The 73 Group
The 73 Group was a finance company, that I owed jointly with a guy named David Mann, who was an experienced provider of finance for cars, trucks and other vehicles and equipment.
- The company had been the idea of an accountant, I shared with David, named Graham Manning.
- David put in his expertise and I put in some of the money, I received from the sale of my share of the Artemis software.
- It operated mainly in the area around Ipswich in Suffolk.
- Many of the customers were owner/drivers, who ferried containers to and from the docks at Felixstowe, who had known David for some years.
- The company certainly gave a better return, than putting money on deposit.
- One of the things, I did was extensively model a book of loans for vehicles and this gave me an insight into the dynamics of money.
Sadly in the end, David became ill and we wound the company up.
It gave me an interesting insight into local finance and I believe, that local finance companies with good connections and the right systems and people can be profitable.
It also gave me a few good tales.
Coaches Are Good Business
A good top-of-the range coach is good business for operators, coach dealers and finance companies.
I remember spending one evening with David and a coach operator in a pub, when the operator had had a fabulous day stitching together coaches as Rail Replacement Buses for British Rail after a train derailment, between Ipswich and Colchester.
I learned a lot about operating coaches that night and it’s why I’m so keen on hydrogen-powered coaches, with their expected long range, quietness and smoothness.
Fairground Rides Are Good Business
Surprisingly, if you don’t mind being paid in fifty pence pieces on the Ipswich bypass at ten o’clock at night.
You Need A Good Collections Guy
Our’s was excellent.
Ørsted Raises EUR 7.98 Billion In Oversubscribed Rights Issue
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Ørsted has completed its rights issue, raising DKK 59.56 billion (approximately EUR 7.98 billion) with a subscription rate of approximately 99.3 per cent, the company said on 6 October.
These two introductory paragraphs add more details.
Existing shareholders were offered new shares at DKK 66.60 (EUR 8.92) each. The demand for shares not taken up via the rights issue was “extraordinarily high,” according to the developer’s announcement of the Rights Issue results, and allocations were capped per application, meaning no subscriptions were required under the underwriting bank syndicate.
As reported in August, the company appointed a syndicate of BNP PARIBAS, Danske Bank A/S and J.P. Morgan SE as Joint Global Coordinators, next to Morgan Stanley & Co International, to jointly underwrite the rights issue for the approximately 49.9 per cent that would not be subscribed to by Ørsted’s majority shareholder, the Danish state (50.1 per cent).
I dread to think what spiteful punishment that Trumpkopf will inflict on Ørsted.
But the oversubscribed Rights Issue may be good news for the UK.
Ørsted has only one major project under development or construction in the UK.
But it is the large Hornsea Three wind farm, which has this opening paragraph on its web site.
Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm will deliver enough green energy to power more than 3 million UK homes. An £8.5 billion infrastructure project, Hornsea 3 will make a significant contribution toward UK energy security, as well as the local and national economy.
Note.
- Ørsted are raising £7.98 billion and spending £8.5 billion, which must do something for the UK’s economy.
- Hornsea 3 will have a generating capacity of 2.9 GW.
- Ørsted are now delivering the world’s single largest offshore wind farm.
- Hornsea 3 will connect to the National Grid at Swardestone in Norfolk.
In Grid Powers Up With One Of Europe’s Biggest Battery Storage Sites, I describe how the 300 MW/600 MWh Swardestone BESS will be built, where Hornsea 3 connects to the grid.
As Swardestone will have 2.9 GW from Hornsea 3 and a powerful battery, I would expect someone will be looking to site a data centre or something with a need for a lot of stable electricity at or near Swardestone.
In Opportunity For Communities To Have Their Say On National Grid Proposals For Norwich To Tilbury Project, I talk about a line of pylons between Swardestone and Tilbury and show this map of the route.
This page on the National Grid web site has an interactive version of this map.
Note.
- The mauve line indicates the route of the Norwich to Tilbury project.
- Swardestone is at the Northern end of the project a few miles South of Norwich.
- Tilbury is at the Southern end of the project on the Thames estuary.
- The project connects Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester and Chelmsford to Hornsea 3 at Swardestone.
- I suspect the project will connect to Ipswich at the Bramford substation.
- The Sizewell nuclear site is to the North-East of Woodbridge and connects to the grid at the Bramford substation.
I know East Anglia well and I would suspect that Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea could support one or more data centres.
Conclusion
I asked Google AI, who owns Hornsea 1 and received this reply.
Hornsea 1 is owned by a partnership including Ørsted, Equitix, TRIG, GLIL, Octopus, and Brookfield, with Ørsted also providing the operational management. A 2018 agreement between Ørsted and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) originally established the 50/50 joint venture for the project.
I then asked Google AI, who owns Hornsea 2 and received this reply.
The ownership of the Hornsea 2 wind farm is shared between several entities, including a 37.55% stake held by Ørsted, a 25% stake each by AXA IM Alts and Crédit Agricole Assurances, and a 12.45% stake held by Brookfield. The wind farm is located offshore in the UK’s North Sea, approximately 89 km off the Yorkshire coast.
In November 2019, I also wrote World’s Largest Wind Farm Attracts Huge Backing From Insurance Giant.
It does seem to me that Ørsted are past masters of developing a wind farm, then selling it on and using that money to develop the next wind farm.
The Rights Issue just makes that process easier.
A Bespoke Tram-Train For The UK
Trams, tram-trains, trains and anything that runs on rails is generally very expensive.
Does this partly explain, why the UK has relatively few urban tramways and railways?
In Stadler Presents Mock-Up Of Tram-Trains For German And Austrian Operators, I discussed how five German and Austrian operators had got together to create a common tram-train design, that would be suitable for all the operators.
The mayor of one of the cities involved in the joint order, said savings of the order of a million euros per vehicle may have resulted from the common design.
I would also feel that savings in operational costs, design of infrastructure, spares inventory and other costs would also result.
Identical tram-trains would make through running between networks easier.
Where Could Tram-Trains Be Used In The UK?
Consider.
- Currently, tram-trains are running in Sheffield and a battery-electric version of the same Stadler Citylink tram-train will soon be running in Cardiff.
- Cardiff, is developing a Cardiff Crossrail on tram-train principles across the city.
- Sheffield have said that they will be replacing their trams and I believe they could use developments of their excellent Stadler tram-trains.
- Sheffield is likely to extend their tram system and might include tram-trains to Doncaster.
- Cities that have talked about adding tram-trains to their tram networks include Birmingham, Blackpool, Manchester and Nottingham.
- Leeds is developing a metro system, which could be developed using tram-train principles.
- Glasgow has talked about a tram-train to Glasgow Airport for some time.
- The East-West Rail Link is proposing a tram-train link between Ipswich and Felixstowe to allow more freight trains into the Port of Felixstowe.
There could be quite a number of tram-trains being used in the UK, especially if they are used as at Felixstowe, to increase freight capacity into ports.
These are a few of my thoughts.
Battery-Electric Tram-Trains
I would envisage, that a lot of the new tram-trains would operate using batteries. Especially, as battery-electric trains are showing quite long ranges of upwards of thirty miles.
Already trams in Birmingham and trains on Merseyside, are operating using batteries and it avoids the expense of putting up catenary, if enough exists to charge the trams.
Replacement of Diesel Multiple Units By Battery-Electric Tram-Trains
There are some branch lines, where diesel multiple units run off a branch of an electrified main line.These services could be decarbonised by changing the rolling stock.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the St. I’ves Bay Line in Cornwall.
Note.
- The St. Ives Bay Line is shown in yellow.
- The Southern terminal is St. Erth station, where it connects to the Cornish Main Line, which is shown in orange.
- The Northern terminal is St. Ives station, which is towards the top of the map.
- The St. Ives Bay Line is 4.25 miles long.
- No tracks are electrified.
- There are three intermediate stations.
This second OpenRailwayMap shows St. Erth station in more detail.
Note.
- The St. Ives Bay Line has its own platform at the side of the station.
- I am fairly certain, that some form of charging could be installed in this platform.
- At the other side of the Cornish Main Line are two sidings, which could be used for cleaning and maintenance.
A neat zero-carbon branch line could easily be created.
New Branch Lines To New Developments
In Sheffield Region Transport Plan 2019 – A New Tram-Train Route To A New Station At Waverley, I gave my view on a tram-train loop from the Sheffield-Lincoln Line to serve the Advanced Manufacturing Centre and new housing at Waverley.
The tram-train would run as a train to the branch line for the development and then run as a battery-electric tram, through the development.
As the Midland Main Line to Sheffield will be electrified, the tram-trains could be charged on the electrification in Sheffield station.
Build Them In Doncaster
Wabtec are closing Doncaster works.
Surely this would be the site to assemble the scores of tram-trains that could be needed in the UK.
Conclusion
Tram-trains could do a lot to improve the railways of the UK.
They would also help to decarbonise the existing system.
Metier’s First And Second Ipswich Office
My Scottish Borders correspondent has asked me about the first office Metier had in Ipswich.
Courtesy of Google Streetview, I was able to capture this image.
Note.
- They were in the four story building with the yellow cladding.
- I see it’s still called Pearl Assurance House.
- Shadu Hair and Beauty used to be a rather good camera shop.
For those of you, who don’t know Ipswich, if you walk straight ahead and keep right, you end up in the centre of Ipswich.
It wasn’t very large, but it was certainly in better condition, than some of the offices we had in London.
This is the second office in Fore Street.
If I remember correctly, the office was found by Wendy, who responded to my advert in the East Anglian Daily Times, saying, that we were looking for an Office Dogsbody.
Connected Energy Wins First Order for Next-Gen Energy Storage System
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Renewable Energy Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Second life battery pioneer, Connected Energy will be installing the first of its new generation of optimized energy storage systems as part of Suffolk County Council’s latest project, The Hold. The Hold, a flagship heritage facility for Suffolk which is due to open later this year on the University of Suffolk’s Ipswich Campus, will house the council’s archive collection and feature a low carbon energy system of which Connected Energy’s E-STOR energy storage system will be a key part. The E-STOR will help optimize energy use and peak loads across a system including PV, EV chargers and critical HVAC, designed to create a controlled climate for the archived materials.
That certainly sounds like a good plan in a town, that I know well.
A few of my thoughts.
Second Life Renault Kangoo Batteries
This paragraph describes the system.
The new 300kW/360kWh containerized systems, which include 24 second life Renault Kangoo batteries, have benefitted from collaborative support from Renault and ABB to increase efficiencies on both the power and capacity sides of the system.
It is surely a good use of second-hand lithium-ion batteries from an electric Renault Kangoo. These batteries appear to have a capacity of 22 kWh and as only 15 kWh per battery is needed for 360 kWh, there must be a margin for refurbishing the batteries and removing any faulty cells.
Towns And Cities Like Ipswich
Ipswich is a town of around a hundred people, a hospital, a central shopping centre a small university, several office blocks, a railway station and a football team.
There must be many large towns and cities, with similar energy needs to Ipswich in the UK.
In East Anglia and Essex, there are fourteen; Basildon, Billericay, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harlow, Harwich, Kings Lynn, Lowestoft, Norwich, Peterborough, Southend and Yarmouth
Connected Energy will have a large market to fill.
The Ipswich Lockdown
Around 1960, my parents bought a second home in Felixstowe, where they eventually retired some years later. This memory could have been earlier, as we were always going to Felixstowe, often staying in the Ordnance Hotel.
In those days, there was no Southern by-pass to the town, so you had to go around the old by-pass, which now passes the current Ipswich Hospital before taking the Felixstowe Road from St. Augustine’s roundabout.
We used to go to the house in Felixstowe most weekends and I can remember one trip, where instead of going around the town, we went through it past the old County Hall and up Spring Road.
I can remember looking out of the MG Magnette (registration number 676 RME) and seeing that the streets of Ipswich were completely deserted.
The reason was that the town had been hit by an outbreak of polio and people weren’t venturing out.
Strangely, I can’t find anything on the Internet about this polio outbreak!
An Oasis In A Gluten-Free Desert
I took this picture, this morning in Mark’s and Spencer’s cafe in Ipswich.
It was the only place, I could find a gluten-free breakfast in the town.
Note that Christmas must be coming, as it’s a turkey feast sandwich.
A Hotel That Loves To Say No!
Last night I stayed in the easyHotel in Ipswich.
It was convenient for after the match. affordable and I wanted to see what the low cost chain was like.,
I took these pictures.
Note all these Noes!
- No Space
- No Two-Ply Toilet Paper
- No window.
- No Space For Two People To Hang Clothes
- No Glass For Water
- No Bottles Of Water In The Vending Machine. This made worse the fact that there is no late-night shop in the centre of Ipswich.
- No automated check-in system.
- No free wi-fi
- No free television. The need to enter a code each time you switched it on, was a total pain.
- No free room cleaning
- No space to put a large suitcase.
- No space to put a cot for a baby.
- No flat space to change a baby’s nappy! A real one, I hope!
- No bottle opener.
- No food to buy except chocolate or even a good nearby cafe.
I know it’s designed down to a price, but I’ve been in sleeper trains, caravans and boats that do it much better.
Note that I’m only one metre seventy and sixty kilos and C was a little bit smaller. We could just about have managed, as we always travelled light.
I don’t think, I’ll use it again, but if I do, I’ll use it this way.
- No case bigger than a brief-case.
- Bring a bottle!
- Bring a plastic glass.
- Make sure, I arrived as late as possible and left as early as possible.
- Expect to leave in the same clothes I arrived in.
- Ask how to get radio on the TV.
But at least, I slept reasonably well!
Rumours about the possible Ryanair hotels include.
- Pay-As-You-Go use of the bathroom.
- Corkage charges for any wine or beer taken into the room.
- Extra charges for those not checking in online.
- Extra charges to put your large cases in a secure separate room.
- Shielded room, so you get no mobile signal and have to pay to use wi-fi.
I do wonder, if there is to be a race to the cheapest, whether Governments will legislate on room size and various charges.
The Anonymous Widower 