The Anonymous Widower

Renewable Power By 2030 In The UK

 

I am doing this to see what the total output will be by the net election.

Offshore Wind Power

I shall start with offshore wind power.

  • Operational in July 2025 – 16,035 MW
  • 2025 – Dogger Bank A – 1,235 MW
  • 2026 – Sofia – 1,400 MW
  • 2026 – Dogger Bank B – 1,235 MW
  • 2026 – East Anglia 1 North – 800 MW
  • 2026 – East Anglia 3 – 1,372 MW
  • 2027 – Dogger Bank C – 1,218 MW
  • 2027 – Hornsea 3 – 2,852 MW
  • 2027 – Inch Cape – 1,080 MW
  • 2027 – Llŷr 1 – 100 MW
  • 2027 – Llŷr 2 – 100 MW
  • 2027 – Norfolk Boreas – 1,380 M
  • 2027 – Whitecross – 100 MW
  • 2028 – Aspen – 1008 MW
  • 2028 – Morecambe – 480 MW
  • 2028 – Ossian – 2,610 MW
  • 2028 – Stromar – 900 MW
  • 2029 – Beech – 1008 MW
  • 2029 – East Anglia 2 – 967 MW
  • 2029 – Green Volt – 400 MW
  • 2029 – Mona – 1,500 MW
  • 2029 – Morgan – 1,500 MW
  • 2029 – Norfolk Vanguard East – 1,380 MW
  • 2029 – Norfolk Vanguard West – 1,380 MW
  • 2029 – North Falls – 504 MW
  • 2029 – West of Orkney – 2,000 MW
  • 2030 – Awel y Môr – 500 MW
  • 2030 – Bellrock – 1,200 MW
  • 2030 – Berwick Bank – 4,100 MW
  • 2030 – Caledonia – 2,000 MW
  • 2030 – Cedar – 1008 MW
  • 2030 – Five Estuaries – 353 MW
  • 2030 – Morven – 2,907 MW
  • 2030 – N3 Project – 495 MW
  • 2030 – Outer Dowsing – 1,500 MW
  • 2030 – Rampion 2 Extension – 1,200 MW

This gives these yearly totals, if I use pessimistic dates.

  • 2025 – 1,235 MW
  • 2026 – 4,807 MW
  • 2027 – 5,350 MW
  • 2028 – 4,998 MW
  • 2029 – 9,631 MW
  • 2030 – 15,263 MW

This adds up to a total of 58,897 MW.

Solar Power

For solar power, I just asked Google AI and received this answer.

The UK government aims to have between 45 and 47 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity by 2030. This goal is set out in the Solar Roadmap and aims to reduce energy bills and support the UK’s clean power objectives. The roadmap includes measures like installing solar on new homes and buildings, exploring solar carports, and improving access to rooftop solar for renters.

Let’s assume that we only achieve the lowest value of 45 GW.

But that will still give us at least 100 GW of renewable zero-carbon power.

Energy Storage

For pumped storage hydro, I asked Google AI and received this answer.

The UK’s pumped storage hydro (PSH) capacity is projected to more than double by 2030, with six projects in Scotland, including Coire Glas and Cruachan 2, potentially increasing capacity to around 7.7 GW from the current approximately 3 GW. This would be a significant step towards meeting the National Grid’s required 13 GW of new energy storage by 2030, though achieving this depends on policy support and investment.

It looks like there is about another 5 GW of capacity to find.

 

August 12, 2025 Posted by | Energy Storage | , , , , , | 3 Comments

Drax To Get £24m In Green Subsidies For Pumped Hydro

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

These three paragraphs give details of the subsidy.

Drax will bank £24 million in green subsidies from energy bill-payers for its pumped hydro assets, ahead of a revival in the energy storage technology in Britain.

The FTSE 250 constituent, which also operates Britain’s largest power station in North Yorkshire, has secured contracts to provide 434 megawatts of capacity from its pumped storage and hydro assets, the largest of which is the Cruachan power station near Oban in Scotland.

The contracts cover energy to be delivered between October 2028 to September 2029, at a price of £60 a kilowatt a year.

This will arouse the anti-Drax lobby, but it should be born in mind, that according to Wikipedia, Cruachan can provide a black start capability to the UK’s electrical grid.

This is Wikipedia’s definition of a black start.

 

A black start is the process of restoring an electric power station, a part of an electric grid or an industrial plant, to operation without relying on the external electric power transmission network to recover from a total or partial shutdown.

After the Great Storm of 1987, we were without power in my part of Suffolk for two weeks and I suspect there were several black starts in the South of England.

I suspect that power from interconnectors could now be used.

Drax is expanding Cruachan from 440 MW to 1 GW, which will be a large investment and surely increase its black start capability.

So in this case the future subsidy could be considered something like an insurance policy to make sure black start capability is available.

March 12, 2025 Posted by | Energy, Energy Storage, Finance | , , , , , , | 4 Comments