RWE And National Grid Answer New York Offshore Wind Call
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Community Offshore Wind, a joint venture of RWE and National Grid Ventures, has submitted a proposal to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop 1.3 GW of new offshore wind capacity in response to New York’s expedited fourth competitive offshore wind solicitation.
These four paragraphs add more details.
This next phase of the project builds upon Community Offshore Wind’s provisional offtake award to deliver 1.3 GW of wind capacity as part of New York’s third solicitation for offshore wind. In total, the projects are expected to generate USD 4.4 billion in economic benefits to New York.
Combined with its provisionally awarded New York project, Community Offshore Wind is on track to deliver nearly USD 100 million in workforce and economic development investments, the developer said.
The new proposal includes nearly USD 50 million in funding for workforce and community initiatives, with a focus on creating opportunities for diverse New Yorkers and supporting local non-profit organizations.
The proposal also includes an investment of up to USD 10 million in the offshore wind supply chain, to help New York businesses prepare for the economic opportunities the growing industry will create. All of these commitments are contingent on NYSERDA’s final selections.
is this partly a result of the meeting between Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho and Germany’s Vice Chancellor, Robert Habeck, that I wrote abut in UK And Germany Boost Offshore Renewables Ties?
We certainly seem to be getting some good deals on renewable energy these days with the Germans and the Koreans.
Perhaps someone in the government is doing something right?
UK Transmission-Connected 100MW BESS Online At Former Coal Plant Site
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
These are the first three paragraphs.
A 100MW battery storage project in the UK connected to National Grid’s transmission network has gone online, developed by Pacific Green on the former site of a coal plant.
UK transmission system operator (TSO) National Grid has plugged in the 100MW/100MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project to its 400kV Richborough substation.
The project, dubbed the Richborough Energy Park battery, is owned by asset manager Sosteneo Infrastructure Partners which acquired it from developer Pacific Green in July 2023.
A Transmission-Connected Battery
Thye Energy Storage News article says this about transmission-connected batteries.
Most BESS projects in the UK connect into the lower-voltage networks run by distribution network operators (DNOs) rather than National Grid’s high-voltage network. Benefits of the latter include a more reliable connection and better visibility in National Grid control rooms.
This would look to be a better way to connect a battery to the grid, but the battery must be able to supply electricity at 400 kV.
This Google Map shows the location of Richborough Energy Park.
Note.
- Richborough Energy Park is marked by the red arrow.
- The coast is the East Coast of Kent.
- The Prince’s Golf Club lies between the Energy Park and the sea.
This second Google Map shows the energy park in more detail.
Note.
- Richborough Energy Park is marked by the red arrow.
- The 336 MW coal-fired Richborough power station used to occupy the site.
- To its West is Richborough 400kV substation.
- There is a large solar park to the North.
- The 1 GW Nemo Link connects to the grid at the energy park.
- The 300 MW Thanet Wind Farm connects to the grid here.
It looks like an ideal place to put a 100MW/100MWh battery energy storage system, so that it can balance the wind and solar farms.
Sheaf Energy Park
This page on the Pacific Green web site is entitled Delivering Grid-Scale Energy Storage With A Global Reach.
Four battery projects are shown.
- Richborough Energy Park – In Operation
- Sheaf Energy Park – In Construction
- Limestone Coast Energy Park – In Origination
- Portland Energy Park – In Origination
The first two projects are in Kent and the others are in Australia. That is certainly global reach by Pacific Green.
I then found this page on the Pacific Green web site, that is entitled Pacific Green Acquires Sheaf Energy Limited – 249 MW / 373.5 MWh Battery Energy Storage Development In The UK.
These two paragraphs describe the acquisition and development of Sheaf Energy Park.
Pacific Green Battery Energy Parks 2 Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pacific Green Technologies, Inc. has acquired 100% of the shares in Sheaf Energy Limited (“Sheaf Energy Park”) for £7.5 million (US$9.1 million) from UK-based energy originator, Tupa Energy (Holdings) Limited.
Sheaf Energy Park will be a 249 MW / 373.5 MWh battery energy storage system (“BESS”) located next to the Richborough Energy Park in Kent, England. Design and construction will begin in the first half of 2023, with the energy park commencing its 35-year operating life in April 2025.
It looks to me that Pacific Green have found the figures for the construction and operation to their liking at Richborough Energy Park and have decided that to more than triple their investment in energy storage at the site will be very much to their advantage.
Conclusion
I suspect we’ll see other locations in the UK and around the world, with wind, solar, interconnectors and batteries working in harmony to make the most of the electricity available.
Thousands Pay More Tax In ‘Chaotic’ Yousaf Budget
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
It has this sub-heading.
Efforts to plug £1.5bn funding hole put Scotland at a disadvantage, say business leaders
I have a feeling that the rise in income tax will have unintended consequences.
The UK’s Current Hydrogen Plans
Last week, the UK Government announced grants for eleven big hydrogen projects, around the UK, with two in Scotland. The new Scottish electrolysers will be playing a large part in decarbonising the Scotch whisky industry and HGVs.
I wrote Major Boost For Hydrogen As UK Unlocks New Investment And Jobs to describe the investments scope and benefits.
The Government estimated that these grants will create 700 jobs, across the UK.
How many quality high-paid jobs will this funding create in Scotland? As two of the eleven projects are based in Scotland, it could be around 127 quality jobs.
More UK Hydrogen Plans Are On The Way
The Government also indicated that this was only the first stage of bringing hydrogen production to the UK, so I will expect more high-paid quality jobs will be created.
Projected UK Offshore Wind Power
This Wikipedia entry is a list of all installed, under-construction and proposed offshore wind farms in the UK.
Aggregating the new unbuilt wind farms says the following capacity will very likely be installed in the UK in the next few years.
- Scotland – 32, 750 MW.
- England – 25,558 MW
- Wales – 700 MW
As more proposals have been called for, particularly in the Celtic Sea, I don’t think it would be unreasonable to add perhaps another 10,000 MW.
Wind farms are also proposed for around the island of Ireland and in the waters of the Channel Islands.
Upgrading Of The National Grid
These three posts could well be forerunners of other posts, I will write in the next few months.
- National Grid Fast-Tracks Overhead Line Upgrade Project To Help Accelerate Connection Dates Of 175 Clean Energy Projects
- National Grid To Accelerate Up To 20GW Of Grid Connections Across Its Transmission And Distribution Networks
- National Grid’s London Power Tunnels Breakthrough Completes £1 Billion Project’s Tunnelling Activity
National Grid is increasing its capacity at a fast pace and will need a large number of quality engineers.
Crossrail And Electrical Engineers/Electricians
I suspect we’ll find, that when a report on the late delivery of Crossrail is published, an electrician shortage will get some of the blame.
I have friends, who are electricians. Because of the shortage of trained electricians, they were offered fortunes to work on Crossrail.
Do We Have Enough Engineers?
For all the reasons I have outlined, our path to net-zero will need a lot of trained electrical engineers and electricians and just as Crossrail showed, when there is a shortage of labour in a particular area, remuneration rises.
Electrical engineers and electricians in the British Isles will be able to pick and choose the jobs they take, just as they did with Crossrail and the other major projects being built at the same time.
Effects On Scotland
If you were an engineer, who had skills and could work on these projects, would you prefer to work on a project, where the tax rate was lower?
Scotland’s tax rise will harm their decarbonisation ambitions.
Surely, the Greens should have vetoed a tax increase, which will inevitably slow their progress to net-zero?
Or are Greens a tad short of the grey matter?
Conclusion
I believe the Scottish government has shot itself in the foot.
National Grid Fast-Tracks Overhead Line Upgrade Project To Help Accelerate Connection Dates Of 175 Clean Energy Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
These four bullet points, act as sub-headings.
- £90 million upgrade of 82km of overhead power line between Bramley in Hampshire and Melksham in Wiltshire brought forward by a year
- Replacing the conductors (wires) between transmission towers (pylons) will allow them to operate at a higher temperature and therefore carry more electricity
- Increased capacity could help to accelerate the grid connection of 175 clean energy projects in South West England and Wales
- Project forms part of a series of National Grid measures to help speed up connections to the electricity network, including working with the Electricity System Operator (ESO) and industry to reform the connections process
These are the two opening paragraphs.
National Grid has accelerated engineering works to address a bottleneck in connecting low carbon projects to the electricity network in South West England and Wales.
The 82km upgrade of one its high voltage overhead electricity lines, between Bramley in Hampshire and Melksham in Wiltshire, has been brought forward to help accelerate the connection of 175 clean energy projects to the grid.
I am rather surprised that upgrading of just 82 km. of overhead power line will enable the connection of 175 clean energy projects.
- So perhaps, National Grid are upgrading this line first, as it is the best value.
- I have followed the line of pylons on a map and it connects two large sub-stations at Bramley and Melksham.
- It will be interesting to see how the 175 projects connect to the grid.
There is also this paragraph.
This upgrade follows National Grid’s recent announcement of accelerating up to 20GW of grid connections across its transmission and distribution networks (the equivalent capacity of six Hinkley Point C nuclear power stations), including accelerating 10GW of battery storage projects by up to four years.
I wrote about this announcement in National Grid To Accelerate Up To 20GW Of Grid Connections Across Its Transmission And Distribution Networks.
Conclusion
National Grid seem to have made a start like like a hare and I suspect we’ll see the announcement of more projects in the near future.
Could A Mega-Station Be Built For The Channel Tunnel?
This article on Railway Gazette International, is entitled Start-Up Announces Amsterdam To London And Paris High Speed Train Ambitions.
It talks about how Dutch start-up; Heuro wants to run fifteen trains per day (tpg) between London and Amsterdam.
The article then has this paragraph, which details other operators, who are wanting to run services between London and the near Continent.
Heuro’s announcement comes after Spanish start-up Evolyn announced plans in October for a Paris – London service, while on November 11 British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that Sir Richard Branson and Phil Whittingham, former head of Virgin Trains and Avanti West Coast, were also drawing up plans to compete with Eurostar and had held discussions with infrastructure managers.
This leads me to the conclusion, that there will be a need for more capacity for trains and/or passengers at some time in the future.
- There are six International platforms at St. Panvcras International station, which can each probably handle four trains per hour (tph), so I suspect the station could handle 24 International tph.
- As a modern high speed train can carry over 500 passengers, that is 12000 passengers per hour.
- Visit St. Pancras station in the morning and it is often crammed with travellers coming from and going to Europe.
I suspect that the number of trains may not be a problem, but the number of passengers will.
We could always join Shengen, but then that would be an open door to all the would-be migrants to the UK.
This Google Map shows Stratford International station.
Stratford International station is in a soulless concrete cavern, that lies across the middle of the map.
In Platforms 1 And 4 At Stratford International Station, there are a lot of pictures of the station.
I think it would be extremely difficult to add extra platforms and passenger facilities to the station.
This Google Map shows Ebbsfleet International station.
Note.
- Ebbsfleet International station, with its two International and four domestic platforms is in the middle of the map.
- The station is surrounded by car parks with a total of 5,000 spaces.
- Northfleet station is in the North-East corner of the map.
There is a lot of land, without any buildings on it.
These are my thoughts.
Enough Extra Bay Platforms To Handle The Additional Trains
There would appear to be space for perhaps two bay platforms to terminate trains.
But would passengers we happy being dumped outside Central London?
Would An Elizabeth Line Extension To Ebbsfleet Be Needed?
There are various plans to link the Elizabeth Line tp Ebbsfleet International.
In Elizabeth Line To Ebbsfleet Extension Could Cost £3.2 Billion, I showed this map from the Abbeywood2Ebbsfleet consultation.
There doesn’t appear to be too much new infrastructure, except for a proper connection between Northfleet and Ebbsfleet stations. References on the Internet, say that the similar-sized Luton DART connection at Luton Airport, cost around £225 million.
The Elizabeth Line connects to the following.
- Bond Street
- Canary Wharf
- City of London
- Farringdon for Thameslink
- Heathrow Airport
- Old Oak Common for High Speed Two
- Liverpool Street station
- Oxford Street
- Paddington station
- Slough for Windsor
- Tottenham Court Road for the British Museum, Oxford Street, Soho, Theatreland and the Underground.
- West End of London
- Whitechapel for the Overground and Underground
For many people like me, the Elizabeth Line at Ebbsfleet will provide one of the quickest ways to get to and from European trains.
Ebbsfleet Has Space For A Bus Station
A bus station with comprehensive routes could be built at Ebbsfleet station, which I don’t think will be possible at St. Pancras.
It would also be possible to provide an easy route to Gatwick Airport along the M25.
Hotel Accommodation
This is surely necessary.
It would make an ideal base for tourists and business people, who wanted to visit several of the large cities connected to Ebbsfleet.
A Very Large Car Park
Consider.
- Heathrow Airport is looking at providing upwards of 50,000 car parking spaces.
- Some travellers are seriously allergic to public transport and will always use their car.
- Many travellers these days want to take a severely outside case with them, when they’re only having a weekend in Paris.
I feel that a mega-station for Europe will need upwards of 10,000 car parking spaces. All of them with vehicle-to-grid chargers.
A Very Large Storage Battery
According to this page on the E-on web site, the average size of the battery in an electric vehicle is 40 kWh.
If 5,000 car parking spaces were to be fitted with vehicle-to-grid charging (V2G), that would be 2 MWh of energy storage, that could be used by National Grid, to store surplus electricity.
Get V2G right and it could make a serious contribution to your parking costs.
Pictures Of Ebbsfleet Station
These are some pictures I took at Ebbsfleet station today.
Note.
- The station is a fairly boring concrete, glass and steel construction.
- The SouthEastern HighSpeed services also go to St. Pancras, so they don’t offer any different connectivity towards the capital.
In addition, the SouthEastern HighSpeed Class 395 trains aren’t step-free at the platforms, as these pictures shows.
As I came back into St. Pancras International station, staff were struggling to load a wheelchair onto a train using a ramp.
Would A Two-Station Solution Increase Capacity?
High Speed Rail lines have high capacity trains and there are examples of more than one station at the end of a route.
- The London end of High Speed Two will have stations at Old Oak Common and Euston.
- The Manchester end of High Speed Two will have stations at Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.
- The Edinburgh end of the East Coast Main Line has stations at Waverley and Haymarket.
- The Amsterdam end of Eurostar and Thalys has stations at Rotterdam, Schipol Airport and Amsterdam.
A selection of stations gives choice and convenience for travellers.
Conclusion
I believe that selective development of Ebbsfleet International station could be used to take the pressure away from St. Pancras International station.
These developments could include.
- A comprehensive bus station
- Elizabeth Line to Northfleet
- Hotel Accommodation
- Lots Of Car Parking
National Grid To Accelerate Up To 20GW Of Grid Connections Across Its Transmission And Distribution Networks
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
These four bullet points, act as sub-headings.
- Connection dates of 10GW of battery projects accelerated at transmission level, and 10GW of capacity unlocked at distribution level, both part of the Electricity System Operator (ESO)’s connections five-point plan.
- Battery energy storage projects connecting to the transmission network to be offered new connection dates averaging four years earlier than their current agreement.
- The accelerated 20GW equates to the capacity of six Hinkley Point C nuclear power stations.
- Work is part of ongoing collaborative industry efforts, together with Ofgem and government, to speed up and reform connections.
This is the opening paragraph.
National Grid is accelerating the connection of up to 20GW of clean energy projects to its electricity transmission and distribution networks in England and Wales as part of ongoing collaborative work across industry.
As I write this, the UK is generating 38.5 GW of electricity, so another 20 GW will be a large increase in capacity.
I shall look at what National Grid are proposing in sections.
10 GW Of Battery Power
These two paragraphs, outline the plan for 10 GW of battery power.
On its transmission network, 19 battery energy storage projects worth around 10GW will be offered dates to plug in averaging four years earlier than their current agreement, based on a new approach which removes the need for non-essential engineering works prior to connecting storage.
The new policy is part of National Grid’s connections reform initiative targeting transmission capacity, spearheaded by the ESO – which owns the contractual relationship with connecting projects – and actioned jointly with National Grid Electricity Transmission (ET), the part of the business which designs and builds the transmission infrastructure needed in England and Wales to plug projects in.
It looks to me that someone has been doing some serious mathematical modelling of the UK’s electricity network.
Fifty years ago, I provided the differential equation solving software, that enabled the Water Resources Board to plan, where reservoirs and pipelines were to be built. I have no idea how successful it was, but we don’t seem to have any serious water supply problems, except when there is equipment failures or serious drought.
But modelling water and electrical networks is mathematically similar, with rainfall, pipelines and reservoirs in the water network and power generation, transmission lines and batteries and pumped storage hydroelectricity in the electricity network.
I’d be interesting to know what software was used to solve the mathematical model.
I certainly agree with the solution.
Two of our modern sources of renewable energy; solar and wind are not very predictable, but cost a lot of capital investment to build.
So it is very wrong not to do something positive with any excess electricity generated. And what better place to put it than in a battery, so it can be retrieved later.
The earlier, the batteries come on stream, the earlier, the batteries can save all the excess electricity.
So moving the plug in dates for battery storage four years earlier is a very positive thing to do.
A simple calculation shows that for 10 GW, we would need nineteen batteries of about 526 MW.
Ideally, like power stations, they would be spread around the country.
Could Pumped-Storage Hydroelectricity Be Used?
The largest battery in the UK is the Dinorwig pumped-storage hydroelectric power station, which is commonly known as Electric Mountain or Mynydd Gwefru if you’re Welsh.
- It opened in 1984, after a ten years of construction.
- It has a power output of 1.8 GW.
- The energy storage capacity of the station is around 9.1 GWh.
Roughly, every gigawatt of output is backed up by 5 GWh of storage.
If the proposed nineteen new batteries have the same power to storage ratio as Electric Mountain, then each battery will have a storage capacity of 2.63 GWh
SSE Renewables are planning two large pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in Scotland.
- Coire Glas – 1.5 GW/30 GWh – Possible completion in 2031.
- Loch Sloy – 152.5 MW/25 GWh – See SSE Unveils Redevelopment Plans For Sloy Hydro-Electric Power Station.
A quick calculation, says we’d need seven pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations, which need a lot of space and a handy mountain.
I don’t think pumped-storage hydroelectric would be feasible.
Could Lithium-Ion Batteries Be Used?
My mathematical jottings have shown we need nineteen batteries with this specification.
- An output of about 526 MW.
- A storage capacity of around 2.63 GWh
This Wikipedia entry gives a list of the world’s largest battery power stations.
The current largest is Vistra Moss Landing battery in California, which has this specification.
- An output of 750 MW.
- A storage capacity of 3 GWh
Reading the Wikipedia entry for Vistra Moss Landing, it appears to have taken five years to construct.
I believe that nineteen lithium-ion batteries could handle National Grid’s need and they could be built in a reasonable time.
Could Any Other Batteries Be Used?
Rounding the battery size, I feel it would be better have twenty batteries with this specification.
- An output of 500 MW.
- A storage capacity of 2.5 GWh
Are there any companies that could produce a battery of that size?
Form Energy
Form Energy are well-backed with an MIT heritage, but their largest proposed battery is only 10 MW/1 GWh.
They could be a possibility, but I feel it’s only a small chance.
Highview Power
Highview Power say this about their next projects on this page of their web site.
Highview Power’s next projects will be located in Scotland and the North East and each will be 200MW/2.5GWh capacity. These will be located on the national transmission network where the wind is being generated and therefore will enable these regions to unleash their untapped renewable energy potential and store excess wind power at scale.
Note.
- This is more like the size.
- Work is now underway at Carrington – a 50MW / 300MWh plant at Trafford Energy Park near Manchester.
- Highview’s technology uses liquid air to store energy and well-proven turbo-machinery.
- Highview have a co-operation agreement with Ørsted
They are a definite possibility.
10 GW Of Extra Unlocked Capacity
These two paragraphs, outline the plan for 10 GW of extra unlocked capacity.
On its distribution network in the Midlands, South West of England and South Wales, the additional 10GW of unlocked capacity announced recently is set to accelerate the connection of scores of low carbon technology projects, bringing forward some ‘shovel ready’ schemes by up to five years.
National Grid has already been in contact with more than 200 projects interested in fast tracking their distribution connection dates in the first wave of the capacity release, with 16 expressing an interest in connecting in the next 12 months and another 180 looking to connect within two to five years.
This page from National Grid ESO, lists the actions that were taken to release the extra grid capacity.
Conclusion
This looks to be a very good plan from National Grid.
UK And Germany Boost Offshore Renewables Ties
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
A new partnership between the UK and German governments has been agreed on 3 November to help secure safe, affordable, and clean energy for consumers in both nations for the long-term and bolster energy security. Both countries commit to strengthening cooperation in renewables, notably offshore wind and electricity interconnection.
These two paragraphs introduce the deal.
Under the new partnership signed in London by Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho and Germany’s Vice Chancellor, Robert Habeck, the UK and Germany have reaffirmed their shared ambition and commitment to net zero and progressing the energy transition.
Europe’s two largest economies have also doubled down on commitments made under the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.
i think this could be a worthwhile follow-up to the relationship, that Boris Johnson and Olaf Scholz seemed to encourage after their high profile meeting in April 2022.
This press release from Downing Street is entitled PM meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz: 8 April 2022 and this is the first two paragraphs.
The Prime Minister welcomed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Downing Street this afternoon to discuss the West’s response to Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine.
The two leaders shared their disgust at the Russian regime’s onslaught and condemned Putin’s recent attacks.
I wrote Armoured Vehicles For Ukraine based on some of the things said in the press conference after what seemed to be a very wide discussion.
But it was these paragraphs in the press release that caught my eye.
They also agreed on the need to maximise the potential of renewable energy in the North Sea and collaborate on climate ambitions and green energy.
The Prime Minister said he wanted to further deepen the UK’s relationship with Germany, and intensify its cooperation across defence and security, innovation and science.
After Boris and Olaf’s meeting at Downing Street, I have been able to write these posts about the Anglo-German energy relationship and also make some other observations.
- Mona, Morgan And Morven
- UK-German Energy Link Reaches Financial Close
- RWE, Siemens and other German companies seem to be building a strong presence in the UK.
- Rolls-Royce are doing the same in Germany.
Claire Coutinho and Robert Habeck seem to be wanting to continue the co-operation, judging by this paragraph from the article on offshoreWIND,biz.
The energy and climate partnership sees both countries commit to enhancing cooperation in renewables, particularly in offshore wind and electricity interconnection, including offshore hybrid interconnection.
The most significant part of this paragraph is the mention of offshore hybrid interconnection.
If you want more details on their meeting, this document is the official UK Government declaration.
I have my thoughts.
What Is Meant By Offshore Hybrid Interconnection?
Type “Offshore Hybrid Interconnection” into Google and the first page is this page from National Grid, that is entitled Offshore Hybrid Assets, that has this sub-heading.
How the North Sea has the potential to become Europe’s green energy ‘powerhouse’
This is the introductory paragraph.
Now more than ever we need more renewable energy to make energy cleaner, more affordable, and more secure. The North Sea offers an incredible opportunity for the UK and our European neighbours to deliver huge increases in offshore wind. But delivering new offshore wind will require more infrastructure, which will have an impact on communities.
Hybrid is all-purpose comfort word like cashmere, platinum or puppies.
The page on the National Grid web site describes The Next Generation Interconnector with these paragraphs.
Interconnectors already provide a way to share electricity between countries safely and reliably. But what if they could do much more than that? What if interconnectors could become an offshore connection hub for green energy?
Instead of individual wind farms connecting one by one to the shore, offshore hybrid assets (OHAs) will allow clusters of offshore wind farms to connect all in one go, plugging into the energy systems of neighbouring countries.
And then there is this section entitled Tomorrow’s Solution: Offshore Wind And Interconnectors In Harmony, where this is said.
Today, offshore wind and interconnectors operate alongside each other, connecting to the shore individually. In the future, offshore hybrid assets could enable offshore wind and interconnection to work together as a combined asset.
We now call this type of infrastructure an offshore hybrid asset (OHA), but we used to refer to it as a multi-purpose interconnector (MPI). We changed it because we work so closely together with Europe, it made sense to use the same terminology.
The page on the National Grid web site also has an interactive graphic, which shows the benefit of the approach.
LionLink
National Grid are already developing LionLink, with Dutch grid operator; TenneT, which will be a multi-purpose interconnector linking the UK and the Netherlands.
LionLink is described on this page from National Grid, where this is the sub-heading.
We’re developing a first-of-its-kind electricity link to connect offshore wind between the UK and the Netherlands.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Designed together with our Dutch partners TenneT, LionLink (formerly known as EuroLink) is an electricity link that can supply around 1.8 gigawatts of clean electricity, enough to power approximately 1.8 million British homes. By connecting Dutch offshore wind to Dutch and British markets via subsea electricity cables called interconnectors, LionLink will strengthen our national energy security and support the UK’s climate and energy goals.
Will we be planning a similar electric handshake with the Germans?
How Much Offshore Wind Power Are We Talking About?
This is answered by the last two paragraphs of the article on offshoreWIND.biz.
Around 75 per cent of installed offshore wind capacity in the North Sea is in German and British waters. This is helping to drive the UK’s ambition for up to 50 GW of offshore wind, including up to 5 GW of floating wind, by 2030, the governments said.
Germany is aiming at installing 30 GW by 2030.
That is an Anglo-German starter for eighty GW.
Electrolysers In The Middle If The North Sea
Why Not?
This is a clip from National Grid’s graphic on the page that introduces Offshore Hybrid Assets,
It shows an offshore hydrogen electrolyser.
- You could have an offshore hybrid asset that went between say Bacton in Norfolk and Hamburg via these assets.
- One or more wind farms in UK territorial waters.
- A mammoth offshore electrolyser, with hydrogen storage, possibly in a depleted gas field.
- One or more wind farms in German territorial waters.
Electricity will be able to go three ways; to the UK, to Germany or to the electrolyser.
The Involvement Of German Energy Companies In UK Territorial Waters
Wikipedia lists offshore fifteen wind farms, that have German owners in UK territorial waters, that total 12,960 MW.
This compares with.
- Equinor – 6 wind farms totalling 6466 MW.
- Ørsted – 15 wind farms totalling 9683 MW.
- Scottish Power – 2 wind farms totalling 5,000 MW.
- SSE Renewables – 15 wind farms totalling 15,591 MW.
- Vattenfall – 6 wind farms totalling 4384 MW.
As there is a number of partnerships, these figures only show the relative sizes of the investment by individual companies.
But at nearly 13 GW, the amount of total German investment in UK territorial waters is substantial.
Is This Solely An Anglo-German Club Or Can Others Join?
Consider.
- It seems to me, that because of the LionLink, the Dutch are already involved.
- TenneT is also a large electricity distributor in Germany.
- Countries with substantial shares of the water and winds of the North Sea in addition to Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, include Belgium, Denmark and Norway.
- The UK has interconnectors with Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands.
It appears that the world’s largest multi-national power generator is evolving by stealth.
North Sea Wind Power Hub
This concept seems to have developed around 2017, by Danish, Dutch and German interests.
The Wikipedia entry introduces it like this.
North Sea Wind Power Hub is a proposed energy island complex to be built in the middle of the North Sea as part of a European system for sustainable electricity. One or more “Power Link” artificial islands will be created at the northeast end of the Dogger Bank, a relatively shallow area in the North Sea, just outside the continental shelf of the United Kingdom and near the point where the borders between the territorial waters of Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark come together. Dutch, German, and Danish electrical grid operators are cooperating in this project to help develop a cluster of offshore wind parks with a capacity of several gigawatts, with interconnections to the North Sea countries. Undersea cables will make international trade in electricity possible.
Currently, the UK is developing these wind farms on their portion of the Dogger Bank.
- Doggerbank A – 1235 MW – Started producing electricity in 2023.
- Doggerbank B – 1235 MW – Planned commissioning in 2024.
- Doggerbank C – 1218 MW – Planned commissioning in 2025.
- Doggerbank D – 1320 MW – Being planned.
- Doggerbank South – 3000 MW – Being planned.
Note.
- That’s a total of 8 GW.
- A, B, C and D are being developed by a consortium of SSE Renewables and Equinor.
- South is being developed by RWE.
- This web site is for Dogger Bank D.
- This web site is for Dogger Bank South.
This map from the European Atlas of the Seas, shows the various exclusive economic zones (EEZ) in the North Sea.
Note.
- The pinkish zone to the East of the UK, is the UK’s EEZ.
- The light blue zone at the top is Norway’s EEZ.
- The greenish zone in the North-East corner of the map is Denmark’s EEZ.
- The light blue zone below Denmark’s EEZ is Germany’s EEZ.
- Then we have the EEZs for The Netherlands, Belgium and France.
The Dogger Bank is situated where the British, Dutch, German and Norwegian EEZs meet.
All five Dogger Bank wind farms are in British waters.
The Wikipedia entry for the Dogger Bank says this about its size.
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.
This probably makes it easy to accommodate a large fixed-foundation wind farm.
Overlaying the map in the Wikipedia entry, with the EEZ map, I’m fairly sure that the northeast end of the Dogger Bank is close to where the EEZs meet.
Progress On The North Sea Wind Power Hub
The North Sea Wind Power Hub has a web site, but it seems to be more about thinking than doing.
It seems to have been hijacked by that august body; The Institute of Meetings Engineers.
This page on the web site, which is entitled Explore The Future Energy Highways, has a simple interactive map.
This shows its vision for 2030.
Note.
- Yellow is electricity links to be built before 2030.
- Blue is hydrogen links to be built before 2030.
- Feint lines indicate the EEZ boundaries.
There are two problems with this layout.
- It doesn’t connect to the Dogger Bank area, where the original plan as detailed in Wikipedia talked about “Power Link” artificial islands.
- No hydrogen is delivered direct to Germany.
This shows its vision for 2050.
Note.
- Yellow, blue and feint lines are as before.
- White is electricity links to be built before 2050.
- There appears to be a node on the Dogger Bank in the German EEZ. This node could be connected to the “Power Link” artificial islands.
- The Southernmost connection to East Anglia could be Bacton.
- The other Norfolk connection could be where wind farms are already connected.
- The Northern connection could be Teesside, where some of the Dogger Bank wind farms connect.
- If the Northern connection to England is Teesside, then first node, which is in the British EEZ, could be one of the offshore sub-stations in the Dogger Bank wind farm complex.
This all seems a lot more feasible.
A New Offshore Hybrid Asset Between Teesside And Germany
Consider.
- A new offshore sub-station will be needed in the German EEZ to connect the “Power Link” artificial islands to the power network.
- The new offshore sub-station will eventually have three interconnectors to the German coast.
- Only the 1218 MW Dogger Bank C wind farm will be connected to the Teesside onshore substation.
- Germany has a power supply problem, after shutting down nuclear power stations and building more coal-fired power stations.
A new Offshore Hybrid Asset between Teesside and Germany could be created by building the following.
- A the new offshore sub-station in the German EEZ to connect the “Power Link” artificial islands to the power network.
- An interconnector between a sub-station of the Dogger Bank wind farm complex and the new sub-station
- A second interconnector to connect the new sub-station for the “Power Link” artificial islands to the German electricity grid.
All of the work would be done mainly in the German EEZ, with a small amount in the British EEZ.
Where Does Dogger Bank South Fit In?
Consider.
- Dogger Bank South is planned to be a 3 GW wind farm.
- It will need a 3 GW connection to the onshore electricity grid.
- Creyke Beck substation is the proposed location for the onshore connection.
- It is owned by German electricity company; RWE.
Could it be that some of the electricity produced by Dogger Bank South is going to be sent to Germany or to another node to produce hydrogen?
It certainly illustrates the value of an Offshore Hybrid Asset.
‘Phantom’ Power Projects Are Holding Back The UK’s Energy Security – Centrica Report
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
These are the three bullet points.
- New report shows queue for new energy projects is blocked by developers that may not even have land rights and haven’t applied for planning consents
- Estimated size of these power projects in the queue is 62GW, roughly one fifth of all power in the queue
- Centrica CEO argues such ‘phantom’ projects should have Construction Agreements terminated if developers miss key milestones – and urges Ofgem to give National Grid ESO the power to remove projects from the existing grid queue
This is the first two paragraphs.
A new independent report, commissioned by Centrica, has revealed the extent of the power projects holding back the UK’s energy security and creating risk around hitting net zero.
The report examined the UK’s existing queue for Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) – the queue for connecting new projects to the transmission grid – and discovered that it is up to four times oversubscribed. Not only that, but this oversubscription has become significantly worse in the last few years.
The report found these three totals.
- There are currently 371GW of projects in the queue, enough to significantly improve the UK’s energy security.
- Around 114GW worth of projects have listed their connection date as before 2029.
- But around 62GW of these projects are only in the scoping phase and developers may not even have secured land rights or applied for planning consent.
This is both good and bad news!
Here Is The Good News!
Currently, the UK is using 37 GW of electricity, of which 32 GW are generated in the UK, 5 GW is being imported through interconnectors and around 6 GW are coming from renewables.
So this means that when we build all the 371 GW in the queue, we’ll have around eleven times the electricity we are using today.
Of the 114 GW of projects listed for connection before 2029, it looks like 62 GW won’t be delivered, as they haven’t secured land rights or applied for planning consent.
But that still means that as much as 52 GW could be delivered by 2029.
Even this reduced level of new projects still increases the amount of electricity that can be generated by nearly 150 %.
If I’m being ultra pessimistic, I would say that the average capacity factor of the extra capacity was 50 %, so we’d only be adding 26 GW, so the electricity, that can be generated would only rise by around 70 %.
I suspect all in the UK can live with these paltry increases.
Here Is The Bad News!
This is a paragraph from the report.
The report suggests that the oversubscribed queue, and longer wait for connections. has a damaging effect on the investments that could drive the UK’s energy transition and energy security.
Developers and investors will decamp to countries, where they be sure of getting a return on their time and money.
Think of having two supermarkets close to you live, where one is professional and one is chaotic. Where would you shop?
The congestion caused by phantom projects must be solved.
Ofgem’s Solution
This is the solution in the press release.
Ofgem is exploring rule changes (CMP376) to address queue issues and is expected to decide these before 10 November. These rule changes would grant the ESO the ability to remove projects from the queue if they miss key milestones. Ofgem is currently considering whether to apply this rule change to just new projects entering the queue, or whether the rule change should also be applied to projects already in the queue.
They can probably come up with a solution.
An Alternative Method From My Past
In 1969, I worked for ICI, where one of my jobs was building specialist instruments for chemical plants.
Most instruments, that were designed by the group I belonged to, included a chassis on which the components and electronics were mounted. So we had a workshop and about seven or eight staff at our disposal to build the chassis and the parts outside of our skills. As they were used by several groups in the building, where we were all based, the workshop was very busy and everything was delivered late.
Eventually, a manager decided to get a grip on the situation.
He insisted, that the workshop would not do what you wanted if your delivery date was as soon as possible, rather than a date agreed by both parties.
The results were amazing and everything was delivered on the agreed date.
With the renewable energy connection queue, I am sure, that if a procedure was developed, that only allowed fully-planned projects with an agreed completion date to enter the queue, then the problems of phantom projects would be solved.
It might also reduce the cost of developing these renewable projects.
National Grid’s London Power Tunnels Breakthrough Completes £1 Billion Project’s Tunnelling Activity
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
These bullet points sum up the press release.
- Landmark moment for London Power Tunnels project as 140-tonne boring machine emerges at Eltham site following final subterranean journey
- Breakthrough marks the completion of 32.5km of tunnelling at depths of up to 60m under seven South London boroughs
- Due for completion in 2026, the project is rewiring the capital’s electricity network to boost resilience and future-proof supplies as demand grows
This is the seventh major tunnel in London in recent years to be completed.
- Elstree and St. John’s Wood Cable Tunnel – Electricity – 12 miles – 2005
- Lower Lea Valley Cable Tunnels – Electricity – 3.7 miles – 2008
- Lee Tunnel – Sewage – 4.3 miles – 2016
- New Cross and Finsbury Market Cable Tunnel – Electricity – 3.5 miles – 2017
- Northern Line Extension To Battersea – Rail – 2 miles – 2021
- Elizabeth Line – Rail – 26 miles – 2022
- Silvertown Tunnel – Road – 1 mile – Under Construction
- Thames Tideway Tunnel – Sewage – 16 miles – Under Construction
- Euston Tunnel – Rail – 4.5 miles – Under Construction
Note.
- It is likely that there will be CrossRail 2 and an extension to the Bakerloo Line.
- It certainly seems to have been a prudent decision to create Tunneling and Underground Construction Academy or TUCA to train more tunnellers, before the Elizabeth Line was built.
But I don’t believe that will be all the large tunnels that will be built in the capital.
Is Sizewell C Needed?
I am generally pro-nuclear, but I am not sure if building a large nuke at Sizewell is the right action.
Consider.
- East Anglia has 3114 MW of offshore wind in operation.
- East Anglia has 6772 MW of offshore wind under construction, with Contracts for Difference or proposed.
- Vattenfall are considering abandoning development of their large wind farms off the Norfolk coast, which are proposed to have a capacity of 3196 MW.
- If the two Vattenfall wind farms don’t get built, it is likely that East Anglia will have around 6700 MW of offshore wind capacity.
- Sizewell C has a proposed nameplate capacity of 3260 MW. Some might argue, that to back up East Anglia’s offshore wind power, it needs to be larger!
- Norfolk and Suffolk no large electricity users, so are Vattenfall finding they have a product no one wants to buy.
- National Grid is developing four interconnectors to bring power from Scotland to the Eastern side of England, which will back up wind power in the East with the massive Scottish pumped storage, that is being developed.
- National Grid and their Dutch equivalent; TenneT are developing LionLink to connect the UK and the Netherlands to clusters of wind farms between our countries in the North Sea.
- Kent and East Anglia have several gas and electric interconnectors to Europe.
- Sizewell is well-connected to England’s grid.
These are my thoughts.
Energy Storage At Sizewell
Consider.
- Sizewell is well connected to the grid.
- It has the sea on one side.
- It could easily be connected to the large offshore wind farms, thirty miles out to sea.
If large energy storage could be built on the Sizewell site or perhaps under the sea, then this energy could be recovered and used in times of low wind.
Perhaps the technology of the STORE Consortium, which I discussed in UK Cleantech Consortium Awarded Funding For Energy Storage Technology Integrated With Floating Wind, could be used.
In this system, energy is stored in 3D-printed concrete hemispheres under the sea.
A Small Nuclear Reactor Cluster At Sizewell
Rolls-Royce are proposing that their small modular reactors will have a capacity of 470 MW.
Perhaps a cluster of seven small modular reactors at Sizewell, with a building schedule matched to the need to back up wind farms would be better and easier to finance.
I also feel a cluster of SMRs would have less risk and would be less likely to be delayed.
Where Is Generating Capacity Needed In The UK?
These areas already have large amounts of offshore wind in operation or proposed to be built before 2030.
- Celtic Sea
- North Wales
- Liverpool Bay
- Cumbria
- Scotland
- Scotland’s Offshore Islands
- North East England
- Humberside
- Lincolnshire
- East Anglia
- Thames Estuary
- Kent
- Sussex
Amongst the back up for these wind farms, there are only two modern nuclear stations; Sizewell B and the still-to-open Hinckley Point C.
If you look at a map of England and its power generation, there is a tremendous gap of capacity South of a line between Hinckley Point and Brighton, with little or no offshore wind and no nuclear.
There is probably a need for a large nuke near Weymouth.
Alternatively, perhaps several SMRs could be built underneath places like Salisbury Plain, Dartmoor and Exmoor!
Conclusion
We probably need the nuclear electricity from another Hinckley Point C-sized nuclear power station, so that we have adequate back-up for offshore wind.
But I am not sure that Sizewell is the right place to build it.
The Anonymous Widower 