RWE Opens ‘Grimsby Hub’ For Offshore Wind Operations And Maintenance
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
RWE officially opened its ‘Grimsby Hub’ offshore wind operations and maintenance (O&M) facility in the UK on 9 July. From the new O&M base, located at Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Grimsby, RWE’s teams will maintain and operate the Triton Knoll and Sofia offshore wind farms.
These are the first two paragraphs.
The Grimsby Hub also houses RWE’s new UK Centralised Control Room (CCR), which has been set up to provide 24/7 monitoring of the company’s UK offshore wind farms and can provide services such as marine coordination, turbine operations, alarm management, high voltage monitoring and Emergency Response services with a team of twelve operatives, the developer says.
The O&M facility is already employing over 90 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs), according to RWE, and is expected to employ around 140 RWE staff by 2027, as well as create approximately 60 new locally sourced jobs through the development of the CCR and ongoing offshore operations.
Note.
- Does RWE’s new UK Centralised Control Room control all their UK offshore wind farms?
- I have added them all up and there are almost 12 GW around our shores.
- I’ve read somewhere, that RWE are the UK’s largest power generator. From these figures, that would not surprise me.
This Google Map shows the location of RWE’s facilities in Grimsby.
Note.
- The bright red arrow at the top of the map indicates RWE Generation UK in Grimsby Docks.
- There is another RWE location to the right of the bright red arrow.
- There is a line of stations along the coast, which from left-to-right are Stallingborough, Healing, Great Coates, Grimsby Town, Grimsby Docks, New Clee and Cleethorpes.
- Cleethorpes is not shown on the map.
- Doncaster and Cleethorpes are 52.1 mile apart, which is within the range of a battery-electric Hitachi and other trains.
- Charging would be at Doncaster, which is fully electrified and at Cleethorpes, by a short length of electrification.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the layout of and the railways around Grimsby Dock.
Note.
- Cleethorpes station is indicated by the blue arrow, in the South-East corner of the map.
- Cleethorpes station has four platforms, but no electrification.
- Grimsby Docks are to the North of the railway to Cleethorpes.
- This Wikipedia entry for Cleethorpes station, shows other railways and light railways served the area. Some were even electric.
These are a few of my thoughts on the development of railways between Sheffield and Cleethorpes.
RWE Will Be A Large Driver Of Employment In Grimsby
Earlier I wrote.
- Does RWE’s new UK Centralised Control Room control all their UK offshore wind farms?
- I have added them all up and there are almost 12 GW around our shores.
- I’ve read somewhere, that RWE are the UK’s largest power generator. From these figures, that would not surprise me.
It’s a long time, since I’ve added resources to a large project, so I asked Google AI, “How many people are needed to support a 1 GW offshore wind farm in the UK?”, and received this answer.
Direct & Indirect Support: For a large-scale project, this often breaks down into approximately 100–150 direct, permanent, high-skilled roles (technicians, engineers, management) and hundreds more in indirect, contracted, or supply chain roles (vessel crews, port operations, logistics).
Industry Average: Studies suggest that for operations and maintenance (O&M), around 50–100 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs are generated per GW of installed capacity in terms of direct, permanent staff.
Key Takeaways for a 1 GW Farm:
- Direct Technicians/Operators: ~100–200+ (working on-site, turbines, or in control rooms).
- O&M Support Services: ~300–400+ (vessel operators, port logistics, supply chain).
- Total Operations Personnel: 300–600+ people.
Google AI appeared to have borrowed the figure from Ørsted and Hornsea 1 and 2.
So if it’s correct, there will be a total of 7,200 personnel supporting RWE’s wind farms in the UK. Even if only a third were employed in Grimsby, that is still a lot of people to accommodate and who will need to travel to work.
I also think a lot of personnel will come in by train, as the station is close to RWE’s locations.
Will Grimsby Have An Aberdeen-Sized Office-Shortage Problem?
One of the biggest problems, I was always hearing in the 1970s, was the shortage of offices in Aberdeen for the use of the oilmen.
In RWE Goes For An Additional 10 GW Of Offshore Wind In UK Waters In 2030, I talked about RWE’s plans for the future and published this table of new wind farms.
- Sofia – 1,400 MW
- Norfolk Boreas – 1380 MW
- Norfolk Vanguard East – 1380 MW
- Norfolk Vanguard West – 1380 MW
- Dogger Bank South – 3000 MW
- Awel y Môr – 500 MW
- Five Estuaries – 353 MW
- North Falls – 504 MW
Note.
- Sofia is nearly complete.
- Only the three Norfolk and the Dogger Bank South wind farms are on the East side of England and suitable to be serviced from Grimsby., but they still total 7,140 MW.
Has Grimsby got the office-space for all the people needed?
Could The Cleethorpes And Liverpool Lime Street Service Be Run By Battery-Electric Rolling Stock?
The various sections of this route are as follows.
- Cleethorpes and Doncaster – No Electrification – 52.1 miles
- Doncaster and Meadowhall – No Electrification – 15.2 miles
- Meadowhall and Sheffield – No Electrification – 3.4 miles
- Sheffield and Dore & Totley – No Electrification – 4.2 miles
- Dore & Totley and Hazel Grove – No Electrification – 29.2 miles
- Hazel Grove and Stockport – Electrification – 3.3 miles
- Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly – Electrification – 5.9 miles
- Manchester Piccadilly and Deansgate – Electrification – 0.8 miles
- Deansgate and Liverpool South Parkway -Not Electrified – 28.2 miles
- Liverpool South Parkway and Liverpool Lime Street – Electrified – 5.7 miles
Adding the sections together gives.
- Cleethorpes and Hazel Grove – No Electrification – 104.1 miles
- Hazel Grove and Deansgate – Electrification – 10 miles
- Deansgate and Liverpool South Parkway -Not Electrified – 28.2 miles
- Liverpool South Parkway and Liverpool Lime Street – Electrified – 5.7 miles
Note.
- To cover the 104.1 miles to Hazel Grove battery-electric trains would probably need to leave Cleethorpes with full batteries.
- Doncaster is a fully-electrified station and passing trains may be able to have a quick top-up.
- In South Yorkshire Now Has Better North-South Connections, I calculated that Doncaster is a very busy station with 173 express trains per day calling at the station or one every 8.5 minutes.
- Will trains be able to stop for a long period to charge batteries?
- It may be prudent to electrify between Meadowhall and Sheffield, under the Midland Mainline Electrification.
- Sheffield and Dore & Totley is shown that it will be electrified, under the Midland Mainline Electrification.
- Do we really want to have electrification marching along the Hope Valley Line?
- I believe that hydrogen-hybrid locomotives will be a better solution for freight trains on scenic lines like the Hope Valley, as they are zero-carbon, powerful and with a range comparable to diesel.
I believe CAF, Hitachi and Siemens have off the shelf rolling stock and factories in this country, who could build trains for the Cleethorpes and Liverpool Lime Street route.
How Would You Charge Battery-Electric Trains At Cleethorpes?
This picture shows Cleethorpes station
Note.
- The four long platforms without electrification.
- The platforms have recently been refurbished.
- The train in Platform 2 is a TransPennine Express Class 185 Siemens Desiro diesel train.
The simplest way to electrify the station would be to put up enough 25 KVAC overhead wires, so that battery-electric trains needing a charge could put up a pantograph and have a refreshing drink.
In Technology Behind Siemens Mobility’s British Battery Trains Hits The Tracks, I wrote about Siemens Rail Charging Converter.
This is a visualisation of a Siemens Rail Charging Converter in action.
Note.
- The track is electrified with standard 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
- The train is a standard Siemens electric or battery-electric train.
- Siemens Rail Charging Converter, which is the shed in the compound on the left is providing the electricity to energise the catenary.
- I suspect, it could power third rail electrification, if the Office of Rail and Road ever allowed it to be still installed.
- The Siemens Rail Charging Converter does have one piece of magic in the shed. I suspect it uses a battery or a large capacitor to help power the electrification, as it can be powered from any typical domestic grid supply.
- I also wonder, if it has safety devices that cut the power outside the shed if track workers or intruders are detected, where they shouldn’t be?
- It could even cut the power, when trains are not running to save power and increase safety.
This looks to me, that a Siemens Rail Charging Converter could be a superb example of out-of-the-box thinking.
Could The Cleethorpes And Barton-on-Humber Service Be Run By Battery-Electric Rolling Stock?
This OpenRailwayMap shows the railways of North-East Lincolnshire.
Note.
- Cleethorpes is in the South-East Corner of the map.
- Barton-on-Humber is in the North-West corner of the map and marked by a blue-arrow.
- Stations from South to North would be New Clee, Grimsby Docks, Grimsby Town, Great Coates, Healing, Stallingborough, Habrough, Ulceby, Thornton Abbey, Goxhill, New Holland and Barrow Haven.
- The line is double track.
- Cleethorpes and Barton-on-Humber is just 22.8 miles.
- A round trip would be under fifty miles, which would be well within range of a full-charge at one end.
- Service is one train per two hours (tp2h), which would only need a single train, shuttling between Cleethorpes and Barton-on-Humber.
- Two trains could provide an hourly service.
I would expect, that well-designed, solid and reliable German engineering could build a Siemens’ Rail Charging Connector that could charge four trains per hour (tph) at Cleethorpes station.
At present services are.
- TransPennineExpress – 1 tph to Liverpool Lime Street.
- East Midlands Railway – 1 tp2h to Barton-on-Humber
- East Midlands Railway – 1 tp2h to Matlock via Lincoln and Nottingham
- Northern Trains – 1 train per day (tpd) Sheffield via Brigg.
That is probably only about two tph.
Could The Cleethorpes And Sheffield Service Be Run By Battery-Electric Rolling Stock?
This is a description of the current Cleethorpes and Sheffield service.
- It is run by Northern Trains.
- The morning train leaves Sheffield at 09:54 and arrives in Cleethorpes at 11:40.
- The afternoon train leaves Cleethorpes at 13:20 and arrives in Sheffield at 15:10.
- The train is a Class 150 diesel train, which is a bit of a Joan Collins of a train – Of a certain age, but still scrubs up extremely well!
- Intermediate stations are Worksop, Retford, Gainsborough Central, Kirton Lindsey, Brigg, Barnetby and Grimsby Town
- The route length is 71.6 miles
- Trains take about 45-50 minutes.
It is also a parliamentary train.
The Wikipedia entry for parliamentary train gives this description of the Cleethorpes and Sheffield service.
Via Kirton Lindsey & Brigg. Became a parliamentary service when weekday services were withdrawn in 1993. Regular trains have operated between Gainsborough and Sheffield for most timetable periods since. Suspended January 2022 by Northern, who cited COVID-19 and staffing issues , but the service was reinstated in December 2022. Changed in May 2023 to be one return journey on weekdays only.
In the 1950s and 1960s I lived in Felixstowe part of the time and in the 1970s and 1980s I lived near Woodbridge and I observed first hand the development of the Port of Felixstowe and the effects it had on the surrounding countryside.
The development of the Port of Felixstowe, has brought the following.
- Improved roads and railways.
- Ipswich is now an hour from London by train.
- Ipswich is now a University town.
- New housing and other developments, both in Ipswich and Felixstowe and the surrounding countryside.
- Employment also has increased considerably, both in the Port and in surrounding towns.
- Ipswich’s football team is very much respected all over Europe and has won the English top division, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup.
When you consider the jobs that RWE could create in the Port of Grimsby, I believe that this could have similar effects in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, as the Port of Felixstowe had in East Suffolk.
Already, the following are being talked about.
- A direct rail link between Cleethorpes and Grimsby to London.
- Battery-electric trains between Cleethorpes and Grimsby and Doncaster, Manchester and Liverpool Lime Street.
I believe that an improved rail link between Cleethorpes and Sheffield could be the catalyst for much needed housing along the route, which would be to the benefit of Cleethorpres, Grimsby, Sheffield and all the intermediate towns and villages on the route.
and the affects this will have on the countryside around the town, I believe that a strong case can be made out for a more frequent service between Cleethorpes and Sheffield.
National Grid Pioneers UK-First Trial Of 3D Printed Technology For Low-Carbon Substations
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
These three bullet points act as sub-headings.
- Collaboration with Hyperion Robotics and the University of Sheffield will trial low-carbon 3D-printed concrete foundations including at National Grid’s Deeside Centre for Innovation in North Wales
- Innovation could reduce waste, carbon emissions and costs to consumers of network construction
- If rolled out across National Grid substations the technology could save up to 705 tons of concrete and 323 tons of CO2 and deliver £1.7 million in consumer savings versus traditional methods over a 10-year period
These two paragraphs give more details.
National Grid is working with Hyperion Robotics and the University of Sheffield on a UK-first trial to manufacture, install and test 3D-printed substation foundations, which have the potential to reduce construction-driven carbon emissions and reduce costs to consumers of network construction. This is part of National Grid’s commitment to leverage innovation to future-proof the network.
If the project is successful and the technology is rolled out across all National Grid substations, it is estimated it could save up to 705 tons of concrete and 323 tons of CO2 over a 10-year period, and deliver £1.7 million in consumer savings versus traditional methods.
The foundation design will deliver significant savings across the entire value chain.
- 70% reduction in concrete usage
- 80% less soil displacement
- 65% decrease in embodied carbon emissions
- 70% weight reduction compared to typical foundations
- 50% reduction in site operative hours, streamlining production
The foundations will be designed and produced in Finland by Hyperion Robotics, and tested at full-scale by the University of Sheffield. Further field testing will then be carried out at National Grid’s state-of-the-art testing facility, the Deeside Centre for Innovation in North Wales, later in 2025.
Conclusion
I like this technology and I suspect there are many other applications of 3D Concrete Printing.
Technology Behind Siemens Mobility’s British Battery Trains Hits The Tracks
This title of this post is the same as that of this news item from Siemens, which was published in December 2024.
These three bullet points introduce the news item.
- The Mireo Plus B battery train is rolled out in the East Brandenburg network, Germany, using the same technology as the British Desiro Verve project.
- The Desiro Verve would save £3.5 billion and 12 million tonnes in CO2 emissions for Britain’s railways over 35 years.
- The development marks the latest step of this technology’s journey to Britain’s railways.
No-one, including me, seemed to have spotted this news item, especially, since it is significant to both the UK and Germany.
But then parts of Siemens’s home country; Germany and Yorkshire, where they are building, a train factory to build London’s new Piccadilly Line trains have something big in common – There is a distinct shortage of electric trains and the overhead wires to power them.
So did German engineers, egged on by pints of British real ale, realise that their battery-electric technology for the Mireo Plus B battery-electric train, would turn a Desiro City multiple unit, like the Class 700, 707 or 717 into battery-electric trains.
These are three paragraphs from the Siemens news item.
The innovative technology behind Siemens Mobility’s British battery trains has been rolled out in the East Brandenburg network in Germany.
31 of the company’s Mireo Plus B trains are being phased in to the Berlin Brandenburg metropolitan region, beginning on Sunday (15 December) and is the latest proof point of the technology that underpins the Desiro Verve project in Britain. This follows the debut of this technology on 27 new trains in the Ortenau region of Germany in April, with more set to arrive in Denmark in 2025.
The British Desiro Verve trains would be assembled at Siemens Mobility’s new Train Manufacturing Facility in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, formally opened by the Transport Secretary and Mayor of London in October.
I’d always wondered, what Siemens would do with this factory, when it had finished making the Piccadilly Line trains.
It also should be noted, that the boss of Siemens UK, when the Goole factory was planned was Jürgen Maier, who according to his Wikipedia entry has Austrian, British and German citizenship and is now the boss of Great British Energy.
I believe that Siemens have big plans for the Goole factory.
One thing it has, that at the present time could be a problem in Germany, is large amounts of renewable electricity and hydrogen, so will energy-intensive components for trains be made at Goole?
It will be interesting to see how the Goole factory develops.
The Desiro Verve Train For The UK and Ireland
In the Siemens news item, their Joint CEO for the UK and Ireland; Sambit Banerjee, says this.
The Desiro Verve would be assembled at our state-of-the-art Goole Rail Village in Yorkshire and offers an integrated solution to replace Britain’s aging diesel trains without having to electrify hundreds of miles of track, saving the country £3.5 billion over 35 years and providing a practical path to decarbonising British railways.”
In June, Siemens Mobility identified how the Desiro Verve could save Britain’s railways £3.5 billion over 35 years compared with using diesel-battery-electric ‘tri-mode’ trains. This would support the Government’s aim of removing diesel-only trains from Britain’s railways by 2040.
The British trains would be powered by overhead wires on already electrified routes, then switch to battery power where there are no wires. That means only small sections of the routes and/or particular stations have to be electrified with overhead line equipment (OLE), making it much quicker and less disruptive to replace diesel trains compared to full electrification.
I agree with his philosophy.
The Rail Charging Converter
When I wrote Cameron Bridge Station – 15th May 2025, I described how a short length of overhead electrification could be erected at the station to charge passing trains, using their pantographs.
Cameron Bridge station is lucky in that there is already a 132,000 KVAC electricity connection to the distillery next door.
But at other places, where there is no connection, you could wait as long as seven years to be connected to the grid.
So Siemens have come up with the Rail Charging Converter, that provides a local electricity supply to support the charger.
It is described in this paragraph from the news item.
This OLE can also be installed much more quickly using Siemens Mobility’s innovative Rail Charging Converter (RCC), which makes it possible to plug directly into the domestic grid – potentially cutting delivery times for OLE from seven years to as little as 18 months.
This Siemens visualisation shows a Verve train and an RCC.
This arrangement could be used in sensitive countryside or close to historic buildings.
Modern Railways – June 2025
There is an article about the Siemens technology in the June 2025 Edition of Modern Railways.
It is called The Battery Revolution Starts In Long Marston for which this is part of the sub-heading.
New technology being installed by Siemens Mobility at Porterbrook’s test facility paves the way for widespread use of battery trains in the UK.
The article is a must-read.
Conclusion
Siemens appear to have the technology with their Rail Charging Converter and battery-electric trains like the Verve and the Mireo Plus B, to be able to decarbonise lines without electrification all over the world.
Would larger gauge trains be delivered from Germany and smaller gauge ones from Goole?
I wouldn’t be surprised that a version for a German S-Bahn could share more characteristics, with a small British train, than a large German one.
I can also see an underground railway, that was built without power in the tunnels. So if you were building the Waterloo and City Line today, would it be battery-electric and charged at each end of the line using a pantograph?
Surgeon Invents Plastic-Reducing Urine Collection Pot
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A hospital specialist has invented a new product that manages to reduce plastic and simplify the process of testing urine.
These three introductory paragraphs, add more detail.
Consultant urologist Dr Nick Burns-Cox has been working on his own innovation, the Pee-In-Pot (PiP) for 10 years.
Made from bamboo and sugar cane, it removes four items from the current urine collection process, three of them plastic.
Mr Burns-Cox, who works at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, said he hoped it would cut down the use of single-use plastic in the NHS and reduce the chance of errors.
I like the design of this simple device.
But, personally, I hope it becomes universal, as I have trouble giving urine samples.
I had my stroke in Hong Kong and the Chinese nurses, were so aggressive, when it came to taking urine samples, they have given me an aversion to them.
In my view the device could help the patient psychologically, at what could be a difficult time.
E.ON, Superdielectrics Develop Polymer-Based Battery Tech For Residential Storage Applications
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Solar Power Portal.
These two introductory paragraphs outline the deal.
Energy supplier E.ON and energy storage technology firm Superdielectrics have joined forces to promote and develop a new battery technology for stationary storage applications.
The new BESS technology takes a unique approach by using a polymer-based technology, with the main component being a membrane similar to contact lens materials. According to the two companies, these polymer batteries are both more affordable and more environmentally friendly than their lithium-ion counterparts.
I believe that this battery could be a game-changer. Especially, for those like me, who have solar panels on their roofs.
Check out the Superdielectrics web site for more details.
I First Spotted Superdielectrics In 2019
I wrote about them in Is Cambridge Going To Save The World From Global Warming? in 2019.
This was my conclusion in that post.
I have been observing technology since the 1960s.
This is either one of those scientific curiosities , like cold fusion, that appear from time-to-time and then disappear into the scientific archives or become a game-changer.
I suspect we’ll know in a couple of years.
But even if it is isn’t the solution to affordable and massive energy storage,, that will save the world, I believe that one of the teams of men and women in white coats, somewhere in the world will crack the problem.
It looks like they’ve taken longer than I thought they would.
Note though, that in the linked post, they have a link-up with Rolls-Royce.
Conclusion
This is one of the great energy breakthroughs of my life-time.
Does Innovation Get Mr. Ed Miliband Better Prices To Doncaster?
The East Coast Main Line has ticketing unlike any other in the UK.
Turn up at any LNER station to go to any station that is served by trains from that station and you will be given a choice of the best prices at the ticket machines or at the booking office.
Effectively, you are sold your choice of the cheapest Advance tickets for your journey, at the time of booking.
In the last few months, I have taken three trips from London to Doncaster. All were priced between £20 and £25, with one trip on each of Grand Central, Hull Trains and LNER.
Some might argue it is because of the three Open Access operators on the route, that good value is available. But I would argue that it is down to the fact that because of the Open Access operators there is more seats on the route.
This ticketing model should be adopted on the West Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line.
The ticketing has certainly modified my behaviour.
If I want to go to Sheffield, I go to Doncaster, as it’s a lot cheaper, then get a local train between Doncaster and Sheffield.
Ed Miliband Is A Doncaster MP
When he is going between his Doncaster North constituency and London, does he use last minute ticketing?
AI Forecast To Fuel Doubling In Data Centre Electricity Demand By 2030
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
International Energy Agency predicts that artificial intelligence could help reduce total greenhouse gas emissions
These are the first two paragraphs.
Data centres will use more than twice as much electricity by 2030 than they do today as artificial intelligence drives demand, the International Energy Agency predicts.
The agency forecast that all data centres globally will use about 945 terawatt-hours of electricity each year by 2030, roughly three times as much as the UK’s total annual demand of 317 terawatt-hours in 2023.
I am very much an optimist, that here in the UK, we will be able to satisfy demand for the generation and distribution of electricity.
- Our seas can accommodate enough wind turbines to provide the baseload of electricity we will need.
- Roofs and fields will be covered in solar panels.
- SSE seem to be getting their act together with pumped storage hydro in Scotland.
- I am confident, that new energy storage technologies like Highview Power with the packing of companies like Centrica, Goldman Sachs, Rio Tinto and others will come good, in providing power, when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.
- Hopefully, Hinckley Point C and Sizewell C will be online and soon to be joined by the first of the new small modular nuclear reactors.
- Hopefully, Mersey Tidal Power will be operating.
- There will be innovative ideas like heata from Centrica’s research. The economical water heater even made BBC’s One Show last week.
The only problem will be the Nimbies.
Level Boarding Included In Rail Innovation Funding Competition
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Innovate UK has opened the latest calls for grant funding proposals under the First of a Kind programme, which supports the demonstration of innovative technologies to give them a better chance at being deployed by railway companies.
What annoys me about boarding trains (and some buses for that matter!), is how variable it is.
- Trains in East Anglia, Merseyside and Switzerland are particularly good, but then they have the common Stadler factor.
- Will the Newcastle Metro and the Glasgow Subway be as good?
- Some European countries, including Germany, could do much better!
- Once at Leipzig, I helped four hefty Germans lift a guy and his wheel-chair out of the bottom-deck of a double-deck train.
- In London, the Docklands Light Railway, the Elizabeth Line and some parts of the Overground are acceptable, but there is need for improvement.
- Southeastern, including the HighSpeed is particularly dodgy and I need help at some stations like Clapham Junction and Lewisham.
- Bank has a notorious platform on the Central Line.
- Perhaps the worst in London are some stations on theBakerloo Line, where it shares with the Watford DC Line.
All passengers on buses and trains deserve the best access that designers and bus and train manufacturers can devise.
In one incident, a slight, elderly Indian lady in a sari, was having difficulty getting down from an Overground train on the Watford DC Line at Willesden Junction station.
I was the only person on the platform, so I called out. “Can You Jump?”
Which she did and landed safely on her feet! I caught her and it was smiles all round!
I suspect she’d done that before.
So is one idea to give all passengers, lessons in jumping on and off buses and trains?
Seriously though, could Lego devise a large-scale engineering version of their product, that could be used to create steps and humps, which could be glued together for strength.
Alternatively, 3D printing could be used to create gap-fillers.
I think this challenge from Innovate UK will bring forward some good solutions.
CoacH2 – The Next Generation Coach
This page on the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK web site is entitled CoacH2 – Next Generation Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Coach Powertrain Demonstrator.
This is the sub-heading.
Accelerating the development of zero-emission hydrogen fuel-cell electric coaches, with a full on-vehicle technology demonstrator.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Coaches are an integral part of the public transport network, with over 30,000 diesel coaches operating across the UK and Ireland. Due to the specific demands of coach operation (motorway driving, long-range, high passenger and luggage loading capacity) decarbonisation options for this sector are extremely limited with hydrogen fuel-cell technology considered the most viable choice. This project will tackle this difficult to decarbonise sector by developing, testing and validating an innovative hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain suitable for coach applications.
Delivered by a Northern Irish consortium spanning OEM, coach operator and academia, CoacH2 will accelerate the development of zero-emission, fuel-cell electric coaches, with a full on-vehicle technology demonstrator to be manufactured and showcased at Cenex Expo 2024.
As I indicated in British Buses For British Bottoms, Wrightbus build a good well-built, smooth-riding and comfortable bus, so now they can add hydrogen-powered coaches to the product range.
This press release on the Wrightbus web site is entitled Wrightbus Coach Demonstrator Unveiled At Cenex Expo, gives more information on CoacH2.
- The demonstrator has a power of 300 Kw.
- It has a range of 1,000 km. on one refueling.
- An internet search reveals a launch date of 2026 for the hydrogen-powered coach.
I wonder, if this will be the killer application for hydrogen-powered road transport.
Ricardo’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Module Successfully Reaches Full Power
The title of this post is the same as that of this press release from Ricardo.
This is the sub-heading.
Ricardo, a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consulting company, today announces a significant milestone in clean energy innovation with its new high-powered, multi-stack hydrogen fuel cell module technology successfully reaching 393kW of net electrical power, achieved within three months development from initial start-up.
These are the first two paragraphs.
This achievement was made possible due to Ricardo’s virtual engineering toolchain, which reduces physical prototyping costs and risks, accelerates development timelines, and provides a deeper understanding of system behaviours under diverse conditions.
Initially developed as part of the Sustainable Hydrogen Powered Shipping (sHYpS) Horizon Europe project for the maritime sector, Ricardo’s multi-stack hydrogen fuel cell module is designed to deliver high energy output with zero emissions. Its modular architecture integrates multiple fuel cell stacks to provide unmatched power density, and scalability while meeting the evolving energy demands of diverse applications, such as maritime, stationary power generation, rail and off-highway.
It certainly looks like Ricardo have developed a heavy end hydrogen fuel cell, that can be applied to a range of applications, in a very short time. Now that’s what I call world class engineering.
The last paragraph of the press release indicates what is possible.
To support the adoption of hydrogen technology, Ricardo has also developed a containerised solution, able to combine multiple fuel cell modules, enabling power output to be scaled up to 3MW per container, with the DC-DC power conversion on board, all without sacrificing efficiency or durability. When scaled up to incorporate multiple fuel cell modules housed within two bespoke containers, a total net electrical plant output of 6MW can be delivered. This is sufficient to power a 50,000 tonne 1,000 passenger cruise ship through important zero-emission mission cycles.
Although, this family of fuel cells, was originally developed for maritime applications, as an example of the flexibility of the system, it would surely be applicable for replacing any diesel engine from 2 MW upwards in a large number of rail, stationary and on and off-road applications.
This picture shows one of several hundred Class 66 locomotives on UK railways.
As they have an electric transmission, the 2 MW diesel engine could be fairly easily changed for a hydrogen fuel-cell of an appropriate size.
The Anonymous Widower 