This Is A 30 MW Power Station
This YouTube video shows a thirty MW power station, that is being built in France.
This page on the Principle Power web site describes the project.
This Google Map shows the location of Leucate and Le Barcares.
The wind farm is around 16 kilometres offshore.
Enjoy!
North Seas Countries Commit To 260 GW Of Offshore Wind By 2050
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Renewables Now.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The nine member countries of the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) on Monday committed to at least 260 GW of offshore wind energy by 2050.
The NSEC aims to advance offshore renewables in the North Seas, including the Irish and Celtic Seas, and groups Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the European Commission.
Note.
Intermediate targets are 76 GW by 2030 and 193 GW by 2040.
The UK has a target of 50 GW by 2030, of which 5 GW will be floating offshore wind.
The UK is not mentioned, but has joint projects with the Danes, Germans, Irish, Norwegians, Spanish and Swedes.
There is nothing about energy storage or hydrogen!
On the figures given, I think we’re holding our own. But then we’ve got more sea than anybody else.
SSE Renewables Completes Acquisition Of European Renewable Energy Development Platform
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from SSE.
This paragraph introduces the deal.
SSE Renewables has completed the transaction with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) to acquire its existing European renewable energy development platform for a consideration of €580m.
I have a few thoughts.
Why Have Siemens Gamesa Sold Their European Renewable Energy Development Platform?
This article on Renewables Now is entitled Siemens Gamesa Wraps Up Sale Of 3.9-GW Wind Portfolio To SSE Renewables, gives a reason.
For the turbine maker, the sale represents one of the measures implemented to rein in profit losses quarter after quarter due to internal challenges, high costs and supply chain issues.
As with many things, it appears to be all about the money.
Can SSE Renewables Afford It?
Consider.
- SSE are developing the 1.5 GW/30 GWh Coire Glas pumped stored hydroelectric power station. I doubt the cost of that will be under a billion pounds.
- SSE developed the 0.5 GW Greater Gabbard wind farm and that development cost £1.5 billion
- SSE Renewables and Equinor are estimated on the web to be investing £9 billion in the Dogger Bank wind farm, which could deliver 3.6 GW.
- SSE Renewables have just announced the 4.1 GW Berwick Bank wind farm, which must need at least £9 billion.
SSE seem to have found a Scottish magic money tree.
€580m is just small change.
What Projects Are Included In The Deal?
This is a paragraph from the press release.
The SGRE portfolio includes c.3.8GW of onshore wind development projects – around half of which is located in Spain with the remainder across France, Italy and Greece – with scope for up to 1.4GW of additional co-located solar development opportunities. Development of the portfolio of projects has continued to progress since the acquisition was announced in April, with additional opportunities identified and permits and grid connections advancing. Over 2GW of the total pipeline is considered to be at a secured stage, where a grid connection or land agreement has been secured or relevant permits granted.
Note.
- As an engineer, I note that there is no offshore wind, which surely is the renewable energy development with most risk and installation costs.
- SSE Renewables have a lot of experience of onshore wind, so delivering and financing the extra 3.8 GW, shouldn’t be a problem.
- The 1.4 GW of solar comes with the word co-located. Wind and solar together, perhaps with a battery must surely be a good investment in the sunnier climes of Europe.
It doesn’t look to me that SSE Renewables have bought a load of assets that no-one wants.
I do wonder thought, if Siemens Gamesa were having trouble progressing this large diverse portfolio of projects, due to a shortage of resources like money and engineers.
So are SSE finishing off a few projects and they can transfer a few engineers to these projects?
Are SSE Spreading The Risk?
SSE operate mainly in the UK and Ireland, so is adding Spain, France, Italy and Greece a good idea?
Of the four new countries, it’s unlikely that all will perform well, but a mixed portfolio is usually a good idea.
Will SSE Renewables Buy Siemens Gamesa Turbines In The Future?
SSE Renewables seem to do an individual deal on each wind farm, as no one manufacturer dominates.
But now Siemens Gamesa may be more financially stable, perhaps they can get a better deal for the turbines they want.
Conclusion
I don’t think SSE Renewables have done a bad deal.
A French Banker’s View Of The French Police
After the violence at the weekend in Paris, I am reminded of a meeting with a French banker.
Many years ago, I used to do business with a French banker; Andre, who lived and worked in Geneva.
Whether, there had been an excess of violence by French police at the time, I can’t remember, but in a restaurant in Geneva we got talking about the different between French police and other forces in Europe. Andre stated that if you join the French police, you immediately lose all your friends, as no-one wants a policeman as a friend, such is the distrust of the police.
Andre had worked all over Europe, and felt that only in France, is there this attitude to the police.
Does this closed society of the French police lead to them going over the top, as they regularly seem to do?
I’d love to know what the French police think of refugees! I wonder, if they see them as a supreme nuisance and feel the sooner, they have left French soil the better.
Was Storm Franklin Named By An Old Minchendenian?
This press release from the Met Office is entitled Storm Franklin Named.
When I first heard yesterday, that the storm was to be named, I must admit, that I allowed myself a small smile.
I went to Minchenden Grammar School in Southgate, leaving in 1965.
One teacher, that we looked upon with a degree of affection was our German teacher, who was Frank J Stabler, who some pupils referred to as Franklin J Stabler. I don’t know whether that was his real name or whether it was fellow pupils making it up.
But he did have one story, that he used to liven up one of the lessons, where he taught me enough German to get by in the country.
Apparently, he was returning from France to the UK on the night of Saturday, the 31st of January in 1953, using the ferry from Dieppe in France to Newhaven in Sussex.
That ferry route used to have a reputation for being rough and on one bad crossing around 1975, my five-year-old son fell and cut himself just above his eye. He was skillfully cleaned up and plastered by one of the chefs. Luckily the chef had been a soldier, who had been well-trained in first aid.
Back in 1953, Mr. Stabler could have chosen a better night for his trip, as that day was the night of devastating East Coast Floods, which killed over five hundred people in the UK.
The captain of the ferry decided to sit the storm out and crew and passengers spent twenty-four hours being tossed about like a cork in the English Channel, which was a tale Mr. Stabler told with great drama.
He finished the tale, by saying that in the end, he prayed for the boat to go down to put everybody out of their misery.
Conclusion
I have to ask if someone on the committee that decides storm names, either directly or indirectly, has heard this tale and decided that Franklin would be an appropriate name for a storm beginning with F.
Does Anybody Know Of A Covid Travel Consultancy?
There are a few places in Europe, that I’d like to go for a couple of days.
I can book all the train tickets and hotels myself, but what I would like is someone to review my route for a fee and send me a pack of all the things I need to do and take.
Countries, I would like to visit include France, Germany, Hungary and The Netherlands.
CargoBeamer Operates Lane Between Kaldenkirchen And Perpignan
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from CargoBeamer.
It has this sub-title.
New Route Starting In January 2022
These two paragraphs form the body of the release.
The logistics service provider CargoBeamer is expanding its intermodal network from the beginning of next year. Between Kaldenkirchen in Germany and Perpignan near the French-Spanish border, goods will be transported environmentally friendly by rail from January 10, 2022. The patented CargoBeamer system enables all kinds of semitrailers, containers, P400 trailers, refrigerated and tank trailers, and other types of goods to be transported by train without requiring any additional conversions for forwarders.
At the start in January, initially three trains will run weekly in each direction. From mid-February, the frequency will increase permanently to five round trips per week. CargoBeamer will collaborate with DB Cargo France (formerly Euro Cargo Rail) as its traction partner. The new Franco-German route is the company’s sixth connection overall, with five of the six lines having been added to the network in the past six months.
They certainly seem to be adding routes frequently.
How Do Trailers Get Between Ashford And Calais?
They obviously go through the Channel Tunnel, but what happens on each side of the Channel?
Is the trailer fixed to a tractor unit at the Ashford and Calais terminals and then driven onto the freight shuttle?
This video contains an interview with Nicolas Albrecht from CargoBeamer
Could The Morocco-UK Power Project Be Developed Into A Western Europe And Africa Interconnector?
This page on the Xlinks web site, describes the Morocco-UK Power Project, which is proposed to generate solar and wind power in Morocco and deliver it to the UK.
- The plan envisages 10.5 GW of electricity being generated.
- There will be a 5GW/20GWh battery in Morocco.
- They will export 3.6 GW of electricity to the UK for at least twenty hours per day.
- The electricity will be exported to the UK by an Interconnector that skirts to the West of Spain, Portugal and France.
- The interconnector will be 3,800 kilometres long.
I described the project in detail in Moroccan Solar-Plus-Wind To Be Linked To GB In ‘Ground-Breaking’ Xlinks Project.
This Google Map shows Western Europe And North Africa.
Note.
- The light blue of the Continental Shelf
- The darker blue of deeper water.
- The Southern end of the Morocco and the UK interconnector will at Guelmim Oued Noun in the South of Morocco, which is indicated by the red arrow.
- The UK end of the cable will be at Alverdiscott between Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon.
- Southern Morocco and Algeria look to be mainly in the Sahara Desert.
If we look at the route of the cable, it connects a lot of possible renewable energy sources.
- Morocco – Solar and wind
- Spain – Solar and wind
- Portugal – Solar and wind
- France – Nuclear, tidal and wind
- UK – Nuclear and wind.
Could the UK and Morocco interconnector be developed into a bigger power project?
- Solar and wind power from Algeria could be added.
- Tidal power from a Severn Barrage could be added.
- Connections could be added to Gibraltar, the Irish Republic and Wales.
I believe that there could be a large amount of electricity developed on the Western costs of Europe and Africa.
An interconnector would move it to where it is needed.
The Anonymous Widower 