Japan Expands Offshore Wind Development Into Exclusive Economic Zone
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The Japanese Government has passed an amendment to the “Act on Promoting the Utilization of Sea Areas”, expanding the area for setting up offshore wind to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
These two paragraphs give more details.
The Japanese government aims to deploy 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040, including floating wind, as part of its target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The new legislation would allow wind farms to be installed further out to sea from current territorial and internal waters, according to a joint statement by the government, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The Japanese seem to have devised a simple bid process, that gives rights to generate electricity for thirty years.
But then as a Director of Lockheed told me thirty years ago, the Japanese don’t have the same high levels of lawyers that the US, UK and other countries have, so they can move a lot faster and are easier to do business with.
This Wikipedia entry is entitled Wind Power in Japan.
This is the opening paragraph.
In Japan’s electricity sector, wind power generates a small proportion of the country’s electricity. It has been estimated that Japan has the potential for 144 gigawatts (GW) for onshore wind and 608 GW of offshore wind capacity. As of 2020, the country had a total installed capacity of 4.2 GW.
From the potential of 608 GW of offshore wind capacity, it looks like Japan is in a very similar position to the UK and the Japanese can also reap the wind.
Footbath Train Launched To Serve Hot Springs Resort
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This first two paragraph give full details.
Private train operator Kintetsu has modified one of its electric multiple-units to operate luxury tourist services between Nagoya and Yunoyama-Onsen, a hot springs resort in the Suzuka area of outstanding natural beauty.
Branded Tsudoi, the three-car EMU has been retrofitted with outward-facing longitudinal seats backing onto a central aisle. It can carry up to 88 passengers, although the operator intends to limit ridership to 56.
It looks very up-market!
Japanese Offshore Wind And Battery Storage Project Begins Commercial Operation
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
On 1 January 2024, JERA and Green Power Investment Corporation (GPI) began commercial operations at the 112 MW Ishikari Bay New Port Offshore Wind Farm in Japan, which they own through Green Power Ishikari GK, a special-purpose corporation (SPC).
The most significant thing about this wind farm, is that it has been designed from Day One to operate with a battery, which is detailed in the last paragraph.
The project also features a battery storage component with 100 MW x 180 MWh of capacity.
Note that the output of the battery is 89 % of that of the wind farm. Is that the ideal ratio between battery and wind farm capacities?
Conclusion
Because of my training, as an Electronics and Control Engineer, I belief that most renewable energy can be smoothed with the adding of a battery.
Building Inside Mountains: Global Demand For Pumped Hydroelectric Storage Soars
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Construction-Europe.
This is the sub-heading.
Pumped hydroelectric storage plants around the world have been secretly storing electricity in remote mountain lakes for the last century. But the switch to renewable energy sources is prompting a surge in new construction.
These two paragraphs introduce the article.
Looking out over the ragged beauty of the Scottish Highlands, Coire Glas, a horseshoe-shaped valley holding a clear mountain lake above the shores of Loch Lochy, seems like an unlikely spot to build a megaproject.
In this remote location, surrounded by clumps of pine trees, a team of construction workers from contractor Strabag are tunnelling their way through the rock which they hope will form part of a vast new power storage facility.
The article is a must-read that talks about pumped storage hydroelectricity in general and SSE Renewables’s 1500MW/30 GWh Coire Glas power station in particular.
The Future Of Pumped Hydroelectric Storage
These two paragraphs from the article give a glimpse into the future.
According to the International Energy Agency, global pumped storage capacity is set to expand by 56% to reach more than 270 GW by 2026, with the biggest growth in India and China.
Current pumped storage megaprojects currently in construction include the Kannagawa Hydropower Plant near Minamiaki in Japan which when fully completed in 2032 is expected to have a total installed capacity of 2,820MW; and Snowy Hydro 2.0 in New South Wales, Australia, which is currently expected to complete in 2028.
Note.
- I can count two Indian and ninety Chinese systems under construction. All have a capacity of upwards of one GW.
- The Kannagawa Hydropower Plant appears to be the largest with a capacity of 2.82 GW. The Japanese are keeping quiet about the storage capacity.
- The Snowy Hydro 2.0 has a capacity of 2 GW and a storage capacity of 350 GWh.
- The Wikipedia entry for Snowy Hydro 2.0 states that it is the largest renewable energy project under construction in Australia.
Against this onslaught of massive systems, SSE Renewables are pitching the 1500MW/30 GWh Coire Glas and the 252MW/25 GWh Loch Sloy systems.
Pumped hydroelectric storage will have a big part to play in decarbonising the world. Even in little old and relatively flat UK.
Japanese Companies To Invest GBP 14.2 Billion In UK’s Offshore Wind, Green Hydrogen
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Japanese giants Marubeni Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, and Sumitomo Electric Industries have committed to investing a total of GBP 14.2 billion (approximately EUR 16.3 billion) in offshore wind and green hydrogen projects, and the offshore wind supply chain in the UK
These two paragraphs add a bit of context and flesh to the deal.
Ahead of the UK Prime Minister’s business reception in Tokyo on 18 May, the UK government announced that leading Japanese businesses have committed to invest GBP 17.7 billion (approx. EUR 20.3 billion) in businesses and projects across the UK.
Of this, GBP 14.2 billion has been committed by Marubeni, Sumitomo and Sumitomo Electric for projects in offshore wind, green hydrogen and offshore wind supply chain.
SSE’s Berwick Bank Wind Farm will have a capacity of 4.1 GW and is budgeted to cost just short of £18 billion. Doing a quick calculation, indicates that £14.2 billion would only finance £3.23 GW of offshore wind.
But the Japanese say they will invest in offshore wind, green hydrogen and offshore wind supply chain. Investing in the offshore wind supply chain, would surely attract more money as the developers placed orders for foundations, floaters, electrical gubbins and support vessels.
Note.
- In Japanese Giant Sumitomo Heavy Invests In Liquid-Air Energy Storage Pioneer, I wrote about Sumitomo’s investment in English energy storage. company; Highview Power.
- Electrolyser company; iTM Power has also sold a 1.4 MW electrolyser to Sumitomo and signed an agreement over American sales with another Japanese company.
I can see other similar co-operative deals being developed. Possible areas could be cables, transformers and support vessels.
BW Ideol In Talks To Raise EUR 40 Million For Floating Wind Development
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Norway-headquartered BW Ideol and French state-owned investment company ADEME Investissement have agreed to enter into exclusive negotiations for EUR 40 million in funding by ADEME Investissement for BW Ideol’s project development activities.
The rest of the post is all about the clever, but I suspect legal ways, that the € 40 million is raised.
When I needed any advice in that area, I used to consult my late friend the banker; David, who is mentioned in Diversifying A US$200 billion Market: The Alternatives To Li-ion Batteries For Grid-Scale Energy Storage.
When he needed computing advice, that is another story.
The First Of The Cavalry Arrive To Rescue Kwasi Kwarteng
Most commentators think Kwasi Kwarteng is in trouble, but I feel that he has the strength of the mathematics around him.
This press release from BP was released on Wednesday and is entitled UK Offshore Wind: Laying The Groundwork Today.
These two paragraphs outline the work BP are doing to develop wind power in the Irish Sea.
Plans are critical, but it’s putting them into action that counts. As part of our strategy to get wind turbines turning, specialist vessels and crew are out on the Irish Sea undertaking massive seabed survey work. It’s an early but important step on the road to building some of the UK’s biggest offshore wind farms.
Once up and running, our Morgan and Mona projects could deliver enough capacity to power 3.4 million homes with clean electricity and help the UK to meet its climate goals. Their near-shore location – around 30 kilometres off the coast of northwest England and north Wales – will allow for lower-cost, more reliable transmission infrastructure, making them a core part of our plans for more secure and lower carbon energy for the UK.
This EnBW-BP infographic describes the project.
Note.
- BP’s partner is EnBW, who are a publicly-traded German energy company.
- There is a project web site.
- The press release and the graphic are showing the same numbers.
- Morgan and Mona will use proven fixed-foundation wind turbine technology.
- The combined site is around 800 km² or a square of under thirty kilometers, so it is only quite small in the context of the Irish Sea.
- First operation is given on the web site as 2028.
As BP and enBW have massive financial, engineering and project management resources, I believe they will look to bring the 2028 operation date as far forward as is possible.
If you do the cash flow for a project like this, especially when you have the financial and engineering resources of BP and enBW, the mathematics show that if you can accelerate the installation of the turbines, you will start to have a cashflow earlier and this will finance the debt needed to install the wind farms.
Consider.
- I believe the 2028 date, is one that BP know they can keep, to satisfy the Stock Market and investors.
- BP have large cash flows from their profitable oil and gas businesses.
- BP have probably reserved places in the manufacturing queues for wind turbines, foundations and all the electrical gubbins to connect the turbines to shore.
- BP want to prove to themselves and sceptics, that they can handle the building of wind farms.
- The are already lots of wind farms along the North Wales Coast, so I suspect that the problems of building wind farms in the Irish Sea are well known.
I will not speculate on the date that Mona and Morgan are complete, but I very much doubt it will be in 2028.
These are some more thoughts from the BP press release.
What’s Happening And Why?
The purpose of these deep geotechnical investigations, carried out by specialist Geo-data company Fugro, up to 100 metres below the seabed is to determine soil characteristics for foundation design (find out how it’s done in the short film, above). Collecting this data will enable bp and EnBW to build efficient offshore wind farms with the least environmental impact. It is crucial for securing government consents for the projects and defining the structure and location of the individual turbines.
Even thirty kilometres off shore, there needs to be detailed planning permission.
Our Other Offshore Wind Projects
We aim to become a leader in offshore wind and, over the past three years, we’ve built up a pipeline of projects with partners in both the US and UK that have the potential to power more than 5 million homes.
And earlier this year, we agreed to form a partnership with Marubeni to explore an offshore wind development in Japan.
It’s all part of our aim to have 20GW of developed renewable generating capacity by 2025 and 50GW by 2030 – that’s broadly enough to power the needs of 36 million people.
Note.
- Their ambitions are high, but then so much of the experience of offshore oil and gas can be applied to offshore wind.
- BP has the cashflow from oil and gas to reinvent itself.
- Assuming a strike price of £40/MWh and an average capacity factor of 30 %, that is an income of around five billion pounds for starters.
- If they added energy storage to the wind farms, there’s even more money to be generated.
As Equinor, Ørsted and SSE have shown, you have to be big in this business and BP aim to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest.
Conclusion
Wind farms like Mona and Morgan, and there are several under development, will create the electricity and revenue, that will come to the rescue of the Chancellor.
As I update this after a busy day, it looks like Jeremy Hunt has inherited KK’s excellent groundwork and mathematics.
UK In Hydrogen Breakthrough As New £26m Deal With Japan To Help Tackle Energy Crisis
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Central.
These two paragraphs explain the deal.
The UK has received a major boost to its hydrogen ambitions as a Japanese energy company is set to sign a £26million deal to develop green hydrogen projects in Wales.
The local council of Bridgend in Wales has signed a memorandum of understanding with Marubeni, a Japanese green energy specialist company. The agreement sets out proposals to develop a new 5MW-class green hydrogen initiative after the company decided to pick Wales as the preferred UK location for a green hydrogen demonstrator project.
These two paragraphs describe how the hydrogen will be used.
Through this deal, the Welsh Government hopes that the project would generate clean fuel for fleet vehicles ranging from council gritters to recycling and refuse collection lorries.
The company is also trying to figure out how hydrogen fuel might be used to heat buildings such as schools, residential homes, and local swimming pools.
We need more projects like these to cut carbon emissions.
When is Sadiq Khan going to produce a hydrogen strategy for London, to help clean up the city’s polluted air?
It’s A Tough Job, But Someone’s Got To Do It!
For a couple of stops today, on the Elizabeth Line, I shared my section of the carriage, with a party of four Japanese tourists, who I took to be mother, father and son, with an older man, who was probably one of the boy’s grandfathers. The father had his camera out and was photographing his family and the train. As I passed him to leave the train, he said “Good train!” He also pointed to himself and said. “Japanese railway engineer!”
I wonder how many other professional railway engineers will visit London and run their eyes over the Elizabeth Line?
Foot Crossing Obstacle Detection Using AI
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on the Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Seibu Railway is to start testing a newly-developed AI-assisted warning system for detecting obstacles on foot crossings at two stations on the Ikebukuro Line in the suburbs of Tokyo.
The article is a detailed description of how the Japanese are using technology to make foot crossing a lot safer.
I can see applications for this technology not just on the rail system, but in other situations as well.
