XLCC Obtains Planning Approval To Build UK’s First HVDC Cable Factory In North Ayrshire
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from XLCC.
These are the first three paragraphs.
On 29th June 2022, the North Ayrshire Council Planning Committee resolved to grant planning permission for XLCC’s HVDC subsea cable manufacturing operations in Hunterston, Scotland.
Breaking ground in the coming months, the brownfield site will create a new UK industry to support global decarbonisation targets. Once fully operational, the facility will support 900 jobs in the area, with thousands more in the wider supply chain.
XLCC’s first order is for four 3,800km long cables to connect solar and wind renewable power generation in the Sahara to the UK for the Xlinks Morocco-UK power project.
XLCC have also issued two other important press releases.
XLCC To Build New Cable Laying Vessel To Address Increase In Future Demand For HVDC Cable
These are the first paragraphs.
XLCC, the new HVDC, renewable energy focused business in the UK, has completed the concept design of an advanced, first-of-a-kind Cable Laying Vessel to be delivered in the first half of 2025.
As the world strives for Net Zero, the UK, EU and other world economies have set themselves ambitious targets for decarbonisation. The UK, for example, has stated that it will be powered entirely by clean energy by 2035 and that it will fully decarbonise the power system in the same time frame. This ambition is driving an exponential growth in high voltage cable demand as the increase in installation of offshore wind and interconnectors drive a forecast six times increase (2020 – 2027 over 2014 – 2020) for HVDC cable.
The planned delivery of the XLCC CLV will support the Morocco – UK Power Project, the first client project, through the delivery of four 3,800km subsea HVDC cables from a wind and solar generation site in Morocco to the UK.
This press release can be read in full here.
XLCC Signs UK Steel Charter For New Export-Led Cable Industry
These are the first paragraphs.
XLCC signed the UK Steel Charter at an event in Parliament on 19 April 2022, alongside representatives from politics, business and the trade union movement.
XLCC will create a new export-led HVDC cable manufacturing industry for the UK, nearly doubling the world’s current production. It aims to support renewable energy projects with the first factory planned for Hunterston, Scotland. XLCC will deliver its first project for the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project, consisting of four 3,800km long subsea cables, with the first phase between 2025-2027 connecting wind and solar power generated in Morocco exclusively to the UK in Devon.
Signing the UK Steel Charter shows a commitment to supporting existing and future jobs within the sector and the supply chain. Along with strengthening UK-based business, sourcing steel locally will cut transport emissions and seek to support decarbonisation in a sector dedicated to finding ways to minimise environmental impact of steel use.
This press release can be read in full here.
I have a few thoughts.
You Wait For A Large Interconnector Project To Come Along And Then Two Arrive Holding Hands
This paragraph introduces the Morocco-UK Power Project.
The Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project will be a new electricity generation facility entirely powered by solar and wind energy combined with a battery storage facility. Located in Morocco’s renewable energy rich region of Guelmim Oued Noun, it will cover an approximate area of 1,500km2 and will be connected exclusively to Great Britain via 3,800km HVDC sub-sea cables.
XLCC have this mission statement on their home page.
XLCC will establish a new, export-led, green industry in the UK: world class HVDC subsea cable manufacturing.
Our mission is to provide the connectivity required for renewable power to meet future global energy needs.
Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project and XLCC appear to be made for each other.
In some ways it takes me back to the 1970s, where large oil and gas projects in the North Sea were paired with platform building in Scottish lochs.
There Are Several Interconnector Projects Under Development
We will see a lot of undersea interconnectors in the next few years.
- Country-to-country interconnectors
- Interconnectors along the coast of the UK.
- Connections to offshore wind farms.
This capacity, with a ship to lay it, is being created at the right time.
Icelink
Icelink is a proposed interconnector between Iceland and the UK.
- It would be up to 1200 km long.
- It would have a capacity of around 1 GW
XLCC could spur the development of this project.
Floating Wind Farms Hundreds Of Miles Out To Sea
The developer of a floating wind farm, say a hundred miles out to sea, is not going to develop it, if there isn’t a secure supply of cable.
Where Will Finance Come From?
Wind farms have proven to be good investments for finance giants such as Aviva.
See World’s Largest Wind Farm Attracts Huge Backing From Insurance Giant, for Aviva’s philosophy.
As mathematical modelling for electrical systems get better, the estimates of the finance needed and the returns to be made, will indicate whether these mega-projects can be funded.
It was done with North Sea oil and gas and it can be done with offshore wind power and its interconnectors.
In The Times on the 4th of July 2022, there is this article, which is entitled Schroders Chief Buzzing To Take Finance Offshore Wind Farms.
It is a must-read!
Conclusion
XLCC and its cable factory will spur the expansion of zero-carbon electricity in the UK.
Ofgem Enables National Grid To Make Early Payment Of Interconnector Revenues, Helping To Reduce Household Bills
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
These are the first three paragraphs.
National Grid has offered to pay £200m of interconnector revenues ahead of schedule rather than at the end of the standard five-year review period to play its part in reducing household energy bills.
Interconnectors, which are subsea electricity cables connecting the UK and Europe, enable the import of cheaper, cleaner energy from European neighbours, supporting security of supply and reducing carbon emissions.
It’s estimated that National Grid’s interconnector portfolio will help the UK avoid around 100 million tonnes of carbon emissions by 2030.
Ofgem has approved National Grid’s request to make early payments.
These are my thoughts.
What’s In It For Consumers?
National Grid is making a payment early, so they are not getting anything, they won’t eventually get.
But they are getting it early!
What’s In It For National Grid?
As National Grid is making a payment early, they are forgoing interest on the £200 million.
In New Electricity ‘Superhighways’ Needed To Cope With Surge In Wind Power, I talked about National Grid’s plan to build new North-South interconnectors, that would handle all the extra wind-power.
National Grid currently owns all or part of these operating or planned interconnectors.
- BritNed
- HVDC Cross-Channel
- IceLink
- IFA-2
- Isle of Man to England Interconnector
- NemoLink
- North Sea Link
- Viking Link
- Western HVDC Link
National Grid would appear to have a substantial interest in the UK’s interconnectors and is the £200 million payment to ensure they get the contract to build and operate any new UK interconnectors? I’m not saying it’s a bribe, but it’s just operating the interconnectors in a manner that is an advantage to the UK and its electricity customers.
Surely, if the ultimate customers are happy, there will be less calls for the break-up of National Grid.
What Is A Cap And Floor Regime?
The press release explains a cap and floor regime like this.
Ofgem’s cap and floor regime sets a yearly maximum (cap) and minimum (floor) level for the revenues that the interconnector licensees can earn over a 25-year period. Usually, revenues generated by the interconnector are compared against the cap and floor levels over five-year periods. Top-up payments are made to the interconnector licensee if revenues are lower than the floor; and similarly, the licensee pays revenues in excess of the cap to consumers.
Ofgem’s approval enables National Grid to make payments of above cap revenues significantly earlier than originally planned, which will contribute to reducing consumer energy costs over the next two years. National Grid is now working with Ofgem to explore how to ensure the early payments can have the most impact for consumers.
I wonder if Ofgem and National Grid feel that a cap and floor regime is not only good for them, but for electricity consumers as well.
Cap And Floor Regimes And Energy Storage
There has been talk that cap and floor regimes should be used for energy storage.
This article on Current News is entitled Cap And Floor Mechanism The ‘Standout Solution’ For Long Duration Storage, KPMG Finds.
These are the first two paragraphs.
A cap and floor regime would be the most beneficial solution for supporting long duration energy storage, a KPMG report has found.
Commissioned by Drax, the report detailed how there is currently no appropriate investment mechanism for long duration storage. Examining four investment mechanisms – the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, Regulated Asset Value (RAV) model, cap and floor regime and a reformed Capacity Market – it identified cap and floor as the best solution.
I also suspect that if the operator does a National Grid with the revenues, a cap and floor regime, must be even better.
I would not be surprised to see schemes like Coire Glas pumped hydro operating under a cap and floor regime.
Effect On Other Energy Companies
Wind farms seem to be operated under the Contracts for Difference scheme in many cases, but will we see cap and floor regimes being used in this market?
I can certainly see a new regime emerging, that is better for investors, wind farm builders, consumers and the Treasury.
In some ways keeping a happy relationship between the investors, Government and consumers is most important. So as National Grid, the Government and consumers don’t seem to be jumping up and down about their cap-and-floor regime, it must be working reasonably well!
Conclusion
Get the right regime and quality investors could be flocking to the UK’s energy generation and supply industry.
National Grid by their actions in paying up early, have thoroughly endorsed the system.
Is This The World’s Most Ambitious Green Energy Solution?
In the 1970s and 1980s, when I was developing Artemis, which was the first desk-sized project management system, we were heavily involved in North Sea Oil, with dozens of systems in Aberdeen. As Norway developed the oil business on the other side of the North Sea, the number of systems there grew to at least twenty.
Increasingly, I became aware of a Norwegian company called Kværner, which seemed to have large numbers of Artemis systems.
In 2002, Kværner merged with Aker Maritime and this eventually led to the formation of Aker Solutions in 2008, which is a company that is headquartered in Oslo and employs nearly 14,000.
According to Wikipedia, the Kværner name was dropped somewhere along the way, as non-Scandinavians have difficulty pronouncing Kværner.
Aker Solutions appears to be wholly Scandinavian-owned, with Aker ASA owning a third of the company.
They are a very respected company, when it comes to offshore engineering for oil and gas and wind projects.
Aker ASA also have a subsidiary called Aker Horizons, which has this web site, where they call themselves a planet-positive company.
This page on the Aker Horizons is entitled Northern Horizons: A Pathway for Scotland to Become a Clean Energy Exporter.
These first two paragraphs outline the project.
A vision to utilise Scottish offshore wind resources in the North Sea to make the country an exporter of clean energy has been unveiled at the COP 26 climate change conference in Glasgow.
The Northern Horizons Project has been unveiled by Aker Horizons’ portfolio companies Aker Offshore Wind and Aker Clean Hydrogen, who have the technical know-how and expertise to realise the project, and DNV, the independent energy expert and assurance provider.
Various targets and ambitions are listed.
- 10 GW of renewable energy in the North Sea.
- 5 GW of green hydrogen.
- Giant turbines nearly as tall as the London Shard on floating platforms more than 130km from Shetland.
- Enough liquid hydrogen will be produced to power 40 percent of the total mileage of local UK buses.
- Enough synthetic fuel to make 750 round trips from the UK to New York.
A completion date of 2030 for this project is mentioned.
This article on The Engineer is entitled Northern Horizons Plans Clean Energy Exports For Scotland.
The article is dated the 4th of November 2021 and starts with this sub-heading and an informative video.
Aker Horizons’ new initiative, Northern Horizons, aims to make Scotland a clean energy exporter by utilising offshore wind resources in the North Sea.
There is an explanatory graphic of the project which shows the following.
- Floating wind turbines.
- A floating DC substation.
- A floating hydrogen electrolyser.
- An onshore net-zero refinery to produce synthetic aviation fuel and diesel.
- A hydrogen pipeline to mainland Scotland.
- Zero-carbon energy for Shetland.
It is all very comprehensive.
These are some other thoughts.
Project Orion
Project Orion how has its own web site and the project that seems to have similar objectives to Northern Horizons.
The title on the home page is Building A World-Leading Clean Energy Island.
There is this statement on the home page.
Orion is a bold, ambitious project that aims to transform Shetland into the home of secure and affordable clean energy.
We will fuel a cleaner future and protect the environment by harnessing the islands’ renewables potential, using onshore and offshore wind, tidal and wave energy.
The graphic has similar features to that Northern Horizons in the article on The Engineer, with the addition of providing an oxygen feed to Skyrora for rocket fuel.
German Finance
I feel very much, that the Germans could be providing finance for developments around Shetland, as the area could be a major source of hydrogen to replace Vlad the Mad’s tainted gas.
In Do BP And The Germans Have A Cunning Plan For European Energy Domination?, I described how BP is working with German utilities and finance to give Germany the hydrogen it needs.
NorthConnect
The NorthConnect (also known as Scotland–Norway interconnector) is a proposed 650 km (400-mile) 1,400 MW HVDC interconnector over the floor of the North Sea.
- It will run between Peterhead in North-East Scotland and Norway.
This project appears to be stalled, but with the harvesting of more renewable energy on Shetland, I can see this link being progressed, so that surplus energy can be stored in Norway’s pumped storage hydro.
Icelink
Icelink is a proposed electricity interconnector between Iceland and Great Britain.
- It would be the longest undersea interconnector in the world, with a length of 620 to 750 miles.
- It would be a 800–1,200 MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link.
- National Grid is part of the consortium planning to build the link.
- Iceland has a surplus of renewable energy and the UK, is the only place close enough for a connection.
I believe that if Icelink were to be built in conjunction with energy developments on and around Shetland, a more powerful and efficient interconnector could emerge.
Conclusion
This ambitious project will transform the Shetlands and the energy industry in wider Scotland.
This project is to the North-East of Shetland, but the islands are surrounded by sea, so how many other Northern Horizons can be built in a ring around the islands?
UK National Grid In Talks To Build An Energy Island In The North Sea
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the New Scientist.
This is the first paragraph.
UK company National Grid has revealed it is in talks with two other parties about building an “energy island” in the North Sea that would use wind farms to supply clean electricity to millions of homes in north-west Europe.
These are my thoughts.
An Artificial Island on the Dogger Bank
The idea of the North Sea Wind Power Hub in the area of the Dogger Bank has been around for a few years and has a comprehensive Wikipedia entry.
Wikipedia says that it would be an artificial island on the Dutch section of the Dogger Bank and the surrounding sea could eventually host up to 110 GW of wind turbines.
North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme
The Dutch and the Danes seems to have moved on and there is now a web site for the North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme.
The home page is split into two, with the upper half entitled Beyond The Waves and saying.
The incredible story of how the Netherlands went beyond technical engineering as it had ever been seen before. Beyond water management. To secure the lives of millions of inhabitants.
I have met Dutch engineers, who designed and built the Delta Works after the North Sea Floods of 1953 and I have seen the works all over the country and it is an impressive legacy.
And the lower half of the home page is entitled North Sea Wind Power Hub and saying.
Today, climate policy is largely national, decoupled and incremental. We need a new approach to effectively realise the potential of the North Sea and reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. We take a different perspective: harnessing the power of the North Sea requires a transnational and cross-sector approach to take the step-change we need.
Behind each half are two videos, which explain the concept of the programme.
It is a strange web site in a way.
- It is written totally in English with English not American spelling.
- The project is backed by Energinet, Gasunie and TenneT, who are Danish and Dutch companies, that are responsible for gas and electricity distribution networks in Denmark, Ger,many and The Netherlands.
- There are four sections to the web site; Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and North Sea.
It is almost as if the web site has been designed for a British company to join the party.
Hubs And Spokes In North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme
If you watch the videos on the site, they will explain their concept of hubs and spokes, where not one but several energy islands or hubs will be connected by spokes or electricity cables and/or hydrogen pipelines to each other and the shore.
Many electrical networks on land are designed in a similar way, including in the UK, where we have clusters of power stations connected by the electricity grid.
The Dogger Bank
The Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about 100 kilometres off the east coast of England.
Wikipedia says this about the geography of the Dogger Bank.
The bank extends over about 17,600 square kilometres (6,800 sq mi), and is about 260 by 100 kilometres (160 by 60 mi) in extent. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres (50 to 120 ft), about 20 metres (65 ft) shallower than the surrounding sea.
As there are Gunfleet Sands Wind Farm and Scroby Sands Wind Farm and others, on sandbanks in the North Sea, it would appear that the engineering of building wind farms on sandbanks in the North Sea is well understood.
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm
We are already developing the four section Dogger Bank Wind Farm in our portion of the Dogger Bank and these could generate up to 4.8 GW by 2025.
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm has its own web site, which greets you with this statement.
Building the World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm
At 4.8 GW, it will be 45 % larger than Hinckley Point C nuclear power station, which is only 3.3 GW. So it is not small.
The three wind farms; Dogger Bank A, B and C will occupy 1670 square kilometres and generate a total of 3.6 GW or 0.0021 GW per square kilometre.
If this density of wind turbines could be erected all over the Dogger Bank, we could be looking at nearly 40 GW of capacity in the middle of the North Sea.
Interconnectors Across The North Sea
This Google Map shows the onshore route of the cable from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
Note.
- Hull and the River Humber at the bottom of the map.
- The red arrow which marks Creyke Beck sub station, where the cable from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm connects to the UK electricity grid.
- At the top of the map on the coast is the village of Ulrome, where the cable comes ashore.
The sub station is also close to the Hull and Scarborough Line, so would be ideal to feed any electrification erected.
I would assume that cables from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm could also link the Wind Farm to the proposed Dutch/Danish North Sea Wind Power Hub.
Given that the cables between the wind farms and Creyke Beck could in future handle at least 4.8 GW and the cables from the North Sea Wind Power Hub to mainland Europe would probably be larger, it looks like there could be a very high capacity interconnector between Yorkshire and Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands.
It almost makes the recently-opened North Sea Link to Norway, which is rated at 1.4 GW seem a bit small.
The North Sea Link
The North Sea Link is a joint project between Statnett and National Grid, which cost €2 billion and appears to have been delivered as planned, when it started operating in October 2021.
So it would appear that National Grid have shown themselves capable of delivering their end of a complex interconnector project.
Project Orion And The Shetlands
In Do BP And The Germans Have A Cunning Plan For European Energy Domination?, I introduced Project Orion, which is an electrification and hydrogen hub and clean energy project in the Shetland Islands.
The project’s scope is described in this graphic.
Note that Project Orion now has its own web site.
- Could the Shetlands become an onshore hub for the North Sea Power Hub Programme?
- Could Icelink, which is an interconnector to Iceland be incorporated?
With all this renewable energy and hydrogen, I believe that the Shetlands could become one of the most prosperous areas in Europe.
Funding The Wind Farms And Other Infrastructure In The North Sea
In World’s Largest Wind Farm Attracts Huge Backing From Insurance Giant, I described how Aviva were funding the Hornsea wind farm.
I very much believe that City of London financial institutions will be able to finance a lot of the developments in the North Sea.
After all National Grid managed to find a billion euros in a sock drawer to fund their half of the North Sea Link.
Electrifying The North Sea: A Gamechanger For Wind Power Production?
The title of this section, is the same as that of this article on Engineering and Technology Magazine.
This article in the magazine of the IET is a serious read and puts forward some useful facts and interesting ideas.
- The EU is targeting offshore wind at 60 GW by 2030 and 300 GW by 2050.
- The UK is targeting offshore wind at 40 GW by 2030.
- The article explains why HVDC electricity links should be used.
- The major players in European offshore wind are the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark.
- The foundations for a North Sea grid, which could also support the wider ambitions for a European super-grid, are already forming.
- A North Sea grid needs co-operation between governments and technology vendors. as well as technological innovation.
- National Grid are thinking hard about HVDC electrical networks.
- By combining HVDC links it can be possible to save a lot of development capital.
- The Danes are already building artificial islands eighty kilometres offshore.
- Electrical sub-stations could be built on the sea-bed.
I can see that by 2050, the North Sea, South of a line between Hull and Esbjerg in Denmark will be full of wind turbines, which could generate around 300 GW.
Further Reading
There are various articles and web pages that cover the possibility of a grid in the North Sea.
- National Grid – Interconnectors
- The Guardian – National Grid In Talks Over Plan For Energy Island In North Sea
- The Times – National Grid Planning ‘Energy Island’ In North Sea
I shall add to these as required.
Conclusion
I am coming to the conclusion that National Grid will be joining the North Sea Wind Power Hub Programme.
- They certainly have the expertise and access to funding to build long cable links.
- The Dogger Bank wind farm would even be one of the hubs in the planned hub and spoke network covering the North Sea.
- Only a short connection would be needed to connect the Dogger Bank wind farm, to where the Dutch and Danes originally planned to build the first energy island.
- There may be other possibilities for wind farm hubs in the UK section of the North Sea. Hornsea Wind Farm, which could be well upwards of 5 GW is surely a possibility.
- Would it also give access to the massive amounts of energy storage in the Norwegian mountains, through the North Sea Link or Nord.Link between Norway and Germany.
Without doubt, I know as a Control Engineer, that the more hubs and spokes in a network, the more stable it will be.
So is National Grid’s main reason to join is to stabilise the UK electricity grid? And in turn, this will stabilise the Danish and Dutch grids.
UK To Norway Sub-Sea Green Power Cable Operational
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the first two paragraphs.
The world’s longest under-sea electricity cable, transferring green power between Norway and the UK, has begun operation.
The 450-mile (725km) cable connects Blyth in Northumberland with the Norwegian village of Kvilldal.
The BBC article is based on this press release from National Grid.
The link has been called the North Sea Link (NSL).
These are some thoughts.
What Is The Capacity Of The North Sea Link?
The National Grid press release says this.
[The link] will start with a maximum capacity of 700 megawatts (MW) and gradually increase to the link’s full capacity of 1400MW over a three-month period.
It also says this.
Once at full capacity, NSL will provide enough clean electricity to power 1.4 million homes.
It is more or less equivalent to two or three gas-fired power stations.
What Is The Operating Philosophy Of The North Sea Link?
The National Grid press release says this.
The Norwegian power generation is sourced from hydropower plants connected to large reservoirs, which can respond faster to fluctuations in demand compared to other major generation technologies. However, as the water level in reservoirs is subject to weather conditions, production varies throughout seasons and years.
When wind generation is high and electricity demand low in Britain, NSL will enable renewable power to be exported from the UK, conserving water in Norway’s reservoirs. When demand is high in Britain and there is low wind generation, hydro power can be imported from Norway, helping to ensure secure, affordable and sustainable electricity supplies for UK consumers.
It almost seems to me, that the North Sea Link is part of a massive pumped-storage system, where we can bank some of our wind-generated electricity in Norway and draw it out when we need it.
I would suspect that the rate and direction of electricity transfer is driven by a very sophisticated algorithm, that uses detailed demand and weather forecasting.
As an example, if we are generating a lot of wind power at night, any excess that the Norwegians can accept will be used to fill their reservoirs.
The Blyth Connection
This page on the North Sea Link web site, describes the location of the UK end of the North Sea Link.
These three paragraphs describe the connection.
The convertor station will be located just off Brock Lane in East Sleekburn. The site forms part of the wider Blyth Estuary Renewable Energy Zone and falls within the Cambois Zone of Economic Opportunity.
The converter station will involve construction of a series of buildings within a securely fenced compound. The buildings will be constructed with a steel frame and clad with grey insulated metal panels. Some additional outdoor electrical equipment may also be required, but most of the equipment will be indoors.
Onshore underground cables will be required to connect the subsea cables to the converter station. Underground electricity cables will then connect the converter station to a new 400kV substation at Blyth (located next to the existing substation) which will be owned and operated by National Grid Electricity Transmission PLC.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- The light grey buildings in the North-West corner of the map are labelled as the NSL Converter Station.
- Underground cables appear to have been dug between the converter station and the River Blyth.
- Is the long silver building to the West of the triangular jetty, the 400 KV substation, where connection is made to the grid?
The cables appear to enter the river from the Southern point of the triangular jetty. Is the next stop Norway?
Britishvolt And The North Sea Link
Britishvolt are are building a factory at Blyth and this Google Map shows are to the North and East of the NSL Converter Station.
Note the light-coloured buildings of the NSL Converter Station.
I suspect there’s plenty of space to put Britishvolt’s gigafactory between the converter station and the coast.
As the gigafactory will need a lot of electricity and preferably green, I would assume this location gives Britishvolt all they need.
Where Is Kvilldal?
This Google Map shows the area of Norway between Bergen and Oslo.
Note.
- Bergen is in the North-West corner of the map.
- Oslo is at the Eastern edge of the map about a third of the way down.
- Kvilldal is marked by the red arrow.
This second Google Map shows the lake to the North of Kvilldal.
Note.
- Suldalsvatnet is the sixth deepest lake in Norway and has a volume of 4.49 cubic kilometres.
- Kvilldal is at the South of the map in the middle.
This third Google Map shows Kvilldal.
Note.
- Suldalsvatnet is the dark area across the top of the map.
- The Kvilldal hydro-electric power station on the shore of the lake.
- Kvilldal is to the South-West of the power station.
Kvilldal doesn’t seem to be the biggest and most populous of villages. But they shouldn’t have electricity supply problems.
Kvilldal Power Station And The North Sea Link
The Wikipedia entry for Kvilldal power station gives this information.
The Kvilldal Power Station is a located in the municipality of Suldal. The facility operates at an installed capacity of 1,240 megawatts (1,660,000 hp), making it the largest power station in Norway in terms of capacity. Statnett plans to upgrade the western grid from 300 kV to 420 kV at a cost of 8 billion kr, partly to accommodate the NSN Link cable] from Kvilldal to England.
This power station is almost large enough to power the North Sea Link on its own.
The Kvilldal power station is part of the Ulla-Førre complex of power stations and lakes, which include the artificial Lake Blåsjø.
Lake Blåsjø
Lake Blåsjø would appear to be a lake designed to be the upper reservoir for a pumped-storage scheme.
- The lake can contain 3,105,000,000 cubic metres of water at its fullest.
- The surface is between 930 and 1055 metres above sea level.
- It has a shoreline of about 200 kilometres.
This Google Map shows the Lake.
Note the dam at the South end of the lake.
Using Omni’s Potential Energy Calculator, it appears that the lake can hold around 8 TWh of electricity.
A rough calculation indicates that this could supply the UK with 1400 MW for over eight months.
The Wikipedia entry for Saurdal power station gives this information.
The Saurdal Power Station is a hydroelectric and pumped-storage power station located in the municipality of Suldal. The facility operates at an installed capacity of 674 megawatts (904,000 hp) (in 2015). The average energy absorbed by pumps per year is 1,189 GWh (4,280 TJ) (in 2009 to 2012). The average annual production is 1,335 GWh (4,810 TJ) (up to 2012)
This Google Map shows the area between Kvilldal and Lake Blåsjø.
Note
- Kvilldal is in the North West of the map.
- Lake Blåsjø is in South East of the map.
This second Google Map shows the area to the South-East of Kvilldal.
Note.
- Kvilldal is in the North-West of the map.
- The Saurdal power station is tight in the South-East corner of the map.
This third Google Map shows a close-up of Saurdal power station.
Saurdal power station is no ordinary power station.
This page on the Statkraft web site, gives a brief description of the station.
The power plant was commissioned during 1985-1986 and uses water resources and the height of fall from Lake Blåsjø, Norway’s largest reservoir.
The power plant has four generating units, two of which can be reversed to pump water back up into the reservoir instead of producing electricity.
The reversible generating units can thus be used to store surplus energy in Lake Blåsjø.
Is Lake Blåsjø and all the power stations just a giant battery?
Economic Effect
The economic effect of the North Sea Link to both the UK and Norway is laid out in a section called Economic Effect in the Wikipedia entry for the North Sea Link.
Some points from the section.
- According to analysis by the United Kingdom market regulator Ofgem, in the base case scenario the cable would contribute around £490 million to the welfare of the United Kingdom and around £330 million to the welfare of Norway.
- This could reduce the average domestic consumer bill in the United Kingdom by around £2 per year.
- A 2016 study expects the two cables to increase price in South Norway by 2 øre/kWh, less than other factors.
This Economic Effect section also talks of a similar cable between Norway and Germany called NorGer.
It should be noted, that whereas the UK has opportunities for wind farms in areas to the North, South, East and West of the islands, Germany doesn’t have the space in the South to build enough wind power for the area.
There is also talk elsewhere of an interconnector between Scotland and Norway called NorthConnect.
It certainly looks like Norway is positioning itself as Northern Europe’s battery, that will be charged from the country’s extensive hydropower and surplus wind energy from the UK and Germany.
Could The Engineering Be Repeated?
I mentioned NorthConnect earlier.
- The cable will run between Peterhead in Scotland and Samnanger in Norway.
- The HVDC cable will be approximately 665 km long.
- The cable will be the same capacity as the North Sea Link at 1400 MW.
- According to Wikipedia construction started in 2019.
- The cable is planned to be operational in 2022.
- The budget is €1.7 billion.
Note.
- Samnager is close to Bergen.
- NorthConnect is a Scandinavian company.
- The project is supported by the European Union, despite Scotland and Norway not being members.
- National Grid is not involved in the project, although, they will be providing the connection in Scotland.
The project appears to be paused at the moment, awaiting how North Sea Link and NordLink between Norway and Germany are received.
There is an English web site, where this is the mission statement on the home page.
NorthConnect will provide an electrical link between Scotland and Norway, allowing the two nations to exchange power and increase the use of renewable energy.
This sounds very much like North Sea Link 2.
And then there is Icelink.
- This would be a 1000-1200 km link between Iceland and the UK.
- It would have a capacity of 1200 MW.
- National Grid are a shareholder in the venture.
- It would be the longest interconnector in the world.
The project appears to have stalled.
Conclusion
I can see these three interconnectors coming together to help the UK’s electricity generation become carbon-free by 2035.
Do BP And The Germans Have A Cunning Plan For European Energy Domination?
The headline of this post may be slightly tongue in cheek, but I believe that a plan is being hatched.
Preamble
I’ll start with a preamble, where I’ll outline some of the factors behind what may be happening.
Decarbonisation
It is generally accepted by most people that there is a need to decarbonise everything we do.
And large oil companies like Shell, BP and others are starting to move in the same direction.
Hydrogen
Using hydrogen instead of fossil fuels is becoming one of the major routes to decarbonisation.
Hydrogen can be used for the following.
- Provide power for cars, buses, trucks, trains, locomotives and ships.
- Hydrogen can be used in steelmaking instead of coking coal.
- As a chemical feedstock to make ammonia, fertiliser and a large range of petrochemicals.
- I believe that hydrogen could be a viable fuel to power aircraft over thousands of miles.
Hydrogen will become the most common zero-carbon fuel.
Hydrogen And Natural Gas
In many applications hydrogen can replace natural gas, so for large users of natural gas, hydrogen offers a route to decarbonisation.
But hydrogen can also be mixed up to a level of around twenty percent in natural gas for partial decarbonisation of applications like space heating. Most industrial uses, boilers and appliances can be made to work very successfully with this mixture.
I grew up in the 1950s with coal gas, which according to Wikipedia had this composition.
- hydrogen 50%
- methane 35%
- carbon monoxide 10%
- ethylene 5%
- When we changed over in the 1970s, all my appliances were converted.
This is the UK government description of natural gas.
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.
As with the conversion from coal-gas to natural gas, conversion from Natural gas to a hydrogen/natural gas mixture and eventually to hydrogen, will be a relatively painless process.
Note that carbon monoxide is a nasty poison and is not contained in either natural gas or hydrogen.
Green Hydrogen And Electrolysis Of Water
Green hydrogen is hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable energy sources.
Typically green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water using electricity produced by hydro, solar, tidal or wind.
The largest factory building electrolysers is owned by ITM Power.
- It is located in Rotherham.
- The factory has the capacity to build 1 GW of electrolysers in a year.
- Typical electrolysers have a capacity of several MW.
Ryze Hydrogen are building an electrolyser at Herne Bay, that will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power and produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
Blue Hydrogen
‘Blue hydrogen is produced through a production process where carbon dioxide is also produced then subsequently captured via carbon capture and storage. In many cases the carbon dioxide is stored in depleted gas fields, of which we have plenty in the North Sea. Over the last few years, research has been ongoing into using the carbon dioxide. Applications in horticulture and agriculture, carbon structures and sustainable aviation fuel are being developed.
Shell have also developed the Shell Blue Hydrogen Process, where the carbon is extracted from methane as carbon dioxide and then stored or used.
CO2 In Greenhouse Horticulture
This paper from The Netherlands is called CO2 In Greenhouse Horticulture.
Read it and you might believe me, when I say, we’ll eat a lot of carbon in the form of tomatoes, salads and soft fruit. We’ll also buy flowers grown in a carbon-dioxide rich atmosphere.
Hydrogen As An Energy Transfer Medium
Every kilogram of natural gas when it burns releases energy, as it does in your boiler or gas hob. So it transfers energy in the form of gas from the gas well or storage tank to your house.
Electricity can also be transferred from the power station to your house using wires instead of pipes.
Hydrogen is being put forward as a means of transferring energy over hundreds of miles.
- Electricity is converted to hydrogen, probably using an electrolyser, which would be powered by zero-carbon electricity.
- The hydrogen is transferred using a steel pipe.
- At the destination, the hydrogen is either distributed to end-users, stored or used in a gas-fired power station, that has been modified to run on hydrogen, to generate electricity.
It sounds inefficient, but it has advantages.
- Long underwater cables have energy losses.
- Electrical connections use a lot of expensive copper.
- Re-use of existing gas pipes is possible.
- Oil and gas companies like BP and their contractors have been laying gas pipes on land and under water for decades.
If hydrogen has a problem as an energy transfer medium, it is that it us difficult to liquify, as this statement from Air Liquide illustrates.
Hydrogen turns into a liquid when it is cooled to a temperature below -252,87 °C. At -252.87°C and 1.013 bar, liquid hydrogen has a density of close to 71 kg/m3. At this pressure, 5 kg of hydrogen can be stored in a 75-liter tank.
To transport, larger quantities of hydrogen by ship, it is probably better to convert the hydrogen into ammonia, which is much easier to handle.
The Germans and others are experimenting with using liquid ammonia to power large ships.
Hydrogen As An Energy Storage Medium
The UK has a comprehensive National Transmission System for natural gas with large amounts of different types of storage.
This section of the Wikipedia entry is entitled Natural Gas Storage and lists ten large storage facilities in salt caverns and depleted onshore gas fields. In addition, several depleted offshore gas fields have been proposed for the storage of natural gas. Rough was used successfully for some years.
I can certainly see a network of hydrogen storage sites being developed both onshore and offshore around the UK.
Iceland
With its large amount of hydro-electric and geothermal energy, Iceland can generate much more electricity, than it needs and has been looking to export it.
The UK is probably the only country close enough to be connected to Iceland to buy some of the country’s surplus electricity.
There has been a proposal called Icelink, that would build an electrical interconnector with a capacity of around a GW between Iceland at the UK.
But the project seems to have stalled since I first heard about it on my trip to Iceland in 2014.
Could the engineering problems just be too difficult?
The Waters Around The Northern Parts Of Great Britain
Look at a map of the UK and particularly Great Britain and there is a massive area of water, which is not short of wind.
Between Norway, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, the East Coast of England, the Northern Coasts of Scotland and Iceland, there are only a few islands.
- Faroes
- Orkney
- Shetlands
To be complete we probably must include hundreds of oil and gas rigs and platforms and the Dogger Bank.
- Oil and gas companies probably know most there is to know about these waters.
- Gas pipelines connect the production platforms to terminals at Sullom Voe and along the East Coast from St. Fergus near Aberdeen to Bacton in Norfolk.
- Many of the oil and gas fields are coming to the end of their working lives.
I believe that all this infrastructure could be repurposed to support the offshore wind industry.
The Dutch Are Invading The Dogger Bank
The Dogger Bank sits in the middle of the North Sea.
- It is roughly equidistant from Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK.
- The Western part is in UK territorial waters.
- The Eastern part is mainly in Dutch territorial waters.
On the UK part, the Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being developed.
- The turbines will be between 78 and 180 miles from the shore.
- It could have a capacity of up to 5 GW.
- It would be connected to East Yorkshire or Teesside.
On their side of the Dogger Bank, the Dutch are proposing the North Sea Wind Power Hub.
- It is a collaboration between the Dutch, Germans, and Danes.
- There have been reports, that up to 110 GW of turbines could be installed.
- It will be connected to the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, as well as The Netherlands.
It is also planned that the connections to the Dogger Bank will create another interconnector between the UK and the Continent.
The Shetland Islands
The Shetland Islands are the only natural islands with a large oil and gas infrastructure in the waters to the North of Great Britain.
They have a large gas and oil terminal at Sullom Voe.
- Oil is transported to the terminal by pipelines and tanker.
- Oil is exported by tanker.
- Gas is imported from oil and gas fields to the West of the islands through the West of Shetland Pipeline.
- The gas-fired Sullom Voe power station provide about 80 MW of power to the islands.
This document on the APSE web site is entitled Future Hydrogen Production In Shetland.
It describes how the Shetland Islands can decarbonise and reposition themselves in the energy industry to be a major producer of hydrogen.
It gives these two facts about carbon emissions in the Shetlands Islands and Scotland.
- Annual per capita CO2 emissions in the Shetland Islands are 17 tonnes.
- In Scotland they are just 5.3 tonnes.
By comparison, the UK average is 5.55 and Qatar is 37.29.
Currently, the annual local market for road, marine and domestic fuel calculated
at around £50 million.
These are the objectives of the Shetland’s plan for future hydrogen production.
- Supply 32TWh of low carbon hydrogen annually, 12% of the expected UK total requirement, by 2050
- Provide more than 3GW of wind generated electrical power to Shetland, the UK grid, generating green hydrogen and electrification of the offshore oil and gas sector
- Enable all West of Shetland hydrocarbon assets to be net zero by 2030 and abate 8Mt/year CO2 by 2050
- Generate £5bn in annual revenue by 2050 and contribute significantly to the UK Exchequer.
They also envisage removing the topsides of platforms, during decommissioning of mature East of Shetland
oil fields and repurposing them for hydrogen production using offshore wind.
That is certainly a powerful set of ambitions.
This diagram from the report shows the flow of electricity and hydrogen around the islands, terminals and platforms.
Note these points about what the Shetlanders call the Orion Project.
- Offshore installations are electrified.
- There are wind turbines on the islands
- Hydrogen is provided for local energy uses like transport and shipping.
- Oxygen is provided for the fish farms and a future space centre.
- There is tidal power between the islands.
- There are armadas of floating wind turbines to the East of the islands.
- Repurposed oil platforms are used to generate hydrogen.
- Hydrogen can be exported by pipeline to St. Fergus near Aberdeen, which is a distance of about 200 miles.
- Hydrogen can be exported by pipeline to Rotterdam, which is a distance of about 600 miles.
- Hydrogen can be exported by tanker to Rotterdam and other parts of Europe.
It looks a very comprehensive plan!
The German Problem
Germany has an energy problem.
- It is a large energy user.
- It has the largest production of steel in Europe.
- It prematurely shut some nuclear power stations.
- About a quarter of electricity in Germany comes from coal. In the UK it’s just 1.2 %.
- It is very reliant on Russian natural gas.
- The country also has a strong Green Party.
- Germany needs a lot more energy to replace coal and the remaining nuclear.
- It also needs a lot of hydrogen to decarbonise the steel and other industries.
Over the last few months, I’ve written these articles.
- Sale To Linde Of World’s Largest PEM Electrolyser
- Uniper To Make Wilhelmshaven German Hub For Green Hydrogen; Green Ammonia Import Terminal
- WindH2 Hydrogen Project Commissioned In Germany
- Morocco Could Produce Up To 4% Of World’s Green Hydrogen By 2030
- Get H2 Partners Propose Green Hydrogen Pipeline In Europe
- Alstom Hydrogen Trains Complete Trials
Germany seems to have these main objectives.
- Increase their supply of energy.
- Ensure a plentiful supply of hydrogen.
They appear to be going about them with a degree of enthusiasm.
BP’s Ambition To Be Net Zero By 2050
This press release from BP is entitled BP Sets Ambition For Net Zero By 2050, Fundamentally Changing Organisation To Deliver.
This is the introductory paragraph.
BP today set a new ambition to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner, and to help the world get to net zero. The ambition is supported by ten aims
The ten aims are divided into two groups.
Five Aims To Get BP To Net Zero
These are.
- Net zero across BP’s operations on an absolute basis by 2050 or sooner.
- Net zero on carbon in BP’s oil and gas production on an absolute basis by 2050 or sooner.
- 50% cut in the carbon intensity of products BP sells by 2050 or sooner.
- Install methane measurement at all BP’s major oil and gas processing sites by 2023 and reduce methane intensity of operations by 50%.
- Increase the proportion of investment into non-oil and gas businesses over time.
I would assume that by gas, they mean natural gas.
Five Aims To Help The World Get To Net Zero
These are.
- More active advocacy for policies that support net zero, including carbon pricing.
- Further incentivise BP’s workforce to deliver aims and mobilise them to advocate for net zero.
- Set new expectations for relationships with trade associations.
- Aim to be recognised as a leader for transparency of reporting, including supporting the recommendations of the TCFD.
- Launch a new team to help countries, cities and large companies decarbonise.
This all does sound like a very sensible policy.
BP’s Partnership With EnBW
BP seemed to have formed a partnership with EnBW to develop offshore wind farms in the UK
Their first investment is described in this press release from BP, which is entitled BP Advances Offshore Wind Growth Strategy; Enters World-Class UK Sector With 3GW Of Advantaged Leases In Irish Sea.
This is the first five paragraphs.
bp and partner EnBW selected as preferred bidder for two highly-advantaged 60-year leases in UK’s first offshore wind leasing round in a decade.
Advantaged leases due to distance from shore, lower grid cost, synergies from scale, and faster cycle time.
Projects expected to meet bp’s 8-10% returns aim, delivering attractive and stable returns and integrating with trading, mobility, and other opportunities.
Annual payments expected for four years before final investment decisions and assets planned to be operational in seven years.
In the past six months bp has entered offshore wind in the UK – the world’s largest market – and the US – the world’s fastest-growing market.
Note.
- EnBW are Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG, who, according to Wikipedia, are the third largest utilities company in Germany.
- It also appears, that EnBW have developed wind farms.
BP have issued this infographic with the press release.
Note.
- The lease areas don’t appear to be far from the Morecambe Bay gas field.
- The Morecambe Bay gas field is coming to the end of its life.
- The Morecambe Bay gas field is connected to the Rampside gas terminal at Barrow-in-Furness.
- At peak production 15 % of the UK’s natural gas came from Morecambe Bay.
I just wonder, if there is a cunning plan.
Could the platforms be repurposed to act as electrical hubs for the wind turbines?
- 3GW of electricity would produce 55 tonnes of hydrogen per day.
- The hydrogen would be exported to the Rampside gas terminal using the existing pipelines.
- There may be savings to be made, as HVDC links are expensive.
- BP either has the engineering to convert the platforms or they know someone who does.
- Would the industrial complex at Barrow-in-Furnace and the nearby Sellafield complex have a use for all that hydrogen?
- Or would the hydrogen be used to fuel Lancashire’s buses and trucks on the M6.
It certainly looks to me, that it could be a possibility, to bring the energy ashore as hydrogen.
BP Seeking Second Wind Off Scotland
The title of this section, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
These are the first two paragraphs.
BP is preparing to bid for the rights to build wind farms off Scotland as it signals no let-up in expansion after a £900 million splurge on leases in the Irish Sea.
The London-based oil giant caused waves in February by offering record prices to enter the UK offshore wind market through a Crown Estate auction of seabed leases off England and Wales.
As I said earlier.
- The Shetland Islands are developing themselves as a giant hydrogen factory.
- There are pipelines connecting platforms to the Sullom Voe Terminal.
- There are plans to convert some of the redundant platforms into hydrogen production platforms.
- The islands will be developing ways to export the hydrogen to the South and Europe.
BP also operates the Schiehallion oil and gas field to the West of the Shetlands, which is connected to the Sullom Voe Terminal by the West of Shetland pipeline.
Could BP and EnBW be coming to the party?
They certainly won’t be arriving empty-handed.
Does BP Have Access To Storage Technology?
I ask this question because both the Morecambe Bay and Shetland leases could be built with co-located depleted gas fields and offshore electrolysers.
So could hydrogen gas be stored in the gas fields?
I think it could be a possibility and would mean that hydrogen would always be available.
Could Iceland Be Connected To Schiehallion Via A Gas Pipeline?
I estimate that Iceland and Schiehallion would be about six hundred miles.
This wouldn’t be the longest undersea gas pipeline in the world as these two are longer.
- Langeled – 725 miles
- Nord Stream – 759 miles
The Langeled pipeline cost £1.7 billion.
Conclusion
I think there’s more to the link-up between BP and EnBW.
I am fairly certain, that BP are thinking about converting some redundant gas platforms into hubs for wind turbines, which use the electricity to create hydrogen, which is then exported to the shore using existing gas pipelines and onshore terminals.
Could it be said, that BP will be recycling oil and gas platforms?
I feel that the answer is yes! Or at least maybe!
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind!
Thoughts On Last Week’s Major Power Outage
This article on the BBC is entitled Major Power Failure Affects Homes And Transport.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Nearly a million people have been affected by a major power cut across large areas of England and Wales, affecting homes and transport networks.
National Grid said it was caused by issues with two power generators but the problem was now resolved.
This second article on the BBC is entitled UK power cut: Why it caused so much disruption, and gives these details.
It started with a routine blip – the gas-fired power station at Little Barford in Bedfordshire shut down at 16:58 BST due to a technical issue.
Then, a second power station, the new Hornsea offshore wind farm, also “lost load” – meaning the turbines were still moving, but power was not reaching the grid.
These are my thoughts on the incident.
Power Stations Do Fail
Any complex electro-mechanical system like Little Barford gas-fired power station or Hornsea offshore wind farm can fail.
- Little Barford gas-fired power station was built in 1994 and is a 746 MW gas-fired power station.
- Hornsea offshore wind farm obtained planning permission in 2014 and is being built in phases. It will eventually have a maximum capacity of 8 GW or 8,000 MW.
Compare these figures with the iconic coal-fired Battersea power station, which had a maximum output of 503 MW in 1955.
I will not speculate as to what wet wrong except to say that as the Hornsea wind-farm is relatively new, it could be what engineers call an infant mortality problem. Complex systems or even components seem to fail in the first few months of operation.
Why Do We Have Gas-Fired Stations?
According to this page on Wikipedia, there are around forty natural gas fired power stations in England.
Most gas-fired stations are what are known as CCGT (Combined Cycle Gas Turbine), where a Jumbo-sized gas-turbine engine is paired with a steam turbine powered by the heat of the exhaust from the engine.
This form of power generation does produce some carbon dioxide, but to obtain a given amount of electricity, it produces a lot less than using coal or ioil.
By combining the gas turbine with a steam turbine, the power station becomes more efficient and less carbon dioxide is produced.
Power stations of this type have three various advantages.
- They have a very fast start-up time, so are ideal power stations to respond to sudden increases in electricity demand.
- As they are a gas-turbine engine with extra gubbins, they are very controllable, just like their cousins on aircraft.
- They are relatively quick, easy and affordable to build. The Wikipedia entry for a CCGT says this. “The capital costs of combined cycle power is relatively low, at around $1000/kW, making it one of the cheapest types of generation to install.”
- They don’t need a complicated and expensive transport infrastructure to bring in coal or nuclear fuel.
- They can also be powered by biogas from agricultural or forestry waste, although I don’t think that is a comm practice in the UK.
The carbon dioxide produced is the only major problem.
Gas-Fired Power Stations In The Future
If you read the Wikipedia entry for combined cycle power plants, there is a lot of information on CCGTs, much of which is on various ways of improving their efficiency.
I believe that one particular method of increasing efficiency could be very applicable in the UK.
Under Boosting Efficiency in the Wikipedia entry, the following is said.
The efficiency of CCGT and GT can be boosted by pre-cooling combustion air. This is practised in hot climates and also has the effect of increasing power output. This is achieved by evaporative cooling of water using a moist matrix placed in front of the turbine, or by using Ice storage air conditioning. The latter has the advantage of greater improvements due to the lower temperatures available. Furthermore, ice storage can be used as a means of load control or load shifting since ice can be made during periods of low power demand and, potentially in the future the anticipated high availability of other resources such as renewables during certain periods.
The UK is the world’s largest generator of power using offshore wind and as we are surrounded with sea and wind, the UK is only going to produce more of the power it needs in this or other way.
This method could be used to store the wind energy produced when the demand is low and recover it, when it is needed.
Could The UK Develop A Chain Of Carbon-Neutral Gas-Fired Power Stations?
In parts of the UK, there is a unique mix of resources.
- A plentiful supply of natural gas, either from offshore fields or interconnectors to Norway.
- Large amounts of electricity generated by offshore wind, which will only get larger.
- Worked out gas-fields still connected to the shore, through redundant platforms and pipes.
- Closeness to agricultural areas.
Technologies under development or already working include.
- Offshore creation of hydrogen using electricity generated by offshore wind and then using the redundant gas pipes to bring the hydrogen to the shore.
- Using a hydrogen-fired CCGT power station without producing any carbon-dioxide.
- Feeding carbon dioxide to plants like salad and fruit to make them grow better.
- Using excess electricity from renewable sources to cool the air and improve the efficiency of CCGT power stations.
I can see all these technologies and development coming together in the next few years and a chain of carbon-neutral gas-fired power stations will be created
- Hydrogen produced offshore on redundant gas platforms, using electricity from nearby wind farms, will be turned back into electricity, where it is needed by onshore hydrogen-fired power stations.
- Redundant gas platforms will be refurbished and reused, rather than demolished at great expense.
- Some natural gas will still be used for power generation
- I’m not quite sure, but I think there could be dual-furled CCGTs, that could run on either hydrogen or natural gas.
- Any carbon dioxide generated will be stored in the worked out gas fields or fed to the crops.
- Gas storage onshore will ensure that the gas-fired power station can respond quickly.
I also believe that there is no technological and engineering challenges, that are too difficult to solve.
This strategy would have the following advantages.
- It should be carbon-neutral.
- Because there could have as many as two hundred individual power stations, the system would be very reliable and responsive to the loss of say a cluster of five stations, due to a tsunami, a volcanic eruption or a major eathquake.
- If power from renewable sources like offshore wind is low, extra stations can be quickly switched in.
- It is not dependent on fuel from dodgy dictators!
- It would probably be more affordable than developing nuclear power stations.
There is also the possibility of bringing more hydrogen onshore to be used in the decarbonisation of the gas-grid.
Conclusion
A chain of carbon-neutral gas-fired power stations, linked to hydrogen created offshore by wind farms is very feasible.
Last week, after the double failure, extra stations would have immediately been switched in.
Energy Storage
The fastest response system is energy storage, where a giant battery holds several gigawatt-hours of eklectricity.
Electric Mountain
The biggest energy storage facility in the UK is Dinorwig Power Station.
This is the introduction to its Wikipedia entry.
The Dinorwig Power Station , known locally as Electric Mountain, is a pumped-storage hydroelectric scheme, near Dinorwig, Llanberisin Snowdonia national park in Gwynedd, northern Wales. The scheme can supply a maximum power of 1,728-megawatt (2,317,000 hp) and has a storage capacity of around 9.1-gigawatt-hour (33 TJ)
It is large and has a rapid response, when more electricity is needed.
We probably need another three or four Electric Mountains, but our geography means we have few suitable sites for pumped-storage, especially in areas, where large quantities of electricity are needed.
There are one other pumped-storage system in Wales and two in Scotland, all of which are around 350 MW or a fifth the size of Electric Mountain.
In the Wikipedia entry entitled List Of Power Stations In Scotland, this is said.
SSE have proposed building two new pumped storage schemes in the Great Glen; 600 MW at Balmacaan above Loch Ness, and 600 MW at Coire Glas above Loch Lochy, at £800m. Scotland has a potential for around 500 GWh of pumped storage
I’m sure the Scots will find some way to fill this storage.
If all else fails, there’s always Icelink. This is the description from Wikipedia.
Icelink is a proposed electricity interconnector between Iceland and Great Britain. As of 2017, the project is still at the feasibility stage. According to current plans, IceLink may become operational in 2027.
At 1000–1200 km, the 1000 MW HVDC link would be the longest sub-sea power interconnector in the world.
The project partners are National Grid plc in the UK, and Landsvirkjun, the state-owned generator in Iceland, and Landsnet, the Icelandic Transmission System Operator (TSO)
Plugging it in to Scotland, rather than London, probably saves a bit of money!
Conclusion
Increasing our pumped-storage energy capacity is feasible and would help us to survive major power failures.
Batteries In Buildings
Tesla have a product called a Powerwall, which puts energy storage into a home or other building.
This was the first product of its kind and there will be many imitators.
The Powerwall 2 has a capacity of 13.5 kWh, which is puny compared to the 9.1 GWh or 9,100,000 kWh of Electric Mountain.
But only 674,074 batteries would need to be fitted in the UK to be able to store the same amount of electricity as Electric Mountain.
The big benefit of batteries in buildings is that they shift usage from the Peak times to overnight
So they will reduce domestic demand in the Peak.
Conclusion
Government should give incentives for people to add batteries to their houses and other buildings.
Could Hydrogen Work As Energy Storage?
Suppose you had a hydrogen-fired 500 MW hydrogen-fired CCGT with a hydrogen tank that was large enough to run it at full power for an hour.
That would be a 0.5 GWh storage battery with a discharge rate of 500 MW.
In an hour it would supply 500MWh or 500,000 kWh of electricity at full power.
In Hydrogen Economy on Wikipedia, this is said, about producing hydrogen by electroysis of water.
However, current best processes for water electrolysis have an effective electrical efficiency of 70-80%, so that producing 1 kg of hydrogen (which has a specific energy of 143 MJ/kg or about 40 kWh/kg) requires 50–55 kWh of electricity.
If I take the 40 KWh/Kg figure that means that to provide maximum power for an hour needs 12,500 Kg or 12.5 tonnes of hydrogen.
Under a pressure of 700 bar, hydrogen has a density of 42 Kg/cu. m., so 12.5 tonnes of hydrogen will occupy just under 300 cubic metres.
If I’ve got the figures right that could be a manageable amount of hydrogen.
Remember, I used to work in a hydrogen factory and I had the detailed guided tour. Technology may change in fifty years, but the properties of hydrogen haven’t!
Gas-Fired Versus Coal-Fired Power Stations
Consider.
- The problem of the carbon dioxide is easier with a gas-fired power station, than a coal-fired power station of the same generating capacity, as it will generate only about forty percent of carbon dioxide.
- Gas-fired power stations can be started up very quickly, whereas starting a coal-fired power station probably takes all day.
- Coal is much more difficult to handle than gas.
Using hydrogen is even better than using natural gas, as it’s zero-carbpn.
Conclusion
I believe we can use our unique geographic position and proven technology to increase the resilience of our power networks.
We need both more power stations and energy storage.
Funding Nemo: £600m Power Cable Connects UK And Belgium
The title of this post is the same as this article in The Guardian.
This is the first paragraph.
A £600m cable connecting the UK and Belgium’s energy systems is about to be switched on, becoming the first of a new generation of interconnectors that will deepen the UK’s ties to mainland Europe just as it prepares to leave the EU.
It runs between Richborough in Kent and Zeebrugge in Belgium and is the fifth interconnector to be connected to Great Britain.
Other interconnectors connect to Ireland, Northern Ireland, France and the Netherlands.
In Large Scale Electricity Interconnection, I discuss the rest of the interconnectors, that are being constructed or planned.
We could see up to fifteen in operation in a few years.
As to Nemo, it was originally thought that the UK would be importing energy from Belgium, but as Belgium needs to service its nuclear power stations and will be shutting them in the next few years, the power will sometimes be flowing the other way. Especially, as more large wind farms come on stream in the UK!
It is my view that Icelink could change everything and Belgium’s possible future power shortage, makes Icelink far more likely.
Wikipedia describes the interconnector between Iceland and Scotland like this.
At 1000–1200 km, the 1000 MW HVDC link would be the longest sub-sea power interconnector in the world.
As more interconnectors are built between the UK and the Continent, including a possible link between Peterhead in North-East Scotland to Stavanger in Norway, which is called NorthConnect, the UK will begin to look like a giant electricity sub-station, that connects all the zero-carbon power sources together.
- Denmark will supply wind power.
- France will supply nuclear power.
- Iceland will supply hydro-electric and geothermal power.
- Norway will supply hydro-electric power.
- The UK will supply nuclear and wind power.
Other sources like wind power from France and Ireland and tidal and wave power from the UK could be added to the mix in the next decade.
The Consequences For Gas
Our use of gas to generate electricity in Western Europe will surely decline.
If projects, like those I discussed in Can Abandoned Mines Heat Our Future?, come on stream to provide heat, the role of gas in providing heating in housing and other buildings will decline in the UK.
We also shouldn’t forget the role of hydrogen, which could also replace natural gas in many applications. It would be created by electrolysis of water or as a by-product of some industrial processes.
Hydrogen could also become a valuable way of storing excess electricity produced by tidal, wave and wind power.
It is unlikely, we will develop a totally gas-free economy, as methane is a valuable chemical feedstock to produce other chemical products we need.
Conclusion
Not many people will be sorry, except for President Putin and a few equally nasty despots in the Middle East.
How Norway Will Keep Britain’s Lights On
This is the title of an article in today’s Times about the building of the North Sea Link, which is described like this in Wikipedia.
The North Sea Link (also known as North Sea Network Link or NSN Link, HVDC Norway–Great Britain, and Norway–UK interconnector) is a 1,400 MW subsea high-voltage direct current electricity cable under construction between Norway and the United Kingdom. It is a joint project of the transmission system operators Statnett and National Grid plc and is due to be completed in 2021.
To put the size of the North Sea Link into context Hinckley Point C nuclear power station will generate 3,2000 MW, so we get 44% of the power reliably for as long as Norway’s hydro-electric power system functions.
The Times article also lists other interconnectors in which National Grid are involved.
- 160 MW system (1961) – 100 MW – co-owned with the French.
- 2000 MW system (1986) – 2000 MW co-owned with the French.
- IFA2 – 1000 MW co-owned with the French
- BritNed – 1000 MW co-owned with the Dutch.
- NemoLink – 1000 MW co-owned with the Belgians.
- Viking Link – 1400 MW co-owned with the Danes.
- ICELink – A possible 1000 MW link to Iceland.
- A possible second connection to Norway
- A possible second connection to the Netherlands.
In addition, there are other links like FABlink and NorthConnect, where National Grid don’t have an interest.
It’s not all importing of electricity, as recently because of troubles with their nuclear plants, we’ve been exporting electricity to the French.
As a control engineer, I think all of these interconnectors are sound investments, as Europe can mix the erratic sources of wind, wave, tidal and solar with the steady outputs of nuclear, coal and hydro.
This Wikipedia article called Wind power in the United Kingdom says this.
The United Kingdom is one of the best locations for wind power in the world, and is considered to be the best in Europe. Wind power contributed 11% of UK electricity generation in 2015, and 17% in December 2015. Allowing for the costs of pollution, particularly the carbon emissions of other forms of production, onshore wind power is the cheapest form of energy in the United Kingdom In 2016, the UK generated more electricity from wind power than from coal.
So back wind up by steady sources from the UK and Europe like nuclear and hydro-electric, when the wind stops and all is well with the lights.
And of course, as many of these interconnectors are bi-directional, when we have excess power, countries in Europe who need it can import it.
Who sits like spider in the middle of this web? – National Grid of course!
All those, who think that coal is a good idea, should be made to sit on the naughty step.
Atlantic Superconnection Features In The Sunday Times
I am an electrical engineer by training and although possibly the only work I’ve done in the power field directly is to wire a plug, I know the technology of power generation fairly well.
Ever since I went to Iceland last year and first heard about IceLink, I’ve followed the project with interest.
Today there is an article in The Sunday Times entitled Cameron wants sea cable to bring lava power from Iceland.
It talks about the involvement of a company called Atlantic Superconnection
Read the article and follow the company!
The Anonymous Widower 