UK Confirms £205 Million Budget To Power More Of Britain From Britain
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from the Department of Energy Security And NetZero.
This is the sub title.
UK government confirms budget for this year’s Contracts for Difference scheme as it enters its first annual auction, boosting energy security.
These are the three bullet points.
- Government announces significant financial backing for first annual flagship renewables auction, boosting Britain’s energy security
- £170 million pledged for established technologies to ensure Britain remains a front runner in renewables and £10 million ring-fenced budget for tidal
- Scheme will bolster investment into the sector every year, delivering clean, homegrown energy as well as green growth and jobs
These are my thoughts.
First And Annual
The scheme is flagged as both first and annual!
Does this mean, that each Budget will bring forward a pot of money for renewables every year?
My father, who being a letterpress printer and a Cockney poet would say it did and I’ll follow his lead.
Two Pots
In Contracts for Difference Round 4, there were three pots.
- Pot 1 – Onshore Wind and Solar
- Pot 2 – Floating Offshore Wind, Remote Island Wind and Tidal Stream
- Pot 3 – Fixed Foundation Offshore Wind
This document on the government web site lists all the results.
For Contracts for Difference Round 5, there will be two pots, which is described in this paragraph of the press release.
Arranged across 2 ‘pots’, this year’s fifth Allocation Round (AR5) includes an allocation of £170 million to Pot 1 for established technologies, which for the first time includes offshore wind and remote island wind – and confirms an allocation of £35 million for Pot 2 which covers emerging technologies such as geothermal and floating offshore wind, as well as a £10 million ring-fenced budget available for tidal stream technologies.
It could be described as a two-pot structure with a smaller ring-fenced pot for tidal stream technologies.
Contract for Difference
There is a Wikipedia entry for Contract for Difference and I’m putting in an extract, which describes how they work with renewable electricity generation.
To support new low carbon electricity generation in the United Kingdom, both nuclear and renewable, contracts for difference were introduced by the Energy Act 2013, progressively replacing the previous Renewables Obligation scheme. A House of Commons Library report explained the scheme as:
Contracts for Difference (CfD) are a system of reverse auctions intended to give investors the confidence and certainty they need to invest in low carbon electricity generation. CfDs have also been agreed on a bilateral basis, such as the agreement struck for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant.
CfDs work by fixing the prices received by low carbon generation, reducing the risks they face, and ensuring that eligible technology receives a price for generated power that supports investment. CfDs also reduce costs by fixing the price consumers pay for low carbon electricity. This requires generators to pay money back when wholesale electricity prices are higher than the strike price, and provides financial support when the wholesale electricity prices are lower.
The costs of the CfD scheme are funded by a statutory levy on all UK-based licensed electricity suppliers (known as the ‘Supplier Obligation’), which is passed on to consumers.
In some countries, such as Turkey, the price may be fixed by the government rather than an auction.
Note.
- I would trust the House of Commons Library to write up CfDs properly.
- As a Control Engineer, I find a CfD an interesting idea.
- If a generator has more electricity than expected, they will make more money than they expected. So this should drop the wholesale price, so they would get less. Get the parameters right and the generator and the electricity distributor would probably end up in a stable equilibrium. This should be fairly close to the strike price.
I would expect in Turkey with Erdogan as President, there are also other factors involved.
Renewable Generation With Energy Storage
I do wonder, if wind, solar or tidal energy, is paired with energy storage, this would allow optimisation of the system around the Contract for Difference.
If it did, it would probably mean that the generator settled into a state of equilibrium, where it supplied a constant amount of electricity.
Remote Island Wind
Remote Island Wind was introduced in Round 4 and I wrote about it in The Concept Of Remote Island Wind.
This was my conclusion in that post.
I must admit that I like the concept. Especially, when like some of the schemes, when it is linked to community involvement and improvement.
Only time will tell, if the concept of Remote Island Wind works well.
There are possibilities, although England and Wales compared to Scotland and Ireland, would appear to be short of islands.
This map shows the islands of the Thames Estuary.
Note.
- In Kent, there is the Isle of Sheppey and the Isle of Grain.
- Between the two islands is a large gas terminal , a gas-fired power station and an electricity sub-station connecting to Germany.
- In Essex, there is Canvey, Foulness and Potton Islands.
- There is also the site at Bradwell, where there used to be a nuclear power station.
If we assume that each island could support 200 MW, there could be a GW of onshore wind for London and perhaps a couple of SMRs to add another GW.
This map shows the islands around Portsmouth.
Note.
- Hayling Island is to the East of Portsmouth.
- Further East is Thorney Island with an airfield.
The Isle of Wight could be the sort of island, that wouldn’t welcome wind farms, although they do make the blades for turbines. Perhaps they should have a wind farm to make the blades even more green.
But going round England and Wales there doesn’t seem to be many suitable places for Remote Island Wind.
I do think though, that Scotland could make up the difference.
Geothermal Energy
This is directly mentioned as going into the emerging technologies pot, which is numbered 2.
I think we could see a surprise here, as how many commentators predicted that geothermal heat from the London Underground could be used to heat buildings in Islington, as I wrote about in ‘World-First’ As Bunhill 2 Launches Using Tube Heat To Warm 1,350 Homes.
Perhaps, Charlotte Adams and her team at Durham University, will capitalise on some of their work with a abandoned coal mine, that I wrote about in Exciting Renewable Energy Project for Spennymoor.
Timescale
This paragraph gives the timescale.
The publication of these notices mean that AR5 is set to open to applications on 30 March with results to be announced in late summer/early autumn 2023, with the goal of building upon the already paramount success of the scheme.
It does look like the Government intends this round to progress at a fast pace.
Conclusion
If this is going to be an annual auction, this could turn out to be a big spur to the development of renewable energy.
Supposing you have a really off-beat idea to generate electricity and the idea place in the world is off the coast of Anglesey.
You will certainly be able to make a bid and know like Eurovision, one auction will come along each year.
Giant Batteries Will Provide Surge Of Electricity Storage
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Britain’s capacity to store electricity in giant batteries is set to double after dozens of new projects won contracts through a government scheme to keep the lights on.
Developers of battery storage projects with a total output capacity of at least 3.3 gigawatts won contracts to operate from winter 2025-26 through the government’s “capacity market” auction, according to Cornwall Insight, the consultancy.
Note that Hinckley Point C is only 3.26 GW.
The biggest battery in these contracts is a giant that Intergen will be building at the London Gateway.
When the battery got planning permission in November 2020, Intergen published this press release, which is entitled InterGen Gains Consent To Build One Of The World’s Largest Battery Projects In Essex.
These are three bullet points at the head of the press release.
- Edinburgh-headquartered energy company InterGen has been granted planning consent to build the UK’s largest battery storage project at DP World London Gateway on the Thames Estuary.
- £200m project is set to provide at least 320MW/640MWh of capacity, with the potential to expand to 1.3GWh – more than ten times the size of the largest battery currently in operation in the UK and set to be one of the world’s largest.
- The battery will provide fast-reacting power and system balancing with an initial two-hour duration, and is a significant piece of infrastructure on the UK’s journey to net zero.
As Cilla might have said. “What a lorra lorra lot of lithium!”
But it’s not just lithium-ion batteries that are getting large.
In The Power Of Solar With A Large Battery, I talked about a Highview Power CRYOBattery with a capacity of 50MW/500MWh, that is being built in the Atacama desert in Chile.
The Essex battery is a giant battery and it’s bigger than the one in Chile, but I’m fairly sure Highview Power could build a battery bigger than the one InterGen are building. You just add more liquid air tanks and turbomachinery.
UK’s Tevva Uses Submarine Tech To Power Electric Trucks
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times of Israel.
The article is from April 2017 and starts with this paragraph.
Startup founded by Asher Bennett, brother of Israel’s education minister, aims to provide digital, emission-free vehicles.
This paragraph gives details of the man behind the company and their first sales.
Meanwhile, one UK company — Tevva Motors — has already got its first orders for repowering the trucks of delivery giants UPS, DHL and Switzerland’s Kuehne+Nagel with its components, including the batteries and motor, according to Tevva’s 48-year-old Israeli founder Asher Bennett. Bennett is the older brother of former entrepreneur turned right-wing politician Naftali Bennett, who is Israel’s education minister.
Since the article was written, Naftali Bennett has become Israel’s Prime Minister.
This paragraph explains how the trucks work.
The trucks Tevva repowers as well as those the company is planning to build from scratch next year at its new facility in Chelmsford are fully digital. “Every piece of information on our trucks is on the cloud,” Bennett said. The software and algorithms developed by the company automatically calculate the most efficient use of the battery and instruct the range extender when to kick in, without any input from the driver.
We’re already starting to see trains using similar techniques.
But as a time-expired Control Engineer, I would go a similar route.
It is a fascinating article, that deserves a full read.
Class 321 Renatus Trains At Wickford And On The Crouch Valley Line
This article on Rail Advent indicated that the platform extension at Wickford station had been completed, so that five-car Class 720 trains can work the Crouch Valley Line.
This morning I went to look at the progress and took these pictures.
Note.
- Platform 1 has been extended at the London end.
- The two trains working the branch were Class 321 Renatus trains.
- The stations on the branch seemed to have been spruced up.
I suspect Greater Anglia are expecting a lot more commuters and visitors.
- But then the area is getting a lot more housing.
- There are fast direct trains to and from London Liverpool Street on a railway with refurbished electrification.
- Burnham-on-Crouch is one of the foremost yachting towns.
- Remember the area is not far from Snowgoose Country.
- The new Wallasea wetlands that were created with the tunnel spoil from Crossrail’s tunnels is not far away.
This Google map shows Burnham-on-Crouch and Wallasea Wetlands.
Note.
- Burnham-on-Crouch with its station in the North-West corner of the map.
- Wallasea Wetlands are marked by the red arrow.
I don’t think it will be long before an appropriately-powered ferry is provided across the River Crouch.
I also have some thoughts.
The Class 321 Renatus Trains
The Class 321 Renatus trains may be a 2017 conversion of a 1990-built British Rail Class 321 train, but that doesn’t mean they are a cheap and nasty conversion.
So until all the Class 720 trains are in service, they are a more than adequate stand-in.
I was told that the Class 720 trains will be in service on the branch in September.
The Snow Goose
The Snow Goose is one of the great books of the Twentieth Century, written by the American; Paul Gallico.
This summary of the plot is from Wikipedia.
The Snow Goose is a simple, short written parable on the regenerative power of friendship and love, set against a backdrop of the horror of war. It documents the growth of a friendship between Philip Rhayader, an artist living a solitary life in an abandoned lighthouse in the marshlands of Essex because of his disabilities, and a young local girl, Fritha. The snow goose, symbolic of both Rhayader (Gallico) and the world itself, wounded by gunshot and many miles from home, is found by Fritha and, as the human friendship blossoms, the bird is nursed back to flight, and revisits the lighthouse in its migration for several years. As Fritha grows up, Rhayader and his small sailboat eventually are lost in the Dunkirk evacuation, having saved several hundred men. The bird, which was with Rhayader, returns briefly to the grown Fritha on the marshes. She interprets this as Rhayader’s soul taking farewell of her (and realizes she had come to love him). Afterwards, a German pilot destroys Rhayader’s lighthouse and all of his work, except for one portrait Fritha saves after his death: a painting of her as Rhayader first saw her – a child, with the wounded snow goose in her arms.
It is not a book, you’d expect an American to write about the dark days of World War II in the UK.
But as Christopher Nolan showed in his film, Dunkirk was the battle in World War II, that stiffened up the sinews and summoned up the blood.
Wickford Station
The pictures show that Wickford station is being rebuilt.
I would think it needs a speed-free bridge.
Council Launches Campaign To Extend Crossrail To Southend-on-Sea
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
I wrote about this extensively in Crossrail Tests Its Trains In Southend and feel it is a good plan.
Extra Capacity Between London And Southend
If some of the currently planned twelve trains per hour (tph) to Shenfield, ran to Southend Victoria station and terminated there, this might generate a lot of traffic between Southend and the West End, Paddington and Heathrow.
A More Intensive Service To Southend Airport
Southend Airport is growing fast and I suspect that with both Easyjet and Ryanair using the Airport, that Essex boys and girls will start using their local airport in droves.
With a more frequent rail service I suspect many more will use the trains.
If Crossrail served the Airport much of East London would probably use the service, to avoid the hassle of changing trains or parking the car.
A Twenty-Four Hour Service to Southend Airport
Consider.
- I’ve flown into Southend Airport at a late hour and just about caught the last train.
- I also had to get there at an early hour for a flight to Amsterdam.
There has been talk of Crossrail running through the night and I suspect, Southend Airport would welcome this development in the future.
Enabling Housing
London needs more housing and Southend is probably one of those places, where more houses can be built.
But a better train service is needed and Crossrail could be one easy way to provide it.
Taking Pressure From Liverpool Street
Liverpool Street station is full and lacks capacity.
Moving some Southend services to Crossrail will free up more capacity for other services.
Conclusion
Extending Crossrail to Southend has a lot going for it.
Not All Rail Improvements Are Spectacular
I found this article from The Enquirer, which is entitled Essex set for faster trains after summer speed restriction is finally lifted.
This is said.
A LONG-STANDING speed restriction in place on the railway between Shenfield and Seven Kings, London, during the summer has been lifted by Network Rail.
The decision was made after the completion of important railway improvement works over Christmas. Network Rail engineers worked around-the-clock for 10 days to replace 12.5km of overhead wires at Gidea Park, untangling the complex web of crossovers, and replacing it with more durable and heat-resistant wires.
Passengers will not see any dramatic physical difference, but if the sun ever beats down again, the trains will still stick to the timetable.
A Walk Between Walton-on-the-Naze And Finton-on-Sea Stations
One of the reason’s I went to Walton-on-the-Naze station today, was to see if I could have a nice walk in the sun along the sea to Frinton-on-Sea station and then take the train home.
This Google Map shows the two stations and the sea.
A Walk Between Walton And Frinton Stations
Walton-on-the-Naze station is in the North-East corner of the map by Walton Pier and Frinton-on-Sea station is in the South-West corner.
I walked along the promenade, which goes all the way to Clacton-on-Sea, between the beach-huts on the shore and the wide sandy beach and the sea.
I took these pictures as I walked.
Note.
- The number of Thames Sailing Barges in the sea. I saw five, but others saw six.
- The beach welcomes dogs.
- The memorial to PC Brian Bishop.
- I got lost walking from the beach to Frinton-on-Sea station. There were no signs or maps.
The walk took me about ninety minutes. Unlike at Clacton, I didn’t pass a decent cafe. I should have had lunch before I left Walton.
A First Visit To Clacton
Despite living quite close to Clacton for perhaps about thirty years of my life, I’d never been to the town before today.
I needed some sun and felt that a visit and a walk along the front was in order.
Since the Shenfield Metro train service through East London to henfield has been run by TfL Rail, getting to places like Clacton and Sudbury, as I did, a couple of weeks ago, has become a lot cheaper.
Sudbury cost me £11.70 return, and Clacton today was £14.25! As Clacton is seventy miles from London, surely that is good value!
These are of some pictures I took of the trip from the time I joined the Sunshine Coast Line at Colchester.
Note.
- The stations on the branch look reasonable, although Thorpe-le-Soken station could do with improvements.
- According to a local, the front at Clacton has had a recent makeover.
- There is a maintenance depot for the trains at Clacton.
- The line is an electrified double-track, although the branch to Walton-on-the-Naze and Frinton-on-Sea is only a single-track.
- I must admit to being surprised at the size of Clacton station with four platforms capable of taking twelve-car trains.
This Google Map shows the route where I walked.
Clacton
I walked down from the station to the sea front, along the promenade to the Pier and then back up to the station. It was virtually flat all the way.
One of the reasons, I went to Clacton was to look at the train service and see if it is likely, than the new franchise will improve it.
- As I said earlier, most of the stations I saw are in reasonable condition, although some may need step-free access.
- Thorpe-le-Soken station would appear to need improvement.
- According to Wikipedia Abellio has plans to improve stations at at Alresford, Kirby Cross and Weeley
- It is still possible to see the remains of the second track to Walton at Thorpe-le-Soken station.
- Generally, the Off Peak service to Clacton and Walton is one train per hour.
- Going to Clacton, I rode in an acceptable Class 360 train, but going back I was in a Class 321 train.
- Signalling on the Sunshine Coast Line was modernised a few years ago, but what is the state of the electrification?
- Colchester Town station is served by a spur from the Sunshine Coast Line, which has a low speed limit because of sharp curves.
There is certainly scope for improvement.
These are a few notes on what can be done.
Colchester Town Station
Wikipedia says this about the station.
As of 2013 there is only one platform, but there is space for a second which would make possible a more intensive service on the Sunshine Coast Line. To the east of the station, Colne Junction is the western extremity of a triangle which gives access towards Colchester station to the west and Hythe station to the east. The curve to the north from Colne Junction to East Gates Junction is sharp, with a continuous check rail which necessitates slow passage.
This Google Map shows Colchester Town station and Colne Junction.
Colchester Town Station And Colne Junction
Colchester Town station is at the Western side of the map and the lines lead out of the station to the triangular Colne Junction.
As the map shows, it is a much sharper curve to turn North than go to the Sunshine Coast.
The other station shown at the |Eastern side of the map is Hythe station, which is on the route to Clacton and Walton.
I suspect that there have been many sensible ideas to improve services through Colchester Town station, but that as train services in East Anglia have always had a low priority, nothing has been done.
These pictures show Colne Junction from a train between Clacton-on-Sea and Colchester.
I was surprised to see that all sides of the junction are double-track.But not surprised to see a collection of second-rate industrial and Royal Mail development in the middle of the junction.
An absolute minimum of improvements would be.
- Improving the curve to the North at Colne Junction, so that there is a speed increase for trains going to and from Colchester and towards London, that serve Colchester Town and the Sunshine Coast Line.
- A second platform at Colchester Town station.
- Opening Colchester Town station on Sundays.
I will be interested to see if improvements are proposed in the new East Anglia Franchise.
New Trains
In Could Class 387 Trains Do Norwich In Ninety And Ipswich In Sixty?, I wrote that to obtain these timings, North of Chelmsford, all trains must be capable of holding a 100 mph line speed or perhaps even 110 mph.
The Class 360 trains might be fast enough, but there are rumours in the Derby Telegraph, that a new fleet of Bombardier trains will be ordered, to fulfil a requirement in the new franchise agreement.
If a version of something like a Class 710 train is ordered, it could have the following characteristics.
- Four-car trains, able to run in four, eight and twelve car formations.
- 100 mph or 110 mph line speed.
- Regenerative braking.
- Provision for on-board energy storage.
On the Sunshine Coast Line, the trains would not use the onboard energy storage for primary traction, but to save energy, as I don’t suspect the line has been updated for regenerative braking.
These trains will certainly provide a better passenger experience. They could also be faster between Liverpool Street and Colchester.
Electrification
The electrification looked to be in good condition, but judging by the design, some of it, is fairly elderly.
I also have my doubts as to whether the overhead wires can handle regenerative braking. Use of regenerative braking in the UK have shown energy saving around 15%, but it does need a more expensive infrastructure.
So will we see, a project to renew the wires, transformers and other electrical equipment, as has been seen on parts of the Great Eastern Main Line?
I think we will, but the operator could use on-board electrical storage in new trains to simplify the electrification.Instead of returning braking energy through the overhead wires, it would be stored on the train for using the train to get started again.
One idea that could happen, is that to appease the sensitive souls in Frinton, that the Walton-on-the-Naze branch could be run using onboard energy storage to eliminate any pantograph noise. After all the branch is only five miles long. But that would be five miles less of overheasd wire to maintain.
I do wonder whether some branch lines like the short one to Walton-on-the Naze could be run to tram rules using on-board energy storage. It might enable stations to be built step-free without electrification, lifts and bridges. I wrote about Thurston station, where they have a walk across with lights in Two Solutions To Make Crossing A Railway Safe.
Track Improvements
As with Colne Junction, I suspect that there are some long-standing ideas to increase the line speed from the current 40-90 mph on the Sunshine Coast Line.
Only In Frinton
A common target of East Anglian humour is Frinton, as over the years the town has acquired a dubious reputation about being anti-fun.
In The First Off Licence In Frinton, I told the story of how C got the town its first Off Licence. Her version of the tale, always ended with Frinton were not amused.
Rumour has it, for years, the sign on Manningtree station, which said something like Harwich For The Continent had been annotated with And Frinton For The Incontinent.
Tonight I found this under Recent Developments in the Wikipedia entry for The Sunshine Coast Line, which is the branch line that serves Clacton and Frinton.
A £104 million engineering project known as the Colchester to Clacton Resignalling Project took place on the line between December 2006 and July 2009. Life-expired signalling equipment was replaced and a new control system was installed; 170 modern LED signals were installed and eight manual level crossings were upgraded to full barrier crossings with security cameras. The line was closed every weekend and on public holidays, with bus replacement services provided.
There was opposition from the town of Frinton to keep the manual gates, which were reportedly removed “under cover of darkness”. Folklore has it that townspeople used to lock the gates to keep out coach-loads of tourists.
It is a typical Frinton story. I have no idea, if it’s true!
Only In Essex
This story is from the Brentwood Gazette and is entitled C2C train delays after car abandoned on track at Pitsea.
Enough said!
The Anonymous Widower 