Thoughts On Powering Electrification Islands
In The Concept Of Electrification Islands, I didn’t say anything about how electrification islands would be powered. Although, I did link to this post.
The Need For A Substantial Electrical Supply
Electrification can use a lot of electricity.
This was illustrated by the electrification of the Midland Main Line, where a high-capacity feed from the National Grid had to be provided at Market Harborough.
But then the Government cancelled electrification North of Kettering leaving a twelve mile gap to be filled. I wrote about the problem in MML Wires Could Reach Market Harborough. In the end the sensible decision was taken and the electrification will now reach to Market Harborough station.
So places like Cambridge, Darlington, Doncaster, Leeds Norwich and York. which are fully electrified and on a main route probably have enough electrical power to charge passing or terminating battery-electric trains on secondary routes.
In Thoughts On The Actual Battery Size In Class 756 Trains And Class 398 Tram-Trains, I quoted the reply to a Freedom of Information Request sent to Transport for Wales, which said.
A four-car Class 756 train will have a battery capacity of 600 kWh.
A Class 756 train is similar to a Greater Anglia Class 755 train, which in Battery Power Lined Up For ‘755s’, I estimated weighs about 135 tonnes when full of passengers.
Weights for the Hitachi trains are difficult to find with a figure of 41 tonnes per car given for a Class 801 train on Wikipedia. In Kinetic Energy Of A Five-Car Class 801 Train, I estimated a full weight of a five-car Class 801 train at 233.35 tonnes.
Based on the Stadler figure, I would estimate that every train passing an electrification island will need to pick up as much as somewhere between 600-1000 kWh.
An Electrification Island At Sleaford
In The Concept Of Electrification Islands, I proposed an electrification island at Sleaford station.
- Sleaford is a market town of around 18,000 people.
- I doubt the power in the town has much surplus capacity.
- This station is served by four trains per hour (tph), one to each to Lincoln, Nottingham, Peterborough and Skegness.
- So it looks like a feed of three to four MW will be needed to charge passing trains.
Can the electricity supply in a town like Sleaford provide that sort of power for perhaps eighteen hours a day?
The only ways to provide that sort of power is to build a new power station or provide energy storage capable of boosting the supply.
Could Highview Power Provide The Solution?
I have been following Highview Power and their CRYOBatteries for some time.
They have already built a 5 MW pilot plant in Manchester and are currently aiming to build a plant with 250 MWh of energy storage, that can supply up to 50 MW. The company and this plant is discussed in this article on The Chemical Engineer.
One of these CRYOBatteries, would surely be ideal to power an electrification island, like the one at Sleaford.
- It could be scaled to the electricity needs of the town and the railway.
- It would be charged using renewable or excess energy.
- There is a lot of wind power in Lincolnshire and just off the coast, which needs energy storage.
- Similar systems could also be installed at other electrification islands at Cleethorpes, Lincoln, Skegness and other places, where the grid needs strengthening.
I have used Highview Power in this example, but there are other systems, that would probably boost the electricity just as well.
The 5 Most Promising Long-Duration Storage Technologies Left Standing
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on GreenTechMedia.
This is the sub-title of the article.
Low-carbon grids need longer-duration storage, but few technologies have succeeded at scale. Here’s the current roster of best bets.
I won’t steal their thunder, by saying too much more.
- Pumped storage, like Electric Mountain, is making a comeback.
- My favourite; Highview Power is on the list!
- One great thing about their Famous Five, is that perhaps only one uses an exotic material.
- I also think, that all five could be funded by a Pension Fund to give a return to pay pensions.
But you should read the article!
We’re not going to run out of energy!
History And Future Of The Compressed Air Economy
A reader in Canada has sent me a link to this article on Low Tech Magazine, which has the same title as this post.
This is the introductory sub-title.
Historical compressed air systems hold the key to the design of a low-tech, low-cost, robust, sustainable and relatively energy efficient energy storage medium.
As regular readers of this blog, will have noticed, I regularly post about a company called Highview Power.
This is the introduction from the Wikipedia entry for Highview Power.
Highview Power is a long-duration energy storage pioneer, specialising in cryogenic energy storage. It is based in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has permission for a commercial-scale 50 Megawatt/250 Megawatt-hour plant in England, building upon its earlier 5 Megawatt and 350 Kilowatt pilot plants. It plans to develop a 50MW plant/400MWh (eight hours of storage) in Vermont.
It has over 30 patents developed in partnership with British universities and has won technology funding from the British Government.
In February 2020 Sumitomo Heavy Industries invested $46m in the company.
The article on Low Tech Magazine gives the history of compressed air energy storage (CAES) and is a good background to the subject.
Japanese Giant Sumitomo Heavy Invests In Liquid-Air Energy Storage Pioneer
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on RechargeNews.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Japanese industrial giant Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI) has made a $46m investment in UK long-duration energy storage outfit Highview Power as part of a partnership deal to develop projects using its ‘cryobattery’ technology around the world.
I have extremely strong positive feelings about Highview Power.
I just wish, I was a shareholder!
Highview Power’s Advantages
I have said before that I like Highview Power’s system for storing energy by liquifying air.
This article on CleanTechnica is entitled Shell Signs PPA With Largest Storage Battery In Europe.
But it also has a section entitled Other Storage Plans For UK Are In The Works, which gives more details on Highview Power.
Replacement Of Decommissioned Power Plants
Highview are proposing that their systems can replace an existing fossil-fuel power plant, by using the existing site and grid connections. Connecting a power station to the grid, is often an expensive process, but if you can use an existing one, it must be more affordable.
Cost Versus Lithium-Ion
Highview are claiming that they can provide power at $143 per MWh, which compares with a cost of $187 per MWh, as quoted by Bloomberg.
That is nearly 24 % more affordable.
How Good Is ‘Freezing Air’ The Solution For Electricity?
The title of this post is the same as that for this article on Energy News 24.
The article discusses Highview Power’s proposed 400 MWh installation in Vermont, where they are installing lots of renewable power sources and need a way to store the energy, which is partly wasted.
Read the article and especially the last sentence.
Vice President Jason Burwen Energy Storage Association said the capacity of the plant would be “on par with today’s largest grid energy storage projects under construction.” He said it would be the equivalent electricity needed “to power maybe 50,000 homes for eight hours.”
Are the British coming?
The Highview Power system to me is a blindingly obvious simple idea, based on proven technology, that has been used for many decades. Add in clever computing technology to control it and blend it with renewable energy and every wind or solar farm, tidal power station and sizeable town or city should have one, where there is a site the size of a football pitch.
Could Modern Energy Systems Have A Secondary Role?
Close to where I live is a small heat and power system, that I wrote about in The Bunhill Energy Centre.
I first went over the centre during Open House.
Several of these modern systems are very good demonstrations of the principles of maths, physics and engineering.
So do these innovative energy systems do their bit in educating the next generation of scientists and engineers?
Some of the modern systems, that are in development like Highview Power’s energy storage using liquid air would be ideal for a secondary education role!
Most too, are very safe, as there are no dangerous processes or substances.
And in the next few years, there will be more systems all over the country and many in the hearts of towns and cities. Some schools, colleges and especially universities, will have their own innovative energy sources.
Liverpool University already has a system, which is described here.
Prowling for Solutions To Unleash Renewable Energy
The title of this post, is the same as this article on Toolbox.
It is a good summary of the best methods of storing renewable energy without using chemical batteries.
Gravitricity, Energy Vault and Highview Power are all mentioned.
This last paragraph, explains some of the philosophy behind Vermont looking seriously at Highview Power.
Vermont may well be tempted by liquid air energy storage because of its flexibility — simply requiring a two-acre site anywhere. One possible location could be near an abandoned power station. That’s a beautiful solution because the transmission lines that once transported the electricity from the plant are built and ready to use in the renewable era.
Note that a two-acre site is slightly smaller than a football pitch.
It is rather elegant to replace a coal- or gas-fired power-station with an environmentally-friendly energy storage system on the same site, which effectively does the same job of providing energy.
The article doesn’t mention employment, but surely many of the existing workforce can be easily retrained for the new technology.
Are The British Going To Rescue Vermont?
This article on the Scientific American is entitled To Store Renewable Energy, Try Freezing Air.
This is the sub-title of the article.
Such energy storage technology could help relieve congested transmission lines in places like Vermont.
It certainly is a must read, about the possibilities of energy storage and Highview Power in particular.
What Is A Pimby?
We all know that a Nimby (Not In My Back Yard!) doesn’t want fracking, a nuclear power station or a new railway to be built or something similar near to where they live.
But I believe, we could see the rise of a new type of protestor – the Pimby or a Please In My Back Yard!
I was reading this article on CleanTechnica, which is entitled Coal-Killing Long-Duration Energy Storage For Vermont (Vermont?!?).
The article is about Highview Power’s planned energy storage facility in Vermont, which I wrote about in Encore Joins Highview To Co-Develop Liquid Air Energy Storage System In Vermont.
This paragraph is from Highview.
“Unlike competing long-duration technologies, such as pumped hydro-power or compressed air, Highview Power’s CRYOBattery™ can be sited just about anywhere. The CRYOBattery has a small footprint, even at multiple gigawatt-levels, and does not use hazardous materials.”
You could imagine a community, , perhaps miles away from the nearest power station, where jobs and economic prospects are being held back by a dodgy power supply.
So the community might start to protest not about building perhaps a gas-fired station to satisfy their electricity needs, but in favour of a Highview Power system and some renewable wind or solar power.
Pimbys might also protest in favour of a new railway station or electrification of their branch line. Providing the power for the latter would be a good use for a Highview system.
The Anonymous Widower 