OVO Energy To Lead Major Zero-Carbon Heat Trial
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Current News.
These initial three paragraphs explain the project.
OVO Energy is to lead one of the UK’s largest ever zero-carbon heating trails, thanks to a £4.2 million grant from the government.
Kaluza, Sunamp, Retrofit Works and Parity Projects will work together with OVO Energy to install and operate zero-carbon heating systems worth up to £15,000 in 250 homes.
Mitusbishi’s Ecodan air source heat pump and Sunamp’s thermal batteries will be installed in the homes, creating electric, zero-carbon heating systems. Additionally, the homes involved will have up to £5,000 worth of energy efficiency improvements made.
That sounds like a sensible project to me, as we need to be zero-carbon in everything we do and heating is the largest source of emissions in the UK with twenty percent.
The Debate Over Burning Dead Trees To Create Biomass Energy
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Wired.
This is the sub-title.
Critics worry about the risks of overcutting and wood smoke. But supporters say the practice will prevent megafires—which release even more carbon dioxide.
For those who worry about the ethics of biomass, it is a must-read.
Air-Powered Energy Storage Knocks Out Coal & Gas — Wait, What?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on CleanTechnica.
After reading, this must read article, it could have had a title with Knocks Out Coal, Gas and Nuclear.
It makes a passionate article for Highview Power’s long term air-powered energy storage and other systems with a similar energy profile like Form Energy.
It also showed this good graphic from Highview Power, which shows how their system works.
This paragraph gives Highview’s view on what their CRYObatteries will do.
Grid operators are turning to long-duration energy storage to improve power generation economics, balance the grid, and increase reliability. At giga-scale, CRYOBatteries paired with renewables are equivalent in performance to – and could replace – thermal and nuclear baseload power in addition to supporting electricity transmission and distribution systems while providing additional security of supply,” enthuses Highview.
The author then chips in with the attitude of the US Department of Energy.
Don’t just take their word for it. The US Department of Energy is eyeballing long duration energy storage for the sparkling green grid of the future despite all the hot air blowing out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
In an interesting twist, the Energy Department’s interest in long duration storage was initially connected to its interest in at least preserving, if not growing, the nation’s aging fleet of nuclear power plants.
Will renewables be able to see off nuclear in a country with plenty of sun and/or wind like the United States?
Conclusion
With a lot of help from their friends in the long term energy storage business, the answer must be yes!
Climate Emission Killer: Construction Begins On World’s Biggest Liquid Air Battery
The title of this post, is the same at that of this article in the Guardian.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Construction is beginning on the world’s largest liquid air battery, which will store renewable electricity and reduce carbon emissions from fossil-fuel power plants.
These are a few points from the Guardian and other articles on other web sites, including Wikipedia.
- The size of the battery is 250 MWh.
- It can delivery up to 50 MW of power. which translates to five hours at full power, if the battery is full.
- If it was already working, it would be the ninth biggest battery of all types, except for pumped storage, in the world.
- It will be built at Trafford Energy Park near to Carrington power station.
- It will be double the size of the largest chemical battery, which was built by Tesla in South Australia.
- It is being built by a company call Carlton Highview Storage, which is a joint venture between Carlton Power and Highview Power.
- It should start commercial operation in 2022.
- The installation of the battery is an £85million project.
- The Government have chipped in with a £10million grant.
Some reports say, this could be one of four of Highview Power’s 250 MWh CRYObatteries to be developed by the joint venture.
I will add some observations of my own.
Carrington Power Station
This Google Map shows the site of Carrington Power station.
Note.
- Flixton station is in the North-East corner of the map.
- Irlam station is on the Western edge of the map.
- South of the railway between the two stations, there is a large industrial site, that sits in a bend in the River Mersey.
This second Google Map shows an enlargement of the site.
Note.
- Carrington power station in the middle of the site.
- Large amounts of brownfield land.
- The Manchester Ship Canal passing to the West of the site.
Wikipedia says this about the design of Carrington power station.
The station is a Combined-Cycle Power Plant (CCPP), using natural gas to generate 884MW of electricity. The CCPP uses both a gas and a steam turbine together, to produce up to 50 percent more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple-cycle plant. The waste heat from the gas turbine is routed to the nearby steam turbine, which generates additional power. Carrington consists of two CCPP KA26-1 units. At operating design conditions, each CCPP unit generates 442.3 MW net output. The station generates enough power to meet the electricity needs of one million homes in the UK and began commercial operation on 18 September 2016.
Wikipedia also says the following.
- The plant has an efficiency of 58%. Is that good for this type of gas-fired Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power station? 64% seems to be about the best but Carrington is better than the about 50% possible with a conventional gas turbine plant.
- Much of the heavy equipment for the power station was brought by barge along the Manchester Ship Canal.
- The station is also a combined heat and power plant, capable of providing nearby businesses with steam, if they require a supply. This could be useful to a Highview Power CRYObattery, as a low-grade heat-source is needed to recovery the stored energy by warming the liquid air.
Given the following.
- There is space available near to the power station.
- A 250 MWh CRYObattery would probably fit in a size smaller than two football pitches.
- Carlton have permission to build another CCGT at the site.
- Carrington has a very good electrical connection to the grid, as nearly all power stations do.
- Heavy components can be brought in by barge on the canal.
, it would appear that the area would be a good place to site the first gr-scale CRYObattery.
Conclusion
I think siting the first grid-scale CRYObattery close to Carrington power station at the Trafford Energy Park, fits together well and I could see more CRYObatteries being installed in the following types of location.
- At existing power stations.
- On the sites of demolished power stations, that still have good grid connections.
- Where interconnectors and power from offshore wind connects to the grid.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Drax Group install a system at one of their sites, as a CRYObattery could help cut their carbon-emissions.
Neutrino Energy And Renewable Energy Decisions
The title of this post, is the same as that pn this article from Cision.
This is the introductory paragraph.
While Fossil fuels pose serious dangers to the future of human civilization, the Neutrino Energy Group proposes safe, clean solutions to the modern energy crisis that will help humanity take genuine leaps forward in development.
I’ve read the whole article and it is interesting.
It could be the biggest development in energy since our ancestors discovered fire or the largest load of hype since ZETA was built at Harwell in 1957. The latter was supposed to provide electricity too cheap to meter.
Every ten years or so, something like this pops up. The only thing different about this one, is that it has come from the Germans! Although in the 1930s. it was in Germany, where people like Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner were leading the world in nuclear research. They discovered nuclear fission for which Hahn won the Nobel Prize.
Meitner spent her last years in Cambridge and I’ve always wondered, if she ever met Rosalind Franklin, the other great female scientist of the time, who many believe should have also received a Nobel Prize. If they did or even if they didn’t, it would surely make a wonderful drama, in the style of Copenhagen.
Luckily for the world, these German nuclear scientists were often Jewish, so they left, probably robbing the Nazis of an atomic bomb. Many ended up on the Manhattan Project.
Portugal’s Delayed 700MW Solar Tender With Storage Option Launches
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
According to the Wikipedia entry for Solar Power in Portugal, Portugal had 828 MW of installed solar power in 2018.
So 700 MW will almost double the capacity.
Note that if they had the same amount of installed solar power per square mile as the UK, Portugal would have 3 GW or 3,000 MW of installed solar power.
Newcomer Broad Reach Power To Deploy Increasingly Large Battery Systems In Texas
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
US-based independent power producer (IPP) Broad Reach Power has said it will build 15 projects in Texas in 2020, each of them just under 10MW / 10MWh, with construction on six of them set to begin this summer.
The article then goes on to describe the electricity industry in Texas and where the battery storage fits in.
It’s all a far cry from the Texas portrayed in soaps like Dallas.
Wind Power In Texas
Wind Power in Texas has its own Wikipedia entry and this is the first paragraph.
Wind power in Texas consists of over 40 wind farms, which together have a total nameplate capacity of over 28,000 MW (as of 2019). If Texas were a country, it would rank fifth in the world: The installed wind capacity in Texas exceeds installed wind capacity in all countries but China, the United States, Germany and India. Texas produces the most wind power of any U.S. state.
But then everything in Texas, is famed as being the biggest in the world.
Their installed capacity of 28 GW compares with 17.64 GW of installed wind power in the UK.
Solar Power In Texas
Solar Power in Texas also has its own Wikipedia entry and this is the first paragraph.
Solar power in Texas, along with wind power, has the potential to allow Texas to remain an energy-exporting state over the long term. The western portion of the state especially has abundant open land areas, with some of the greatest solar and wind potential in the country. Development activities there are also encouraged by relatively simple permitting and significant available transmission capacity.
The Wikipedia entry also says that in 2019, Texas had 4.32 GW of installed solar power.
By comparison, the UK has 8.1 GW of installed solar power. Who’d have thought that?
As Texas is 2.87 times geographically larger than the UK, if Texas had the same solar panel density as the UK, Texas would have an installed capacity of 23.2 GW.
The Need For Energy Storage In Texas
With all this installed wind and solar energy in Texas and its potential for expansion, there would appear to a massive demand for energy storage in the state.
Conclusion
What would JR think?
Britain Goes Coal-Free For Two Months – Longest Period Since Industrial Revolution
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Independent.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Britain is on course to pass an energy milestone as it reaches two months of coal-free power generation on Wednesday – the longest period the country has gone without using the fossil fuel since the industrial revolution.
It is partly due, to a lack of electricity demand due to COVID-19, but overall it is a good thing.
As I write this at 14:30 on the 9th June 2020, UK Electricity Production gives the various sources of production as follows.
- Biomass – 3,045 MW
- CCGT – 17,442 MW
- Hydroelectric – 217 MW
- Interconnects – 1,977 MW
- Nuclear – 4,229 MW
- Other – 75 MW
- Pumped Storage – 0 MW
- Solar – 4,800 MW
- Wind – 697 MW
This all adds up to a total of 32.42 GW.
Note.
- CCGT stands for combined cycle gas turbine.
- Solar power is generating more than nuclear.
- I don’t think today is a very windy day!
I have just used the site to look at a few solar farms in Kent. Most seem to be generating 14.8 % of their capacity.
US Deployed 98MW / 208MWh Of Energy Storage During First Quarter Of 2020
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Research firm Wood Mackenzie has held onto its forecast that the US will deploy around 7GW of energy storage annually by 2025 and found that 97.5MW / 208MWh of storage was installed during the first quarter of this year.
The United States may be led by a President, who doesn’t believe in global warming, but individuals and businesses in the country seem to believe in battery storage and the benefits it brings.
This is an interesting paragraph from the article.
The overall deployments were also down in megawatt-hour terms: 208MWh in total was a 43% decrease quarter-on-quarter and down 34% year-on-year. Wood Mackenzie found that this was due to a majority of front-of-the-meter projects coming online being short duration energy storage. This meant that FTM storage accounted for 13% of Q1 2020 deployments in megawatt-hours but for 22% of the total megawatts deployed.
Front-of-the-meter storage is mainly used to maintain supplies, when demand is going up and down like a yo-yo in an area. Companies like Gresham House Energy Sorage Fund seem to be funding these batteries in the UK. Gravutricity, Highview Power and Zinc8 also seem to be targeting this market.
Conclusion
It would appear that the energy storage market is healthy on both sides of the Atlantic
Spanish Covid-19 Recovery Investment Scheme Funds 12 Energy Start-Ups
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Power Technology.
These are the two introductory paragraphs.
Several energy companies have announced they will assist and invest in a scheme to develop smaller companies assisting in Spain’s Covid-19 recovery.
The Positive Energy+ investment scheme has taken 396 proposals over 13 days. The promoters of the programme have chosen 12 businesses they believe will have a large impact on the country’s decarbonisation, digitalisation and mobility, while also considering their social impact.
It looks like Spain is going a similar route to Norway, with their fund.
The Anonymous Widower 