Fortescue And E.ON To Supply Europe With Green Hydrogen
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Fortescue Future Industries Pty Ltd. of Australia and E.ON SE, energy giant from Germany, have teamed up to supply green hydrogen to Europe. This strategy is meant to help the EU to reduce its reliance on Russian energy.
These are other points from the article.
- FFI intends to supply five million tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2030.
- The hydrogen will be produced by renewable hydrogen in Australia.
- E.ON will handle the distribution.
- Five million tonnes is about a third of Germany’s energy imports.
I have some further thoughts.
How Much Energy Is Needed to Produce Five Million Tonnes Per Year Of Hydrogen?
In Can The UK Have A Capacity To Create Five GW Of Green Hydrogen?, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
55.2 MWh/tonne is 55.2 kWh/kg.
To produce five million tonnes of hydrogen will need 55.2 * 5.000,000 / 10 MWh.
- This is 27,600,000 MWh or 27,600 GWh.
- It works out at an average of 75.6 GWh per day or 3.15 GWh per hour.
This article on vox is entitled The Economic Limitations Of Wind And Solar Power, where this is said.
“Capacity factor” refers to how often a power plant runs and thus how much power it produces relative to its total potential (capacity). Nuclear power plants in the US run around 90 percent of the time, so they have a 90 percent capacity factor. On average, the capacity factor of solar ranges anywhere from 10 to just over 30 percent. For wind, it ranges from 20 to just over 50 percent, averaging around 34 percent in the US.
If FFI is using solar to generate electricity in Australia, I suspect that the capacity factor will be around twenty percent at best.
So will FFI need around 16 GW of solar power to satisfy the supply to Germany?
The Wikipedia entry for Solar Power In Australia gives a good insight into its capability of providing the 16 GW of energy needed. This statement is key.
Using solar to supply all the energy needed would use less than 0.1% of land.
It does look that Australia could provide Germany with some of the hydrogen it needs.
Would It Be Cheaper To Produce The Hydrogen In The North Sea?
This is probably heresy to Andrew Forrest, who is the Australian billionaire behind Fortescue Future Industries.
Consider.
- North Sea Hydrogen could be piped to Germany.
- Australia and Germany would probably need transfer by liquid hydrogen tanker.
- Electrolysers would need to be used to create hydrogen from renewable energy in both Australia and the North Sea.
- Floating wind farms in the North Sea could be more efficient than solar in Australia, as the capacity factor is higher.
We obviously won’t know until both wind and solar technologies are fully developed.
Will There Be Price Competition Between Australian And North Sea Hydrogen?
It does appear that Andrew Forrest believes in research and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his company developing ideas that drop the price of solar-produced hydrogen.
Research and good engineering on both sides will also drop prices, so I suspect price competition will occur.
Will Fortescue Future Industries Develop North Sea Hydrogen?
Given the ambition being shown by Andrew Forrest to be the Hydrogen King, I wouldn’t be surprised if he joined the streams of international investors in the North Sea, who are developing wind farms.
Conclusion
Go! Aussie! Go!
Germany Weighs Norway Hydrogen Pipeline To Avoid Russian Energy
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Central.
This the introductory paragraphs.
Germany and Norway are considering building a hydrogen pipeline linking the two nations to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy supplies.
The countries plan to soon conduct a feasibility study on the project that would eventually transport green hydrogen from Norway to Germany, they said after a meeting between German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
There is a joint statement that gives more details.
Developments like this and lots of wind power in the North Sea and around the UK, are the sort of actions, that could seriously reduce the size of Russia’s oil and gas industry and the money it pays to that group of war criminals like Vlad the Mad and his friends.
Deutsche Bahn Is Building Overhead Line ‘Islands’ For Battery Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway News.
This paragraph describes the concept.
This means, instead of electrifying a line in full, as is conventional for electric trains to draw traction power, these lines will feature intermittent electrification. The first of these lines to become operational will be in Schleswig-Holstein in December 2023. Deutsche Bahn says it will only electrify short stretches (a few hundred metres up to a few kilometres) or stations – enough to allow battery-powered trains to recharge on these lines. The state rail operator estimates that this move will mean that more than ten million train kilometres can be completed using electric rather than diesel traction in Schleswig-Holstein. The diesel trains currently in use will be decommissioned. DB estimates an annual diesel fuel saving of around ten million litres.
It looks like a simple concept will save a lot of diesel fuel.
I first talked about electrification islands to charge battery-electric trains in The Concept Of Electrification Islands, which I wrote in April 2020.
Aberdeen City Council And BP Sign Joint Venture Agreement To Develop City Hydrogen Hub
The title of this post, is the same as this article on Renewable Energy Magazine.
The title is a good description of the project and these are a few details.
- Production will start in 2024.
- The hub will produce 800 kilograms of green hydrogen per day.
- That will be enough for 25 buses and 25 other vehicles.
- Further investment would provide hydrogen for rail, freight and marine uses.
I don’t think this is a small project, as they are talking about potentially exporting the hydrogen.
These are a few thoughts.
Electricity Supply
In Can The UK Have A Capacity To Create Five GW Of Green Hydrogen?, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
Scaling those figures mean that to create 800 kilograms of hydrogen will need 44.16 MWh of electricity or if it is a 24/7 operation, the electrolyser will need a feed of 1.84 MW.
Currently, there are two offshore wind farms close to Aberdeen.
- European Offshore Wind Development Centre – 93 MW
- Hywind Scotland – 30 MW
That would provide enough electricity to provide a starter of under 2 MW.
I can see a lot more wind farms off the coasts around Aberdeen, as on all my visits to the city it has been windy and there is a lot of empty sea.
I don’t think providing enough renewable electricity for a very large electrolyser in Aberdeen will be a problem.
Hydrogen Exports
I would expect, that the hydrogen would go to Germany, as the Germans are backing BP in their wind farm ambitions and they are building a large hydrogen import terminal at Wilhelmshaven on the North-West German coast. The distance for a ship is under 500 miles.
BP’s Future Hydrogen Plans
This is a quote from Louise Kingham CBE, BP’s UK head of country and senior vice president for Europe.
Partnering with cities and corporates as they shape their paths to net zero is a core part of BP’s strategy. BP expects to partner with 10-15 cities globally by 2030 to provide innovative, integrated, and decarbonized energy solutions at scale to help them achieve their goals of net zero emissions. BP also aims to capture 10% of the low carbon hydrogen market in key geographies by 2030.
BP is investing across all the energy transition growth areas in the UK. In fact, we have committed to spend £2 in the UK for every £1 generated here out to the middle of this decade.
“Today’s announcement is evidence of that commitment in action and is supported by other ambitious plans to produce clean energy from UK offshore wind, develop carbon capture in Teesside and grow the country’s electric vehicle charging network.
BP would be in part using their expertise in providing oil and gas to the production and delivery of hydrogen to end users, be they large or small.
I can also see BP repurposing a few gas and oil production platforms into offshore hydrogen production hubs, as this could be a better financial route, rather than demolishing the platforms.
Conclusion
Birmingham is building a hydrogen hub at Tyseley Energy Park to fuel hydrogen buses and other vehicles.
Where is the plan for London’s hydrogen hubs?
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund Seals ‘Landmark’ Acquisition In Germany
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Proactive Investors.
This is the first paragraph.
“This is a landmark acquisition with compelling fundamentals which not only demonstrates our entry into new markets but also increases our operational cash generating assets, and further diversifies Gore Street’s portfolio.”
I would assume that this is a quote from someone at Gore Street.
A more engineering approach is taken in this article on Renewsables Now, which is entitled Gore Street Buys 90% Stake In 22-MW/28-MWh Battery In Germany.
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund certainly have ambition.
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.
Offshore Service Facilities
Some years ago at a wedding in The Netherlands, I got talking to a Dutch engineer, who had a lot to do with the creation of the Delta Works.
Also in The Netherlands, I visited the Watersnoodmuseum, which describes the floods in the Netherlands, that brought about the Delta Works.
So I was not surprised to see the spectacular offshore construction ideas talked about on the Offshore Service Facilities web site.
The site talks about a project to create a four GW wind farm, eighty kilometres off the coast, all serviced from an artificial island.
This is their overview of what they call the IJVER project.
IJmuiden Ver (IJVER) is one of the designated wind farm areas under the Dutch offshore wind road map 2030. With a capacity of at least 4 GW and a distance to shore of approximately 80 km, it is currently the largest foreseen Dutch wind farm zone, and the furthest from shore. The area also includes legacy oil & gas asset, including several gas pipelines that can be retrofitted to transport other gasses such as hydrogen or for CCS-purposes.
Note.
- 80 km. is not far offshore, when you consider the UK’s Dogger Bank C wind farm is 196 km from Teesside.
- There are depleted gas fields for storage and pipelines to transport gases to and from the shore.
This page describes the concept, starting with this introductory paragraph.
A multi-purpose island provides additional benefits over fixed offshore platforms (so-called jackets). It stimulates the energy transition, drives down the costs of the renewable energy transition, creates room for nature inclusive island design, facilitates Research & Development (R&D) and innovation, creates a safe working environment, as well as additional economic opportunities.
One feature they are proposing is an interconnector to the UK.
In Is There A Need For A Norfolk-Suffolk Interconnector?, I suggested that Bacton, Sizewell and Felixstowe could be places, where wind power from the North Sea were to be landed.
Distances to the IJVER island would be as follows.
- Bacton – 85 miles
- Sizewell – 77 miles
- Felixstowe – 92 miles
These distances are feasible for an interconnector.
There is this explanatory video.
Conclusion
My experience of the Dutch, their civil and marine engineers and their creations, indicates to me, that the Dutch could build an island like this.
Once you have built the island and it can stand up to the weather, you could of course fit it out how you want. Even with a football pitch, as shown in the video.
As with many ideas, the realisation of this concept will depend on the costs involved.
It should be noted, that some UK wind farms have been built with offshore substations, but nothing appears to be as ambitious as this idea and is probably based on proven oil and gas platform technology.
The Dutch also have plans with the Germans and the Danes to create the North Sea Wind Power Hub in the middle of the North Sea.
- This would probably connect to the UK’s Dogger Bank wind farms.
- It would feed electricity as required to the countries around the North Sea.
- Hydrogen could be created on the hub.
- Over a hundred GW of electricity could be generated according to some forecasts.
I like the concept of the North Sea Wind Power Hub and suspect that the Dutch will see it built.
The Mathematics Of Blending Twenty Percent Of Hydrogen Into The UK Gas Grid
HyDeploy is a project, that is investigating blending hydrogen into the UK’s natural gas supply to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the burning of natural gas in power stations, industrial processes and in our homes and other buildings.
To find out more about the project, visit the HyDeploy web site.
This is a paragraph from this page on the HyDeploy web site, which describes the current progress of the project.
HyDeploy is progressing well. The HSE gave the go ahead for a live demonstration, at Keele University, of blended hydrogen and natural gas which began in Autumn 2019 and completed in Spring 2021. The HSE are satisfied that the blend of gas will be as safe as the gas we all currently use. The hydrogen content will be up to 20% and has so far reached 15%.
Note that HSE is the Health and Safety Executive, who are closely involved.
HyDeploy has now moved on to Phase 2 in the North East.
For our North East demonstration, we have contacted everyone who will be involved in that demonstration – more than 650 homes – and arranged for our engineers to carry out Gas Safe checks on their gas appliances and gather information on the range of appliances in the demonstration area. The Gas Safe checks were free of charge. Almost 90% of those homes have engaged with us.
What would be the effects of 20 % of hydrogen blended into natural gas?
Will current boilers, cookers and other gas-powered devices work on a blend of hydrogen and natural gas?
This is one for the scientists and it is one of the objectives of the HyDeploy trial to understand how every use of gas performs if instead of natural gas, the fuel is a mixture of eighty percent natural gas and twenty percent hydrogen.
I will assume that these problems are solvable.
I am not just hoping, but I can remember in the early 1970s, when our elderly gas cooker was successfully converted from town gas, which was typically a mixture of hydrogen (50%), methane (35%),carbon monoxide (10 %) and ethylene (5%), to natural gas, as North Sea gas started to flow.
This document from the UK government is entitled Fuels: Natural Gas, which contains a section entitled Material Properties Relevant To Use, where this is said.
Natural gas is a combustible gas that is a mixture of simple hydrocarbon compounds. It contains primarily methane, along with small amounts of ethane, butane, pentane, and propane. Natural gas does not contain carbon monoxide. The by-products of burning natural gas are primarily carbon dioxide and water vapour. Natural gas is colourless, tasteless and odourless. Because it is odourless, an odorant (80% tertiarybutyl mercaptan, 20% dimethyl sulphide) is added to the gas, to give the gas a distinctive smell. Other beneficial properties of natural gas are a high ignition temperature and a
narrow flammability range, meaning natural gas will ignite at temperatures above 593°degrees and burn at a mix of 4 – 15% volume in air (St. Lawrence Gas, 2015)
As ethane (C2H6), butane (C4H10), pentane (C5H12) and propane (C3H8) are all similar simple hydrocarbons to methane, which burn to produce carbon dioxide and water, I will assume in this analysis, that natural gas is all methane (CH4).
It is reasonable to assume, that currently we use a fuel which is equivalent to 100 % methane and that in the future we could use 80 % methane and 20 % hydrogen. Also in the past, we used to use a fuel, that was 50 % hydrogen and 35 % methane. The carbon monoxide is a poison, so I’ll ignore it, but ethylene (C2H4) is another of those simple hydrocarbons, which burn to release just carbon dioxide and water.
So if we were able to go from town to natural gas fifty years ago, by just adjusting gas equipment, surely we can go partly the other way in the Twenty-First Century.
I can certainly see the UK gas supply containing twenty percent hydrogen, but wouldn’t be surprised to see a higher level of hydrogen in the future.
How Much Hydrogen Needs To Be Added?
This page on worldodometer says this about UK gas consumption.
The United Kingdom consumes 2,795,569 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas per year as of the year 2017.
I will now calculate the weight of hydrogen needed to be added.
- 2,795,569 million cubic feet converts to 79161.69851 million cubic metres.
- I will round that to 79161.7 million cubic metres.
- Twenty percent is 15832.34 million cubic metres.
- A cubic metre of hydrogen weighs 0.082 Kg, which gives that in a year 1,298.25188 million kilograms will need to be added to the UK gas supply.
This is 1,298,251.88 tonnes per year, 3,556.85 tonnes per day or 148.2 tonnes per hour.
How Much Electricity Is Needed To Create This Amount Of Hydrogen?
In Can The UK Have A Capacity To Create Five GW Of Green Hydrogen?, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
To create 148.2 tonnes per hour of hydrogen would need 8,180.64 MW of electricity or just under 8.2 GW.
How Much Carbon Dioxide Would Be Saved?
This page on the Engineering Toolbox is entitled Combustion Of Fuels – Carbon Dioxide Emission and it gives a list of how much carbon dioxide is emitted, when a fuel is burned.
For each Kg of these fuels, the following Kg of carbon dioxide will be released on combustion.
- Methane – 2.75
- Gasoline – 3.30
- Kerosene – 3.00
- Diesel – 3.15
- Bituminous coal – 2.38
- Lignite 1.10
- Wood – 1.83
Engineering Toolbox seems a very useful web site.
I will now calculate how much carbon dioxide would be saved.
- In 2017, UK methane consumption was 79161.7 million cubic metres.
- One cubic metre of methane weighs 0.554 Kg.
- The total weight of methane used is 43,855,581.8 tonnes.
- Multiplying by 2.75 shows that 120,602,849.95 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be produced.
As twenty percent will be replaced by hydrogen, carbon dioxide emission savings will be 24,120,569.99 tonnes.
That seems a good saving, from a small country like the UK.
The UK would also reduce natural gas consumption by twenty percent or 15832.34 million cubic metres per year.
How many other countries with good renewable and zero-carbon electricity resources like Australia, Chile, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Jordan, Morocco, Norway, Sweden and the United States will take this route, as it seems a good way to save large amounts of carbon?
There is also the collateral benefit, that countries with a good supply of hydrogen can use hydrogen to decarbonise the heavy transport sectors of rail, road and sea freight transport.
The big winners would appear to be those companies like ITM Power, who manufacture electrolysers and those companies like Fortescue Future Industries, who are prospecting, developing and promoting the hydrogen resources of the planet.
The losers will be countries, who are reliant on importing large amounts of gas and other fossil fuels, who don’t have access to large amounts of renewable energy like geothermal, hydro, nuclear, solar and wind.
Germany’s energy policy of no nuclear, more coal and Russian gas seems to have been a mistake.
But I’m sure, if Olaf Sholz talked nicely to Boris, there is a deal to be made.
- German utilities have already arranged to fund BP’s move into wind farms in Morecambe Bay and the North Sea.
- Norfolk’s gas terminal at Bacton is less than three hundred miles from Germany’s new hydrogen terminal at Wilhelmshaven.
The biggest loser could be Vlad the Poisoner.
Exploring Germany Under The Latest Travel Rules
Because of the lack of travel brought about by the Covids, I’ve built up a list of places that I want to visit in Germany.
- Hamburg to see the Siemens Gamesa ETES energy storage and see how the Alstom Coradia iLint hydrogen train is getting on.
- Karlsruhe to see the newly-opened tram-tunnel in the city.
- Stuttgart to see how the construction work for Stuttgart 21 is faring and Alstom’s new battery trains.
- The Lake Constance Belt Railway.
The latest rules mean that travelling back to the UK is easy, so if I chose a route that allowed me to visit all the places I want from say a hotel in somewhere worth visiting like Stuttgart, would it be possible to book an appropriate stay there as a package?
Would this mean all the paperwork going to Germany would be handled by someone else, so if a mistake was made, it’s not my fault?
Deutsche Bahn Puts Passengers On Alstom Battery-Electric Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on electrive.com.
This is the introductory paragraph.
French manufacturer Alstom and Deutsche Bahn are now taking passengers onboard Alstom’s first fully approved electric train since this weekend in Baden-Württemberg. Further testing will start in Bavaria on 5 February and run throughout early May on all routes.
This paragraph describes where the train will be running.
On weekdays the battery-powered train will run in Baden-Württemberg on the Stuttgart – Horb line and Saturdays and Sundays, on the Pleinfeld – Gunzenhausen line in the Franconian Lake District. Alstom said this arrangement would maximise the train’s mileage while testing a variety of route profiles and battery charging scenarios. For example, while in Baden-Württemberg, charging occurs during the ongoing journey via overhead lines, in Bavaria, charging can only take place at stations, as the route in between is not electrified.
The article gives the impression that Alstom have ambitious plans for battery-electric and hydrogen trains in Germany.
This is confirmed by this press release on the Alstom web site, where this is a paragraph.
While Alstom’s hydrogen trains are optimised for longer routes, Alstom’s BEMUs are suitable for shorter routes or lines with non-electrified sections previously operated with diesel vehicles. Direct connections between electrified and non-electrified network sections are now possible and can be operated emission free, without the need of additional electrification – shortening the travel time between city and country.
It appears Alstom will be developing both types of trains.
The Anonymous Widower 