains stop in the more important stations between Taunton and Penzance.

  • Taunton – < 2 mins
  • Tiverton Parkway – < 2 mins
  • Exeter St. Davids – 2 mins
  • Newton Abbot – < 2 mins
  • Totnes – < 2 mins
  • Plymouth – 11 minutes
  • Devonport – < 2 mins
  • Saltash – < 2 mins
  • Menheniot – < 2 mins
  • Liskeard – < 3 mins
  • Bodmin Parkway – 2 mins
  • Lostwithiel – 2 mins
  • Par – 2 mins
  • St. Austell – 2 mins.
  • Truro – 2 mins
  • Redruth – 2 mins
  • Camborne – 2 mins

Note.

  1. The timings were for today.
  2. The Cardiff and Penzance services were being run by five-car Class 802 trains.
  3. Most station stops are around two minutes or less, but Plymouth on this train was eleven minutes.

I find it interesting that the Plymouth stop takes so much longer.

Train Stops At Plymouth

I looked at about twenty trains stopping at Plymouth, that included these services.

  • London Paddington and Penzance
  • Penzance and London Paddington
  • Cardiff Central and Penzance
  • Penzance and Cardiff Central

Note.

  1. I found an average time of eight minutes.
  2. Eleven minutes was a common stop.
  3. Eight minutes could be enough time for the rail equivalent of a Formula One splash and dash.
  4. CrossCountry services were going through the station in three minutes.

I am led to believe that the timetable used by the GWR trains would allow a quick battery charge at Plymouth station.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the platforms at Plymouth station.

Note.

  1. London is to the East and Penzance is to the West.
  2. Platform numbers increase from South to North.
  3. The two East-facing bay platforms are Platforms 1 and 2.
  4. The West-facing bay platform in the South-West corner is Platform 3.
  5. Platform 4 shares the island with the bay platforms 1, 2 and 3.
  6. Most trains going to Penzance use Platform 4.
  7. Platforms 5 and 6 share the centre island platform.
  8. Platforms 7 and 8 share the Northernmost island platform.
  9. Most trains going towards London use Platform 7.
  10. Wikipedia indicates that the track layout is comprehensive and allows a lot of operational flexibility.

Although the station was completed around forty years ago, it could have been designed for handling modern battery-electric trains.

  • There are three bay platforms numbered 1 to 3, to charge local services and send them on their way.
  • Trains can arrive and depart in the five through platforms, numbered 4 to 8, from either direction.
  • Two days ago, a nine-car London Paddington to Plymouth train terminated in Platform 7. After waiting an hour it returned to London. An hour would be enough time to fully-charge a train.
  • As many platforms as needed could be electrified.

I am fairly sure, that most battery-electric trains could be timetabled to leave Plymouth station with full batteries.

Turnround At Penzance

I have found these turnrounds.

  • 802113 arrived from Paddington at 1142 and left for London at 1215
  • 802022 arrived from Paddington at 1307 and left for London at 1415
  • 802103 arrived from Paddington at 1500 and left for London at 1615

This OpenRailwayMap shows the platforms at Penzance station.

Note.

  1. The three example trains used Platform 1.
  2. Platform 1 is the long platform on the landward side of the station.
  3. Platforms are numbered 1 to 4 from left to right.
  4. An appropriate number of platforms would be electrified to charge trains terminating at Penzance.

Trains would appear to have plenty enough time to recharge, so they would start their return journey with full batteries.

Engineering Ambition

Several times in my life, I’ve got fired up about engineering or software projects and I like to think, I’ve produced the best and fastest solution.

For this reason, I believe that Hyperdrive Innovation, who are now part of Turntide Technologies, and Hitachi will set themselves three objectives with the design of the the battery packs for the Class 802 train.

  • The battery-electric Class 802 will outperform the Stadler FLIRT Akku in terms of speed and distance.
  • The battery packs will be plug-compatible with the diesel engines, so there will only be minor software modification to the trains.
  • The train will be able to be handle all Great Western Railway’s routes without using diesel.
  • I wouldn’t be surprised that on many routes the train will cruise at over 110 mph on batteries.

I also suspect they want the Akku’s Guinness world record, which will mean the range will be in excess of 139 miles.

Battery Range Needed For Routes

These are routes that need to be covered by battery-electric Class 802 trains or similar.

  • Avanti West Coast – Crewe and Chester – 22.2 miles
  • Avanti West Coast – Crewe and Holyhead – 105.5 miles
  • Avanti West Coast – Crewe and Llandudno Junction – 65.5 miles
  • Avanti West Coast – Crewe and Wrexham – 34.4 miles
  • Avanti West Coast – Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton – 29.7 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Penzance and Plymouth – 79.5 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Plymouth and Taunton – 82.8 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Taunton and Patchway – 51.7 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Newbury and Taunton – 89.6 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Taunton and Paignton – 59.0 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Weston-super-Mare and Chippenham – 43.5 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Oxford and Great Malvern – 65.6 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Oxford and Hereford – 86.3 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Oxford and Worcester Foregate Street – 57.6 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Oxford and Worcester Shrub Hill – 57.2 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Cheltenham Spa and Swindon – 43.2 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Cardiff Central and Carmarthen – 77.4 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Cardiff Central and Pembroke Dock – 118.9 miles
  • Great Western Railway – Cardiff Central and Swansea – 45.7 miles
  • Hull Trains – Beverley and Temple Hirst Junction – 44.3 miles
  • Hull Trains – Hull and Temple Hirst Junction – 36.1 miles
  • LNER – Hull and Temple Hirst Junction – 36.1 miles
  • LNER – Middlesbrough and Longlands Junction – 22.2 miles
  • LNER – Sunderland and Longlands Junction – 48.5 miles
  • LNER – Lincoln Central and Newark Northgate – 16.6 miles
  • LNER – Leeds and Bradford – 13 miles
  • LNER – Leeds and Harrogate – 18 miles
  • LNER – Leeds and Huddersfield – 17 miles
  • LNER – Stirling and Inverness – 146 miles
  • LNER – Edinburgh Haymarket and Aberdeen – 130 miles
  • LNER – Peterborough and Doncaster via Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line – 93.7 miles
  • South Western Railway – Basingstoke and Exeter St. David’s – 124.5 miles
  • TransPennine – Hull and Micklefield – 42 miles
  • TransPennine – Longlands Junction and Saltburn – 34.7 miles
  • TransPennine – York and Scarborough – 42 miles
  • TransPennine – Doncaster and Cleethorpes – 52.1 miles
  • TransPennine – Stockport and Doncaster – 55.4 miles
  • TransPennine – Stockport and Cleethorpes – 107.5 miles

Note.

  1. Stirling and Inverness and Edinburgh Haymarket and Aberdeen could be shortened by up to thirty miles, by planned electrification in Scotland.
  2. I have assumed that the TransPennine Upgrade has been completed.
  3. It looks like a battery-electric Class 802 train could use the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line diversion via Lincoln.
  4. I am slightly surprised, that the longest stretch of line without electrification and with a passenger service is Basingstoke and Exeter St. David’s.

Charging will be needed at some places to charge the battery-electric trains. Stations fitted with chargers could include Aberdeen, Carmarthen, Cleethorpes, Exeter St. David’s, Hereford, Holyhead, Hull, Inverness, Paignton, Penzance, Pembroke Dock, Plymouth, Swansea, Taunton, Weston-super-Mare, Worcester.

Most chargers would be a length of electrification in the platform, where the battery-electric trains terminated or passed through.

More On LNER’s Ten New Bi-Modes

I wrote about these trains in LNER Seeks 10 More Bi-Modes.

This was my conclusion.

There is a lot of scope to develop LNER’s services.

I think it is likely that the order will go to Hitachi.

But as I indicated, I do believe that there is scope for a manufacturer to design a zero-carbon train, that was able to serve Aberdeen and Inverness.

    • I suspect a fleet of ten trains would be sufficient.
    • Trains would use the 25 KVAC overhead electrification, where it exists and hydrogen or battery power North of the wires.

The trains would also be capable of being upgraded to higher speeds, should the East Coast Main Line be turned into a High Speed Line.

I also think, that whatever trains are bought, there will be a large upgrading of the existing Hitachi fleet, which will add batteries to a lot of trains.

In the July 2023 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article, which is entitled LNER Embraces Pioneering Spirit, which takes the form of an interview with LNER’s Managing Director; David Horne.

In a section, which is entitled ‘225’ Replacement, this is said.

Meanwhile, Mr Horne is looking to what might replace the InterCity 225 fleet, now smartly repainted in a scheme which pays homage to the original ‘Swallow’ livery. While there were fears this fleet may be withdrawn as an economy measure, the ‘225s’ are now on lease until at least next summer.

But Mr Horne says obsolescence issues are a real challenge and LNER will struggle to maintain the fleet beyond 2025, and from the May 2023 timetable change the number of daily diagrams was reduced from five to four to conserve the fleet’s mileage. Much of the heavy maintenance work had previously been carried out at Wabtec’s Doncaster site, but this facility is no longer available, and while a recent reliability improvement programme is bearing fruit, the challenges remain. The crunch point comes with the transition to ETCS at the southern end of the ECML as part of the East Coast Digital Programme – Mr Horne says LNER does not want to fit cab signalling on the ‘225s’.

The solution to this  issue is to procure additional trains to run alongside the 65 Azumas, and LNER went out to tender in October 2020 for a fleet of 10 trains with self-power capability.

While a preferred bidder has been identified, the business case to proceed with the procurement is awaiting approval, but Mr Horne is still hopeful this project can be progressed.

The current plan envisages the new trains broadly replacing the ‘225s’ on Leeds and York diagrams, but a major benefit with the new fleet would be during engineering work – at present LNER has to withdraw services to places such as Harrogate and Hull to concentrate its bi-mode Azumas on services using non-electrified diversionary routes, and having more stock with self-power capability would ease the issue.

Currently, LNER has these Azumas and InterCity 225s in its fleet.

  • Five-car bi-mode Class 800 trains – 10
  • Nine-car bi-mode Class 800 trains – 13
  • Five-car electric Class 801 trains – 12
  • Nine-car electric Class 801 trains – 30
  • Nine-car electric ImterCity 225 trains – 8

Note.

  1. There are 23 bi-mode trains and 50 electric trains.
  2. There are 167 bi-mode carriages and 302 electric carriages.
  3. Currently 31.5 % of the trains are bi-mode.
  4. With ten new bi-mode trains and no InterCity 225 trains, 44 % of the fleet will be bi-mode.

Is this increase in the percentage of the fleet, that are bi-mode acceptable?

I wonder, if there is a more affordable and flexible way to increase the fleet size.

In the Wikipedia entry for the Class 800 train, there is a section, which is entitled Traction And Generator Units, where this is said.

The Class 800 and Class 802 bi-mode are equipped with three GU per five-car set and five GU per nine-car set; a five-car set has a GU situated under vehicles 2/3/4 and a nine-car set has a GU situated under vehicles 2/3/5/7/8. In comparison, the electric-orientated Class 801 features a single GU for a five to nine-car set, which provides emergency power for limited traction and auxiliaries if the power supply from the overhead line fails. By adding or removing GUs, a Class 800 can be converted into a Class 801 and vice versa.

Let’s look at LNER’s needs, which are actually two separate sub-needs.

  • There is a need for ten new trains to replace the InterCity 225 trains.
  • There is a need to increase the size of the bi-mode fleet to be able to use the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line and other non-electrified routes to by-pass engineering works.

Note.

  1. I suspect that as Mr Horne explained, there are only five or possibly four InterCity 225s diagrammed on a particular day, then perhaps ten five-car bi-mode Class 800 trains, might be able to cover for the retirement of the InterCity 225s.
  2. These trains would work as pairs to Leeds and York to replace the InterCity 225 capacity.
  3. If required they could split and join at Leeds and York to serve other destinations.
  4. The diversion route of the Great Eastern Joint Line has an unelectrified distance of 93.7 miles and the route is electrified at both ends.
  5. Would a battery-electric Class 800 train handle this distance? I suspect if Stadler can do it, then Hitachi and Turntide Technology will be able to do it too!

LNER will have replaced the InterCity 225s and acquired ten new five-car blockade runners.

As an order for ten new five-car battery-electric trains, is not to be sneezed at, I suspect Hitachi will make sure that their new battery-electric variants have enough range.

So this would mean that the range of a five cat battery-electric Class 800 train, should be in excess of 93.7 miles.

It should be noted that the five-car Class 800 and Class 802 trains have specific advantages when it comes to converting them to battery-electric trains.

  • They are modern trains, that are still in production, every bit of information about the train is known down to the last nut, bolt and plastic clip.
  • Like most modern trains, hey have a sophisticated computer system controlling the train.
  • They have spaces for three, four or maybe even five diesel engines under the floor, which could be used for a battery-pack in every car designed to hold a diesel engine.
  • The train has an electric bus between nose and tail.
  • As is shown, when the trains change between diesel and electric, the pantograph can go up and down with all the alacrity of a whore’s drawers.
  • The trains can be converted between bi-mode and electric, by adding or removing diesel packs. I doubt this feature will be removed, as batteries replace diesels.

With my Electrical and Control Engineer’s hard hat on, I doubt there is anything to stop a Class 800 or Class 802 train being fitted with three or more batteries to create a 125 mph train, with a range approaching two hundred miles on battery power.

The initial name of these Hitachi trains was the Hitachi Super Express. Is this train the Hitachi Super Battery Express?

But it would appear, that for their initial needs, LNER, just need a range to handle the near hundred miles of the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line.

Inverness and Aberdeen will come later.

Hull Trains

This page on the Lumo web site is entitled Greener Travel Between Edinburgh And London.

These are the first three paragraphs.

A new, 100% electric rail service is to start running between London and Edinburgh with fares for as little as £14.90 in a bid to encourage greener and more affordable travel between the capitals.

Called Lumo, it will provide low-carbon, affordable long-distance travel for over 1 million passengers per year. Over 74,500 passengers currently fly between Edinburgh and London each month3.

And with single tickets between the capitals starting from just £14.90, Lumo will be a comfortable, convenient alternative to flying that is affordable for all. Some 60% of all single fares will be available at a cost of £30 or less.

I’m sure Hull Trains, who are owned by First Group like Lumo would like to position themselves in the 100 % electric low-carbon box too!

Currently, Hull Trains’s five-car Class 802 trains, run 88.6 and 72.2 miles using diesel on round-trips to Beverley and Hull respectively from London.

If batteries were fitted to their trains to give a battery range of around a hundred miles, Hull Trains could call themselves 100 % electric.

No new infrastructure would be required, but a short length of overhead electrification in a convenient platform at Hull station would ensure the train left for London and Beverley with a full battery.

The pictures show Hull Trains’s Class 802 train in Platform 7 at Hull station.

Penzance And Taunton

This to me is the key section as if you can run a battery-electric train between these two stations it allows so many of the services to be run using zero-carbon traction.

These are distances from Taunton.

  • Exeter St. David’s – 30.7 miles
  • Newbury – 89.6 miles
  • Okehampton – 55.3 miles
  • Paignton – 59.0 miles
  • Patchway – 51.7 miles
  • Plymouth – 82.8 miles

Note.

  1. I’ve added Okehampton, as I feel that if Dawlish had another encounter with Poseidon, Okehampton with its proposed Parkway station on the A30 could be the terminus for coaches to and from Cornwall.
  2. All would be possible with a battery-electric train, with a hundred-mile range, leaving Taunton with a full battery.
  3. Charging could be needed at Okehampton and Paignton.

What is needed is some form of charging in the Taunton area.

This OpenRailwayMap shows Taunton station.

Note.

  1. The station has four through platforms.
  2. All Great Western Railway services to and from Devon and Cornwall stop in the station.
  3. I feel it would be possible to electrify the station, so that all stopping trains could charge the batteries.

But the problem would be, that as typically trains only stop for a couple of minutes at Taunton, there may not be enough time to take enough charge on board.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the track between Wellington and Collumpton, between Taunton and Exeter.

Note.

  1. The black line is the railway between Taunton and Exeter.
  2. The blue arrow in the North-East corner of the map indicates the position of the proposed Wellington station.
  3. Collumpton is in the South-West corner of the map and has also been put forward for a new Collumpton station.
  4. I talked about the reopening of these two stations in Reopening Of Wellington and Cullompton Stations.
  5. The M5 to the North of Collumpton runs closely alongside the railway.
  6. According to Real Time Trains, it takes just under ten minutes to go the thirteen miles between Wellington and Collumpton.

This Google Map shows a section of the M5 North of Collumpton.

And this Google Map shows Tiverton Parkway station.

Note how the railway runs alongside the M5 to the West.

I feel that if the two new stations of Wellington and Collumpton are built between Taunton and Exeter St. David’s, then why not partially electrify the route, so that all trains would leave or pass through Taunton and Collumpton stations with full batteries.

  • Going West the trains would reach Exeter St. David’s, Okehampton or Plymouth.
  • Going East trains would reach Newbury for Reading and Paddington, and Patchway for Cardiff.

I believe that a battery-electric solution is possible, that would enable the decarbonisation of the Great Western Main Line all the way to Penzance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 25, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Rockton To Buy Up To 40 Heart Aerospace ES-30 Electric Aircraft

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Aviation Source News.

These are the first two paragraphs.

Swedish investment and aircraft leasing company Rockton has confirmed that it will acquire up to 40 of Heart Aerospace’s regional electric aircraft, the ES-30.

The purchase confirmation converts an earlier letter of intent with the Swedish aircraft manufacturer into firm purchase orders for 20 aircraft with purchase rights for 20 more.

It’s good to see a leasing company getting involved, as it probably means that the finances are viable.

The Wikipedia entry for Heart Aerospace, describes the range of the ES-30 like this.

The ES-30 is planned to have a 108 nautical miles (200 kilometres; 124 miles) fully electric range or a 215 nmi (398 km; 247 mi) range when also using generators powered by aviation biofuel. A range of 430 nmi (800 km; 490 mi) could be possible if only 25 passengers are carried.

These are some UK airport to airport distances.

  • Aberdeen – Kirkwall – 124 miles
  • Aberdeen – Sumburgh – 188 miles
  • Anglesey – Belfast – 109 miles
  • Anglesey – Belfast City – 109 miles
  • Anglesey – Cork – 192 miles
  • Anglesey – Derry – 163 miles
  • Anglesey – Dublin – 71 miles
  • Anglesey – Ronaldsway – 58 miles
  • Anglesey – Shannon – 186 miles
  • Anglesey – Waterford – 130 miles
  • Birmingham – Belfast – 226 miles
  • Birmingham – Dublin – 200 miles
  • Birmingham – Edinburgh – 250 miles
  • Birmingham – Glasgow – 260 miles
  • Birmingham – Inverness – 363 miles
  • Birmingham – Kirkwall – 451 miles
  • Birmingham – Newcastle – 178 miles
  • Birmingham – Newquay – 198 miles
  • Birmingham – Schipol – 402 miles
  • Birmingham – Sumburgh – 513 miles
    Birmingham – Wick – 418 miles
  • Edinburgh – Schipol – 473 miles
  • Gatwick – Edinburgh – 356 miles
  • Gatwick – Schipol – 374 miles
  • Glasgow – Belfast – 106 miles
  • Glasgow – Belfast City – 103 miles
  • Glasgow – Derry – 121 miles
  • Glasgow – Kirkwall – 221 miles
  • Glasgow – Sumburgh – 300 miles
  • Glasgow – Stornoway – 177 miles
  • Haverfordwest – Waterford – 94 miles
  • Haverfordwest – Newquay – 94 miles
  • Heathrow – Newquay – 212 miles
  • Humberside – Schipol – 333 miles
  • Inverness – Kirkwall – 106 miles
  • Inverness – Sumburgh – 190 miles
  • Leeds – Schipol – 386 miles
  • Liverpool – Belfast City – 151 miles
  • Liverpool – Cardiff – 135 miles
  • Liverpool – Dublin – 140 miles
  • Liverpool – Haverfordwest – 127 miles
  • Liverpool – Norwich – 180 miles
  • Liverpool – Ronaldsway – 89 miles
  • London City – Haverfordwest – 167 miles
  • London City – Humberside – 145 miles
  • London City – Manchester – 161 miles
  • London City – Norwich – 100 miles
  • Manchester – Schipol  413 miles
  • Newcastle – Cardiff – 230 miles
  • Newcastle – Belfast City – 168 miles
  • Newcastle – Newquay – 346 miles
  • Newcastle – Schipol – 395 miles
  • Newquay – Brest – 140 miles
  • Newquay – Cardiff  98 miles
  • Newquay – Cork – 180 miles
  • Newquay – Deauville – 241 miles
  • Newquay – Dinard – 183 miles
  • Newquay – Dublin – 212 miles
  • Newquay – Guernsey – 128 miles
  • Newquay – Jersey – 152 miles
  • Newquay – Nantes – 211 miles
  • Newquay – Orly – 351 miles
  • Newquay – Rouen – 285 miles
  • Newquay – Scillies – 68 miles
  • Newquay – Waterford – 150 miles
  • Norwich – Schipol – 277 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Belfast – 75 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Belfast City – 62 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Birmingham – 165 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Dublin – 80 miles
  • Ronaldsway – East Midlands – 161 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Glasgow – 123 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Leeds – 121 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Manchester – 109 miles
  • Southend – Schipol – 180 miles
  • Stansted – Aberdeen – 379 miles
  • Stansted – Edinburgh – 316 miles
  • Stansted – Glasgow – 334 miles
  • Stansted – Inverness – 426 miles
  • Stansted – Schipol – 335 miles
  • Stansted – Wick – 472 miles
  • Sumburgh – Bergen – 226 miles
  • Sumburgh – Kirkwall –  85 miles

Note.

  1. I have included Schipol, as in certain areas of the UK, passengers sometimes fly long-haul from Schipol.
  2. I have included Haverfordwest, as it will be close to all the wind farm activity in the Celtic Sea.
  3. I have included Anglesey, as I think it has possibilities.
  4. The distances wee calculated using on of the Free Map Tools.

These are some more specific thoughts.

The Basic ES-30 And The UK

With a range of 124 miles, I don’t believe that the range is long enough for the UK.

But saying that there are some established routes, where it should be able to operate.

  • Glasgow – Belfast
  • Glasgow – Belfast City
  • Glasgow – Derry
  • Haverfordwest – Waterford
  • Haverfordwest – Newquay
  • Inverness – Kirkwall
  • Liverpool – Haverfordwest
  • Liverpool – Ronaldsway
  • London City – Norwich
  • Newquay – Cardiff
  • Newquay – Scillies
  • Ronaldsway – Belfast
  • Ronaldsway – Belfast City
  • Ronaldsway – Dublin
  • Ronaldsway – Glasgow
  • Ronaldsway – Leeds
  • Ronaldsway – Manchester

These routes have the following in common.

  • They are mostly between major airports with advanced facilities.
  • Most airports served have access to renewable electricity.
  • Some of the routes can support hundred seat airliners.
  • Fifty percent go to the Isle of Man.

I can see several routes between the UK and the island of Ireland and to and from the Isle of Man using ES 30 aircraft.

The Extended Range ES-30 And The UK

The 247 mile range of the extended range ES-30, brings lots more routes into play.

Key routes could be the following.

  • Aberdeen – Kirkwall
  • Aberdeen – Sumburgh
  • Anglesey – Cork
  • Anglesey – Shannon
  • Birmingham – Belfast
  • Birmingham – Dublin
  • Birmingham – Newcastle
  • Birmingham – Newquay
  • Glasgow – Kirkwall
  • Glasgow – Stornoway
  • Heathrow – Newquay
  • Inverness – Sumburgh
  • Liverpool – Belfast City
  • Liverpool – Dublin
  • Liverpool – Norwich
  • London City – Haverfordwest
  • London City – Humberside
  • London City – Manchester
  • Newcastle – Belfast City
  • Newcastle – Cardiff
  • Newquay – Brest
  • Newquay – Cork
  • Newquay – Deauville
  • Newquay – Dinard
  • Newquay – Dublin
  • Newquay – Guernsey
  • Newquay – Jersey
  • Newquay – Nantes
  • Newquay – Waterford
  • Ronaldsway – Birmingham
  • Ronaldsway – East Midlands

There will also be other routes.

The Extended Range With 25 Passengers ES-30 And The UK

The 490 mile range of the extended range ES-30 with only 25 passengers, brings a few more routes into play.

  • Birmingham – Edinburgh
  • Birmingham – Glasgow
  • Birmingham – Inverness
  • Birmingham – Kirkwall
  • Birmingham – Schipol
  • Birmingham – Wick
  • Edinburgh – Schipol
  • Gatwick – Edinburgh
  • Gatwick – Schipol
  • Glasgow – Sumburgh
  • Humberside – Schipol
  • Leeds – Schipol
  • Manchester – Schipol
  • Newcastle – Newquay
  • Newcastle – Schipol
  • Newquay – Orly
  • Newquay – Rouen
  • Norwich – Schipol
  • Southend – Schipol
  • Stansted – Aberdeen
  • Stansted – Edinburgh
  • Stansted – Inverness
  • Stansted – Glasgow
  • Stansted – Schipol
  • Stansted – Wick

Note.

  1. All airports East of Birmingham and Manchester seem to be close enough to Schipol for an Extended Range ES-30 with 25 passengers to serve the route.
  2. Most major Scottish Airports can be reached from Stansted.
  3. Flying from Gatwick to Scottish Airports is around forty miles longer than flying from Stansted.

Liverpool Airport

Liverpool Airport could be a major destination for the ES 30, as it could be a key airport for flying between the UK and the island of Ireland.

Liverpool would obviously need the electric infrastructure, but I also believe it needs a better connection to the major railway station at Liverpool South Parkway, which has extensive rail connections.

This Google Map shows the area between Liverpool South Parkway station and the airport.

Note.

  1. Liverpool South Parkway station is marked by the red arrow in the North-West corner of the map.
  2. The airport is in the opposite corner, with the terminal to the North of the runway.
  3. The main railway between the South and Liverpool Lime Street passes to the South of the station.
  4. The A561 passes across to the South of the railway and to the North of the airport.

I suspect some form of people mover like the Luton DART can be built between the station and the airport.

It should be noted that as Hunts Cross has only one platform for Merseyrail Northern Line trains and this could be a factor in limiting the line’s capacity. So could a second platform be installed at the airport to both act as an airport station and to increase the frequency on the Northern Line?

I believe that in a couple of years, journey times between Euston and Liverpool South Parkway will be under two hours and they will only get shorter with High Speed Two. With a fast connection between the airport and the station, there could be a sub-three-hour zero-carbon route between London and the island of Ireland.

  • Avanti West Coast Class 805 train to Liverpool South Parkway.
  • People mover to the airport.
  • Electric aircraft on the 140 miles to Dublin.

Dublin air traffic are usually efficient in getting planes in quickly.

Glasgow Airport

Glasgow Airport could be a major destination for the ES 30, as it could be a key airport for flying between the UK and the island of Ireland.

As with Liverpool Airport it needs a better connection to the rail network.

If Glasgow Airport is successful running zero-carbon aircraft to Ireland, this could change all previous thinking on a Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

Ronaldsway Airport

Geography and electric airliners could be very kind to Ronaldsway Airport and the Isle of Man.

  • Electric airliners can easily reach much of the island of Ireland and the UK mainland between Glasgow and Birmingham, from Ronaldsway Airport with ease.
  • The Isle of Man will in a couple of years be surrounded by wind farms.
  • With other developments on the island, it could sell itself to the UK and Ireland, as a green holiday destination.

But what would the motorcycle enthusiasts say?

Anglesey Airport

I believe that Anglesey Airport could be brought to life in a big way by electric aircraft like the ES-30 or the Eviation Alice.

These are flight distances from Anglesey Airport.

  • Anglesey – Belfast – 109 miles
  • Anglesey – Belfast City – 109 miles
  • Anglesey – Cork – 192 miles
  • Anglesey – Derry – 163 miles
  • Anglesey – Dublin – 71 miles
  • Anglesey – Ronaldsway – 58 miles
  • Anglesey – Shannon – 186 miles
  • Anglesey – Waterford – 130 miles

All of these except for Cork, Derry, Shannon and Waterford would be possible in the basic ES-30.

This Google Map shows the airport, which is also labelled as RAF Valley.

Note that the North Wales Coast Line passes the site on the North-East side.

At present, Avanti West Coast trains take nearly four hours between London and Holyhead.

But later this year, new bi-mode Class 805 trains will replace, the current diesel only Class 221 trains.

  • The current diesel only trains take two hours and five minutes between Crewe and Holyhead.
  • The current diesel only trains take one hour and forty-three minutes between Crewe and London Euston.
  • The fastest electric trains take one hour and twenty-nine minutes between Crewe and London Euston.
  • High Speed Two trains will take 56 minutes between Crewe and London Euston.

When you consider that a lot of the North Wales Coast Line, is straight and flat, I can see the following times being possible, with some improvement and smart electrification between Crewe and Holyhead  and a smaller number of stops.

  • Crewe and Anglesey Airport – One hour and twenty minutes
  • London Euston and Anglesey Airport – Two hours and fifty minutes

With High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains, the London Euston and Anglesey Airport time could be below two hours and thirty minutes.

I believe that with a well-designed terminal at Anglesey Airport, this could be the fastest zero-carbon way between London and Ireland.

Haverfordwest Airport

This Google Map shows the location of Haverfordwest Airport in the East of Pembrokeshire.

This second Google Map shows a close-up of the airport.

 

This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the airport and the nearest railway station.

Note.

  1. Haverfordwest Airport is at the top of the map.
  2. Haverfordwest station is at the bottom of the map.
  3. There are rail connections to Cardiff, Fishguard, Milford Haven, Pembroke Dock and Swansea from the the station.
  4. Rail passengers for London would change at Swansea.

The road looks good between the airport and the station, so would an electric bus to handle transfers be ideal?

Consider.

  • I have flown myself into Haverfordwest Airport and there were no navigation or operational problems that I can remember.
  • With all the wind farm development planned for the coast of Pembrokeshire and the Celtic Sea, I feel that an airport in the area with regular flights to London and perhaps Waterford in Ireland could be essential.
  • London City and Haverfordwest airports are 167 miles apart
  • Waterford and Haverfordwest airports are 94 miles apart
  • Quiet electric aircraft may ease any planning problems.
  • Will a helicopter base be needed for serving wind farms in the Celtic Sea?

I believe, Haverfordwest Airport could be converted into a high-class airport for the Eastern tip of South Wales.

Haverfordwest Airport could also attract other services, given that the Welsh Government have a policy of not building new roads.

I have a feeling that quiet electric airliners will lead to the development of airports like Haverfordwest as feeder airports for the Heathrows and Schipols of this world.

Waterford Airport

Waterford Airport has recently been expanded and it appears from the Wikipedia entry, they are expecting more tourists.

This Google Map shows the position of the airport and the railway station in Waterford.

Note.

  1. The red arrow at the top of the map indicates Waterford station on the Northern side of the city.
  2. The airport is indicated by the blue dot in the South-East corner of the map.
  3. The airport is about ten kilometres from the City Centre.

In the past, Waterford has been quite a busy airport, but Covid-19 seems to have killed most of the traffic.

So could a zero-carbon service between Waterford and Haverfordwest be profitable?

  • Those working with the wind energy in the Celtic Sea might find route useful.
  • It would give a low-carbon route between Waterford and South Wales, which some might like.
  • I also believe that the novelty of flying in an electric plane would attract passengers.

Waterford and Haverfordwest might be one of those routes, where electric planes might be worth trying.

This Google Map shows the Celtic Sea.

Note.

  1. Waterford Airport is indicated in red on the South-East corner of Ireland.
  2. Haverfordwest Airport is on the South-Western tip of Wales.
  3. Newquay Airport is in the South-East corner of the map on the North coast of Cornwall.

There could be as much as 50 GW of floating wind farms installed in this area.

I feel that there could be a case for a triangular Haverfordwest, Newquay and Waterford service.

Newquay Airport

Newquay Airport has been in the news recently because of the antics of Richard Branson and Virgin Orbit.

This Google Map shows the airport in relation to the town.

Note.

  1. The airport is in the North-East corner and boasts a long runway.
  2. The airport serves well over a dozen destinations.
  3. The town of Newquay is in the South-West corner of the map.
  4. Newquay station is by the sea.

All of these places would be suitable destinations for electric aircraft.

  • Birmingham
  • Brest
  • Cardiff
  • Cork
  • Deauville
  • Dinard
  • Dublin
  • Guernsey
  • Heathrow
  • Jersey
  • Nantes
  • Orly
  • Rouen
  • Scillies
  • Waterford

Newquay Airport could get very busy with electric aircraft supporting tourism and the developing wind power industry.

This second Google Map shows the town centre and station.

Surely, having the station by Great Western Beach is good marketing.

In The Proposed Mid-Cornwall Metro, I talked about a plan to run an hourly Metro service between Newquay and Falmouth.

This article on Rail Technology Magazine is dated January 2023 and entitled Mid Cornwall Metro Secures £50m In Levelling Up Funding, where these are the first two paragraphs.

Following yesterday’s major Levelling Up funding announcement, the government has pledged an almost £50m grant to improve the railways linking Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth in Cornwall.

This financial aid to improve Cornwall Rail links represents the only successful bid out of four that were submitted to the Levelling up funding. The improvement scheme will be helmed by a partnership with Great Western Railway and Network Rail.

Note.

  1. I believe this means the Mid-Cornwall Metro will be built.
  2. Especially as looks like it will cost less than £100 million.
  3. As this Metro will serve Newquay, it shouldn’t be too difficult to link the plane with the train, with perhaps a zero-carbon bus.
  4. The Metro would then link Newquay Airport to the main population centres of Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth.
  5. If the Metro could be run using zero-carbon trains, that would surely put the icing on the cake!

 

The map from OpenRailwayMap shows the route.

Note.

  1. Newquay is in the North-West corner of the map.
  2. Trains spend around 6-7 minutes waiting at Newquay.
  3. The blue arrow in the North-East corner marks Par station, where a chord will be reinstated to allow trains to go between Newquay and St. Austell.
  4. Par is the nearest station to the Eden Centre.
  5. Newquay and Par is 20.6 miles.
  6. The route, then goes along the Cornish Main Line, through St. Austell and then on to Truro.
  7. Par and Truro is 18.9 miles.
  8. At Truro the Metro would take the Falmouth branch.
  9. Falmouth and Truro is 11.8 miles.
  10. Trains spend around 7-8 minutes waiting at Falmouth Docks
  11. The total route is just over fifty miles, which probably means that battery-electric trains could work the route with charging at each end, whilst the train is turned round.

This airport and metro combination could give a big-boost to zero-carbon tourism.

Inverness Airport

Inverness Airport has recently been expanded with a station on the Inverness and Aberdeen Line.

Consider.

  • Electric aircraft like the ES-30 will be able to reach both Kirkwall on Orkney and Sumburgh on Shetland from both Inverness and Aberdeen Airports.
  • Sumburgh would need an extended range ES-30.
  • Flights would be a few miles shorter from Inverness than from Aberdeen.
  • Kirkwall and Sumburgh is only 85 miles, so there may be possibilities for serving both Orkney and Shetland with one flight.
  • Extended range ES-30s might be able to do return trips to Kirkwall without a major charge at Kirkwall.
  • I once flew in my Cessna-340 to Kirkwall to see the original turbine, that was placed on the island. There is a lot of cold forbidding sea in the area. Perhaps the slightly shorter trip from Inverness, might be better for everybody’s nerves?
  • Just as the oil and gas industry did in the last century, I can see the offshore wind power industry generating a lot of passenger traffic to the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

Both Inverness and Aberdeen can be reached from Stansted by an ES-30 carrying a reduced passenger load.

Birmingham Airport

Birmingham Airport could become a major base for electric aircraft.

The 247 mile range of the extended range ES-30 would allow it to be able to reach the following places.

  • Belfast
  • Dublin
  • Newcastle
  • Newquay
  • Ronaldsway

Reduce the passenger load slightly to 25 passengers and the plane would be able to reach.

  • Edinburgh
  • Glasgow
  • Inverness
  • Kirkwall
  • Wick

But Birmingham Airport is only 65 minutes from Euston and will in the future be served by High Speed Two, in under an hour.

The airport also has a large catchment area of its own, who might be tempted to choose flying zero-carbon.

Spokes From Speke

In the 1980s, I went to a presentation from Royal Mail in Ipswich about guaranteed next day delivery of parcels. It was important to me, as I was writing software that needed to get from Ipswich, where it was created to London, where it would be tested and installed on customers machines. We also needed to get copies to our customers in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

The Royal Mail’s latest concept of Spokes From Speke was described.

  • All urgent parcels and First Class mail would be collected from the local sorting office and taken to the local airport, which in our case would probably have been Stansted.
  • These consignments would then be flown to Speke Airport as Liverpool Airport was known in those days at around midnight.
  • They would then be sorted and reloaded onto other planes to complete their journey.
  • The planes would then return home and the parcels and mail would be delivered by truck to the local sorting office.

Aircraft used included Short Skyvans and piston-engined twins. Some we’re the quietest of aircraft.

I have heard or read somewhere that in some airports, there were complaints about noisy aircraft flying in and out in the middle of the night.

Now fifty years on companies are looking to speed up deliveries.

  • In the UK, companies are experimenting with 100 mph overnight parcels trains.
  • This article on Railway Gazette is entitled Varamis Rail Launches Regular Express Light Freight Service.
  • Eversholt Rail are putting money behind converting redundant electric multiple units into parcel trains.

But DHL in the USA are going another way and have ordered twelve Alice aircraft from Eviation.

It looks like the cargo Alice could have a useful load of just over a tonne and a range of around 290 miles.

I can envisage flights of near-silent silent Alices sneaking into and out of airports in the middle of the night to deliver and collect urgent parcels.

Techniques like Spokes From Speke will come again, but this time with electric aircraft.

How Would The ES-30 Compare With An Eviation Alice?

The Wikipedia entry for the Eviation Alice gives these figures.

  • Passengers – 9
  • Maximum Speed – 300 mph
  • Range – 290 miles
  • Take-off distance – 840 metres
  • Landing distance – 620 metres

Note.

  1. These are figures that most pilots would expect from an aircraft of this size.
  2. My Cessna 340 was about the same and about eight percent slower.
  3. It also had a much longer range.

If you look at my list of flights, these will not be possible.

  • Birmingham – Inverness – 363 miles
  • Birmingham – Kirkwall – 451 miles
  • Birmingham – Schipol – 402 miles
  • Bimingham – Sumburgh – 513 miles
    Birmingham – Wick – 418 miles
  • Edinburgh – Schipol – 473 miles
  • Gatwick – Edinburgh – 356 miles
  • Gatwick – Schipol – 374 miles
  • Glasgow – Sumburgh – 300 miles
  • Humberside – Schipol – 333 miles
  • Leeds – Schipol – 386 miles
  • Manchester – Schipol  413 miles
  • Newcastle – Newquay – 346 miles
  • Newcastle – Schipol – 395 miles
  • Newquay – Orly – 351 miles
  • Stansted – Wick – 472 miles
  • Sumburgh – Bergen – 226 miles
  • Sumburgh – Kirkwall –  85 miles

Note.

  1. Most routes that are too long are to Schipol or Scotland.
  2. Anglesey appears to have Ireland extremely well covered.
  3. Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool keep their Irish routes.
  4. Newquay is still a hub, that would promote tourism in Cornwall and only loses the Orly connection, although it keeps the flight to Heathrow.
  5. Ronaldsway still looks to be a possible zero-carbon airport.

I would suggest that a range of 290 miles, is an ideal one for an electric aircraft in the UK, as it can handle a large number of routes.

These are routes that I feel would attract a large number of passengers.

  • Anglesey – Belfast – 109 miles
  • Anglesey – Belfast City – 109 miles
  • Anglesey – Derry – 163 miles
  • Anglesey – Dublin – 71 miles
  • Glasgow – Belfast – 106 miles
  • Glasgow – Belfast City – 103 miles
  • Glasgow – Derry – 121 miles
  • Heathrow – Newquay – 212 miles
  • Inverness – Kirkwall – 106 miles
  • Inverness – Sumburgh – 190 miles
  • Liverpool – Belfast – 153 miles
  • Liverpool – Belfast City – 151 miles
  • Liverpool – Dublin – 140 miles
  • Liverpool – Norwich – 180 miles
  • Liverpool – Ronaldsway – 89 miles
  • London City – Humberside – 145 miles
  • London City – Manchester – 161 miles
  • Newcastle – Cardiff – 230 miles
  • Newcastle – Belfast City – 168 miles
  • Newquay – Brest – 140 miles
  • Newquay – Cardiff  98 miles
  • Newquay – Cork – 180 miles
  • Newquay – Deauville – 241 miles
  • Newquay – Scillies – 68 miles
  • Newquay – Waterford – 150 miles
  • Norwich – Schipol – 277 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Belfast City – 62 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Dublin – 80 miles
  • Ronaldsway – Glasgow – 123 miles
  • Southend – Schipol – 180 miles
  • Sumburgh – Kirkwall –  85 miles

Alice may not be big enough for some routes.

But it will be a wonderful route-proving aircraft for the larger ES-30 and other zero-carbon aircraft.

Conclusion

There will be a lot of uses for battery-electric aircraft in the UK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 12, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Celtic Cluster Launches New Regional Strategy To Maximise Offshore Wind Benefits

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

This is the sub-heading.

The Celtic Sea Cluster has released a new Regional Strategy that outlines how Wales and South West England can maximise floating offshore wind technology benefits, in line with the forthcoming Celtic Sea leasing process being delivered by the Crown Estate.

Who comprise the Celtic Cluster? This paragraph gives the answer.

According to the Cluster, which is led by its founding partners, the Welsh Government, Cornwall, Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, Celtic Sea Power, Marine Energy Wales, and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, the strategy will allow the region’s stakeholders to ensure their activities are aligned and can achieve their common objectives.

I am surprised the Irish aren’t involved politically.

  • The Irish Republic has a coastline on the Celtic Sea.
  • There are a lot of Irish companies, finance and engineers involved in wind farm development.

But the cluster does have a firm ambition, according to the article.

The Cluster’s ambition is to establish the Celtic Sea region as a world leader in floating offshore wind by 2030 and to deliver 4 GW of floating wind in the Celtic Sea by 2035, with the potential to grow to 20 GW by 2045.

Note.

  1. The Wikipedia entry for the Celtic Sea, gives the sea an area of 300,000 km2.
  2. 20 GW or 20,000 MW is to be installed by 2045.

That is an energy density of just 0.067 MW/km2.

In ScotWind Offshore Wind Leasing Delivers Major Boost To Scotland’s Net Zero Aspirations, I calculated that ten floating wind farms had an average energy density of about 3.5 MW per km².

I wouldn’t bet against a few more floating wind turbines being squeezed into the Celtic Sea.

 

November 25, 2022 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

MingYang Turbines to Spin on Hexicon’s Floating Offshore Wind Project

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

This is the sub-heading.

Hexicon has selected China-headquartered Mingyang Smart Energy (Mingyang) as the preferred turbine supplier for its flagship 32 MW TwinHub floating offshore wind project in the UK.

These two paragraphs add a bit more detail.

Hexicon has also awarded Mingyang the wind turbine generator Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract for the project, which is located 16 kilometres off the coast of Cornwall, England.

TwinHub will use Hexicon’s TwinWind floating foundation technology which will allow two of Mingyang’s MySE 8.0-180 wind turbines to be placed on a single foundation, which could enable more energy to be generated in a given area while reducing the environmental impact compared with a single foundation.

Hexicon’s flagship project secured a Contract for Difference (CfD) in the UK Government’s most recent allocation round.

November 21, 2022 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What Is INTOG?

This page on the Crown Estate Scotland web site outlines INTOG.

This is the introduction at the top of the page.

Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) is a leasing round for offshore wind projects that will directly reduce emissions from oil & gas production and boost further innovation.

Developers can apply for seabed rights to build two types of offshore wind project:

IN – Small scale, innovative projects, of less than 100MW

TOG – Projects connected directly to oil and gas infrastructure, to provide electricity and reduce the carbon emissions associated with production

INTOG is designed, in response to demand from government and industry, to help achieve the targets of the North Sea Transition Sector Deal, which is a sector deal between government and the offshore oil and gas industry.

I have a few thoughts and have also found some news stories.

Isolated Communities

This document from the Department of Business, Industry and Industrial Strategy lists all the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 4 results for the supply of zero-carbon electricity that were announced yesterday.

The document introduces the concept of Remote Island Wind, which I wrote about in The Concept Of Remote Island Wind.

I don’t know of one, but there might be isolated communities, with perhaps a dodgy power supply, who might like to improve this, by means of a small offshore wind farm, meeting perhaps these criteria.

  • Less than 100 MW.
  • Agreement of the locals.
  • A community fund.
  • An important use for the electricity.

Locations and applications could be.

  • A small fishing port, where winds regularly bring the grid cable down in winter.
  • A village with a rail station to perhaps charge battery-electric trains.
  • A deep loch, where floating wind turbines are erected.
  • To provide hydrogen for transport.

We shall see what ideas are put forward.

Floating Power Stations

Floating wind farms are generally made up of individual turbines on floats.

  • Turbines can be up to the largest used onshore or on fixed foundations.
  • The Kincardine floating offshore wind farm in Scotland uses 9.5 MW turbines.
  • The floats are anchored to the sea bed.
  • There is a power cable connecting the turbines appropriately to each other, the shore or an offshore substation.

But we are talking innovation here, so we might see some first-of-a-kind ideas.

Single Floating Turbines

A large floating wind farm, is effectively a large number of floating wind turbines anchored in the same area of sea, and connected to the same floating or fixed substation.

I can’t see any reason, why a single floating wind turbine couldn’t be anchored by itself to provide local power.

It might even be connected to an onshore or subsea energy store, so that it provided a more constant output.

Surely, a single turbine perhaps ten miles offshore wouldn’t be a very large blot on the seascape?

I grew up in Felixstowe and got used to seeing HM Fort Roughs on the horizon from the beach. That is seven miles offshore and some people, I know have windsurfed around it from the beach.

TwinHub

I talked about TwinHub in Hexicon Wins UK’s First Ever CfD Auction For Floating Offshore Wind.

TwinHub mounts two turbines on one float and this is a visualisation of a TwinHub being towed into place.

Note.

  1. The design turns into the wind automatically, so that the maximum amount of electricity is generated.
  2. A Contract for Difference for a 32 MW TwinHub has been awarded, at a strike price of £87.30/MWh, that will be installed near Hayle in Cornwall.
  3. With a capacity factor of 50 %, that will produce just over 140,160 MWh per year or over £12 million per year.

This article on the BBC, which is entitled Funding Secured For Floating Wind Farm Off Cornwall, gives more details of the Hayle TwinHub.

The possibility of a floating wind farm off the coast of Cornwall has moved a step closer after securing government funding, project bosses have said.

Swedish company Hexicon plans to install its TwinHub system, with the hope it could begin operating in 2025.

It would be deployed about 10 miles (16km) off Hayle.

Project supporters said it could be a boost to the local economy and help establish Cornwall in the growing renewable energy sector.

Figures have not been released, but it is understood the government funding has effectively secured a fixed price for the power TwinHub would produce for 15 years, making it economically viable.

The article says that this 32 MW system could develop enough electricity for 45,000 homes.

This could be a very suitable size for many applications.

  • As at Hayle, one could be floated just off the coast to power a remote part of the country. As Cornwall has a few old mine shafts, it might even be backed up by a Gravitricity system on shore or another suitable non-lithium battery.
  • Could one float alongside an oil or gas platform and be tethered to it, to provide the power?

Scotland’s hydroelectric power stations, prove that not all power stations have to be large to be successful.

Vårgrønn and Flotation Energy’s Joint Bid

This article on offshoreWIND.biz is entitled Vårgrønn And Flotation Energy To Jointly Bid in INTOG Leasing Round, gives a few details about their joint bid.

But there is nothing substantial about ideas and locations.

I can see several joint ventures with a suitable system, bidding for various projects around the Scottish coast.

Cerulean

Cerulean sounds like it could be a sea monster, but it is a shade of blue.

This article on offshoreWind.biz is entitled Cerulean Reveals 6 GW Floating Offshore Wind Bid Under INTOG Leasing Round.

These are the two introductory paragraphs.

Green energy infrastructure developer Cerulean Winds has revealed it will bid for four seabed lease sites with a combined capacity of 6 GW of floating wind to decarbonise the UK’s oil and gas sector under Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round.

This scale will remove more emissions quickly, keep costs lower for platform operators and provide the anchor for large-scale North-South offshore transmission, Cerulean Winds said.

Note.

  1. It is privately-funded project, that needs no government subsidy and will cost £30 billion.
  2. It looks like each site will be a hundred turbines.
  3. If they’re the same, they could be 1.5 GW each.
  4. Each site will need £7.5 billion of investment. So it looks like Cerulean have access to a similar magic money tree as Kwasi Kwarteng.

Effectively, they’re building four 1.5 GW power stations in the seas around us to power a large proportion of the oil and gas rigs.

For more on Cerulean Winds’ massive project see Cerulean Winds Is A Different Type Of Wind Energy Company.

Will There Be An Offshore Wind Supermarket?

I can see the big turbine, float and electrical gubbins manufacturers establishing a one-stop shop for developers, who want to install small wind farms, that meet the INTOG criteria.

So suppose, the archetypal Scottish laird in his castle on his own island wanted a 6 MW turbine to go green, he would just go to the B & Q Offshore web site and order what he needed. It would then be towed into place and connected to his local grid.

I can see modular systems being developed, that fit both local infrastructure and oil and gas platforms.

Conclusion

I can see scores of projects being submitted.

I even know the son of a Scottish laird, whose father owns a castle on an island, who could be taking interest in INTOG. They might also apply under Remote Island Wind in another leasing round.

But we will have to wait until the end of March 2023, to find out who have been successful.

September 29, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Energy Storage | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Hexicon Wins UK’s First Ever CfD Auction For Floating Offshore Wind

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

This is the first paragraph.

Today (7th of July) the UK Government confirmed that Hexicon AB’s TwinHub project in the Celtic Sea was successful in the latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round (AR4). It has been awarded a CfD for its 32MW floating wind project at a strike price of £87.30/MWh (2012 real prices) taking the project a significant step closer to completion.

This image shows one of their TwinHub turbine installations being towed into place.

The TwinHub home page has a title of The First Floating Offshore Wind Project in The Celtic Sea.

This is the description on the page.

The TwinHub offshore wind demonstration project intends to prove how Hexicon’s innovative design with two turbines on one floating foundation can further reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy (also referred to as LCoE) before large scale commercialisation. The TwinHub project is a stepping stone to help kick-start floating wind in the Celtic Sea, an area identified as a hotspot for floating wind by the UK Government. It will pave the path for larger and larger projects to help support The Crown Estates’ ambitious target of 4GW of floating wind in the Celtic Sea.

Scroll the page down and there is a short video of a pair of wind turbines in operation.

  • It appears that when there is no wind, it automatically goes into a safe parked mode.
  • As the wind rises, one turbine starts up.
  • The second turbine starts up and the float turns so they face the wind.

It appears to be a classic example of disruptive innovation.

I did the calculations for floating and reusable oil and gas platforms in the 1970s, that were designed by two Cambridge University professors, which would have been launched horizontally and upturned when in position. This experience leads me to believe that the Swedish designers of this type of platform have been able to verify that this is a workable design.

This document from the Department of Business, Industry and Industrial Strategy indicates that the demonstration is for 32 MW.

Does that indicate, that this installation is twin 16 MW wind turbines?

16 MW seems to be the size of the largest wind turbines in the world.

There is a lot to like about this Swedish design.

  • As the video shows, it appears to balance itself with the wind.
  • I suspect from the calculations I did in Cambridge, that the twin design with its higher weight is more stable than a floating single turbine design.
  • The float and its two turbines can be assembled alongside a dock with a large stable onshore dockside crane.
  • Servicing would also be done in a dock.
  • Working onshore is much safer and easier, than working offshore.
  • The twin design allows more power to be generated in a given area of sea.

This is a brilliant concept and it will give Putin, the Sheikhs and the other oil dictators, the most terrible of nightmares.

The initial site chosen for this design in the UK, will be in the sea at Hayle in Cornwall.

This map shows the location.

Hayle is in the North-East corner of the map, by the sandy beach.

A 32 MW turbine could probably provide enough electricity for 15,000 houses.

July 8, 2022 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , | 10 Comments

Two Celtic Sea Floating Wind Projects Could Be Delivered By 2028

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

This is the first paragraph.

Falck Renewables and BlueFloat Energy have said that they are looking at early delivery of their two floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea, called Llywelyn and Petroc, which have grid connections secured and almost a year’s worth of bird surveys already completed.

These would add two extra 300 MW wind farms to the Celtic Sea.

In Enter The Dragon, I indicated the potential of renewable energy around Wales based on this article on the Engineer is entitled Unlocking The Renewables Potential Of The Celtic Sea. This sentence from the article talks about the possibilities of offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.

The Celtic Sea – which extends south off Wales and Ireland down past Cornwall and Brittany to the edge of the continental shelf – is estimated to have around 50GW of wind generating capacity alone.

The article also talks about Blue Gem Wind and their Erebus and Valorous wind farm projects in the Celtic Sea, that I wrote about in Blue Gem Wind.

There now appears to be four floating wind farms under development in the Celtic Sea between the South-West corner of Wales and the Devon and Cornwall Peninsular.

  • Blue Gem Wind – Erebus – 100 MW Demonstration project  – 27 miles offshore
  • Blue Gem Wind – Valorus – 300 MW Early-Commercial project – 31 miles offshore
  • Falck Renewables and BlueFloat Energy – Petroc – 300 MW project – 37 miles offshore
  • Falck Renewables and BlueFloat Energy Llywelyn – 300 MW project – 40 miles offshore

But they do create a starter for a GW.

Both consortia seem to have similar objectives.

  • To use a stepping-stone approach, gradually building in size.
  • To involve the local community in creating a supply chain.
  • Create long-term benefits for the region.

If these and other consortia fill the Celtic Sea with 50 GW of floating wind turbines, then we’ll all benefit.

 

April 22, 2022 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Plane Surveying Cornwall For Minerals

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

These are the first two paragraphs.

A low-flying 1940s plane doing survey work will be a common sight over mid and west Cornwall during the next two to three weeks.

The geological mapping plane is hoping to identify where lithium and other minerals may be located underground.

But the most interesting thing about the project is the aircraft that does the surveying, which is a 1943 Douglas DC3.

It is being flown by Bell Geospace and the aircraft has been upgraded into a Basler BT-67, with turboprop engines, an improved airframe and modern avionics.

Having flown aircraft at the sort of height mentioned by the BBC, I’d love to get a lift on one of their survey flights.

December 19, 2021 Posted by | World | , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Eden Project: Geothermal Heat Project ‘Promising’

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

This is the first paragraph.

A three mile-deep (4.8km) borehole has shown “promising” prospects for a geothermal heat plant in Cornwall.

Eden estimates the borehole can produce enough heat for 35,000 homes.

Geothermal energy is only at the beginning in the UK, but just because we don’t have any active volcanoes, we shouldn’t discount it.

On the other hand, we do have a lot of water-filled abandoned coal mines, which in former mining areas of the UK can and will provide a substantial amount of district heating, as I wrote in Exciting Renewable Energy Project for Spennymoor.

And then there’s one-off project’s like Bunhill 2 in Islington, which I wrote about in ‘World-First’ As Bunhill 2 Launches Using Tube Heat To Warm 1,350 Homes.

Conclusion

The UK may not be an Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, New Zealand, Philippines or the USA, but according to Wikipedia we have a good potential.

  • Deep geothermal resources could provide 9.5GW of baseload renewable electricity.
  • Deep geothermal resources could provide over 100GW of heat.

I think my most significant post on geothermal energy is Schlumberger New Energy And Thermal Energy Partners Form Geothermal Development Company STEP Energy.

Schlumberger and the other oilfield services companies have a very serious problem.

With countries abandoning oil and gas, they have lots of engineers, geologists and other staff, who will not be needed by the oil and gas industry.

But their expertise and skills can be transferred to the geothermal heat and power industry. This will benefit the staff, the companies and the world!

The other place there expertise can be used is in the storage of captured carbon dioxide.

November 6, 2021 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , | 2 Comments

Reinstating The Line Between Tavistock And Bere Alston And Providing New Services To And From Plymouth

On October 27th this Beeching Reversal Project was given £50,000 to build a case for reinstating.

This project finally seems to be getting going.

The complete reinstatement between Exeter and Plymouth seems to be developing into a three-phase project.

  • Phase 1 – Exeter and Okehampton – This is now complete and trains are test running, with services due to start on the 20th November.
  • Phase 2 – Tavistock And Bere Alston – This section is being planned and if approved could be the next section to be opened.
  • Phase 3 – Tavistock and Okehampton – This would complete the reinstatement of the route between Exeter and Plymouth.

These are my thoughts.

The Completion Of Phase 1

Trains are now test running to between Exeter and Okehampton.

The full service starts on the 20th November.

  • On that day, there will be eight trains per day (tpd) in both directions.
  • Trains will leave Exeter at 06:32, 08:41, 10:36, 12:37, 14:38, 16:36, 18:48 and 21:00.
  • Trains will leave Okehampton at 07:39, 09:45, 11:39, 13:39, 15:39, 17:46, 19:51 and 22:34.
  • Trains are times to take around forty minutes for each trip.
  • The service is pathed as a Class 150/153/155/156 DMU
  • The service is planned for a maximum speed of 75 mph.

Note.

  1. This is approximately one train per two hours (tp2h).
  2. It looks like the service could be worked by a single train shuttling all day.

The Wikipedia entry for Okehampton station says this.

The service will increase to hourly towards the end of 2022.

It has been a very smooth restoration of service.

Okehampton Parkway Station

Okehampton Parkway station is to be built to the East of Okehampton at Stockley Hamlet.

It looks like it could be a very useful Park-and-Ride station for Exeter and Okehampton.

Could The Okehampton Stations Be Used To By-Pass Dawlish?

In 2014, the sea breached the sea wall and the railway at Dawlish, on the Great Western Main Line between Exeter and Plymouth. Trains couldn’t run past Exeter.

I very much feel that with global warming and seemingly increasingly bad weather that we can’t say that a breach won’t happen again.

Could it be possible to use the one of the Okehampton stations, as a terminal for a Rail Replacement service that connected to Plymouth and Cornwall?

The Gap Between Okehampton And Bere Alston

This Google Map shows the gap between Okehampton and Bere Alston stations.

Note.

  1. Okehampton is at the top of the map between the three green rectangles which mark the main roads.
  2. Bere Alston is in the South-West corner of the map.
  3. Tavistock is North of Bere Alston.
  4. The three places are connected by the A 386 road.

Is there a bus between Okehampton and Bere Alston, that serves Tavistock and the major villages?

Phase 2 – Tavistock And Bere Alston

This Google Map shows between Tavistock and Beer Alston station.

Note.

  1. Tavistock is in the North-East corner of the map.
  2. Bere Alston  is in the South-West corner of the map.
  3. I estimate that about six miles of new track will have to be laid.

This Google Map shows Bere Alston station, which is to the North-West of the village.

Note.

  1. Bere Alston station is on the Tamar Valley Line.
  2. The Tamar Valley Line is all single-track.
  3. Trains to and from Gunnislake station use the Northbound track at the junction to the West of the station.
  4. Trains to and from Plymouth use the Southbound track at the junction to the West of the station.
  5. Trains between Gunnislake and Plymouth reverse at Bere Alston station.

It would appear that the route to Tavistock continued to the East.

This Google Map clearly shows the route of the disused railway as it runs North-East from Bere Alston station.

Note.

Bere Alston station is the South-West corner of the map.

The dark green line of the railway runs to the North-East corner of the map.

As all the railways in the area seem to have been single-track, I would suspect that any rebuilt railway on this route will be single track.

I have followed the dark green line through to Tavistock which is shown in this Google Map.

As the Department of Transport are prepared to finance a study for reinstatement of the route, I would suspect that there is a feasible route between Bere Alston and Tavistock.

  • There would appear to be no bridges or viaducts between Bere Alston and the outskirts of Tavistock.
  • Before closure, there no stations between Bere Alston and Tavistock North stations.
  • Bere Alston station would need to be rebuilt.

The Wikipedia entry for Tavistock North station, says this about the condition of the line.

The station building has been restored and converted into three self-catering cottages. The stationmaster’s house is being restored as a private dwelling, while the goods yard, now known as Kilworthy Park, houses the offices of West Devon Borough Council. The track bed for about one mile (1.6 km) south of Tavistock North station is open to the public as a footpath and nature reserve, and it is possible to walk across the viaducts that overlook the town.

The rest of the track bed south of Tavistock is almost intact to Bere Alston, where it joins the present-day Tamar Valley Line. There has been discussion regarding the re-opening of a rail link for a number of years. Engineering assessment has shown that the track bed, and structures such as bridges and tunnels, are in sound condition.

I can foresee some problems, in what might not be one of the most challenging of projects.

  • Claiming back the railway from the walkers and cyclists.
  • The ownership of the stationmaster’s house.

Unlike Scotland, England didn’t make sure that rail routes could be converted back to railways if needed.

My project management knowledge leads me to agree with what appears to be a decision to do this part of the route next.

Phase 3 – Okehampton And Tavistock

The title of this project as given in the Railway Gazette article is as follows.

Reinstating The Line Between Tavistock And Bere Alston And Providing New Services To And From Plymouth

If you read this literally, it doesn’t mention anything about connecting to Okehampton and Exeter.

  • Looking at maps and reading up on the line, it does appear that the route may be more challenging.
  • The route also contains the Meldon Viaduct, which is a scheduled monument.

Until a viable plan is developed, it might be better and more affordable to run zero-carbon buses between Tavistock and Okehampton.

 

October 30, 2021 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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