The Anonymous Widower

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.

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.

  1. That’s a total of 8 GW.
  2. A, B, C and D are being developed by a consortium of SSE Renewables and Equinor.
  3. South is being developed by RWE.
  4. This web site is for Dogger Bank D.
  5. 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.

  1. The pinkish zone to the East of the UK, is the UK’s EEZ.
  2. The light blue zone at the top is Norway’s EEZ.
  3. The greenish zone in the North-East corner of the map is Denmark’s EEZ.
  4. The light blue zone below Denmark’s EEZ is Germany’s EEZ.
  5. 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.

  1. Yellow is electricity links to be built before 2030.
  2. Blue is hydrogen links to be built before 2030.
  3. 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.

  1. Yellow, blue and feint lines are as before.
  2. White is electricity links to be built before 2050.
  3. 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.
  4. The Southernmost connection to East Anglia could be Bacton.
  5. The other Norfolk connection could be where wind farms are already connected.
  6. The Northern connection could be Teesside, where some of the Dogger Bank wind farms connect.
  7. 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.

November 4, 2023 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

NeuConnect Awards Two Major Contracts

This page on the NeuConnect web site is entitled NeuConnect Awards Over £1.5 billion Of Major Contracts As First Ever UK-German Energy Link Moves An Important Step Closer.

NeuConnect is a proposed interconnector between England and Germany.

  • It will have a capacity of 1.4 GW.
  • The interconnector will be around 450 miles long.
  • It will be HVDC, like many similar undersea power cables.
  • As the title says, it will be the first-ever UK-German energy link.

Wikipedia describes the route like this.

The cable will run between the Greystones substation on the Isle of Grain, in Kent in England to the new Fedderwarden substation in Wilhelmshaven in the Lower Saxony region of Germany. Landfall will be next to Grain Coastal Park, in Kent, and at Hooksiel, near Wilhemshaven in Germany.

Two contracts have been awarded.

  • The contract to design, manufacture, install, test and commission the 725km interconnector has been awarded to Prysmian Group.
  • The contract to design and build two converter stations in the UK and Germany has been awarded to Siemens Energy.

This sounds like a very simple plan to add an important interconnector between the UK and Germany.

I have some observations and thoughts.

The Isle Of Grain

The Isle of Grain is described in Wikipedia like this.

Isle of Grain (Old English Greon, meaning gravel) is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the district of Medway in Kent, south-east England. No longer an island and now forming part of the peninsula, the area is almost all marshland and is a major habitat for diverse wetland birds. The village constitutes a civil parish, which at the 2011 census had a population of 1,648, a net decrease of 83 people in 10 years.

Apart for the birds, over the last few decades it has been home to the following.

  • Until 1982, it was the location of a BP oil refinery.
  • In the 1990s, the isle was used to make the segments for the lining of the Channel Tunnel.
  • Following completion of the Channel Tunnel, the site is now part-occupied by Thamesport, the UK’s third largest container port.
  • Next to the former BP site is Grain Power Station, built in the 1970s, which previously burnt oil.
  • This power station was demolished in the 2015 and replaced with a 1.275 GW gas-fired power station.
  • Another major installation is a new Grain Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import facility, which takes heat from the gas-fired power station.
  • The Isle of Grain is the landing point for the BritNed undersea power cable between The Netherlands and the UK.

The Google Map shows the Isle of Grain.

Note.

  1. Thamesport is in the South-West corner
  2. To its North is the LNG import facility.
  3. To the North-East of Thamesport is the 735 MW Medway power station.
  4. There is a rail connection to Hoo Junction on the North Kent Line.

This second Google Map shows the Eastern side of the Isle.

Note.

  1. Grain Coastal Park, where NeuConnect will make landfall, is marked by the green arrow at the top of the map.
  2. Towards the South-Eastern corner of the map is the 1.275 GW Grain gas-fired power station.
  3. To the East of the power station, there is more switchgear than you see in a bad Frankenstein film.
  4. The smaller square at the bottom with the two white squares could be the converter station for the BritNed interconnector.

I am sure there is space on the island for a connection for NeuConnect.

There is also a total of 2.01 GW of gas-fired power stations on the Isle of Grain.

Wind Power In The Thames Estuary

This Google Map shows the Thames Estuary.

Note that the red arrow indicates the Isle of Grain.

This map from Wikipedia shows the wind farms in the area.

These are the ones that are operational.

  • 2 – East Anglia Array – 714 MW
  • 8 – Greater Gabbard – 504 MW
  • 9 – Gunfleet Sands – 184 MW
  • 13 – Kentish Flats – 140 MW
  • 15 – London Array – 630 MW
  • 27 – Thanet – 300 MW

Note.

  1. The Isle of Grain is just above the second o in London.
  2. I have ignored the Ramplion wind farm (21!), as it is too far from the Isle of Grain.
  3. This is a total of nearly 2.5 GW.

Planned extensions in the area include.

  • East Anglia Array – 3.1 GW – Completion date of 2026

But the Wikipedia entry for the East Anglia Array says this about the wind farm.

The target capacity for the entire East Anglia Zone is 7200 MW which could require up to 1200 turbines.

Could we see one of the following?

  • A connector from the East Anglia Array to the Isle of Grain.
  • One or more new wind farms in the Thames Estuary connected to the Isle of Grain.
  • German investment in a wind farm or farms connected to the Isle of Grain.

The Isle of Grain could become an island of energy providing power for London, the South-East of England, Germany and The Netherlands.

An Electrolyser On The Isle Of Grain

Consider.

  • There will be plenty of renewable electricity.
  • As there is a liquified natural gas terminal, there is plenty of gas storage.
  • One or both of the gas-fired power stations can be converted to run on hydrogen.
  • As more and more trucks are converted to hydrogen, there will be a large demand for hydrogen for heavy transport.

This must surely make a large electrolyser on the Isle of Grain a possibility.

The BritNed Interconnector

The BritNed interconnector is described like this in Wikipedia.

BritNed is a 1,000 MW high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) submarine power cable between the Isle of Grain in Kent, the United Kingdom; and Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The BritNed interconnector would serve as a link for the foreseeable European super grid project.

Up to now, most of the electricity flow has been to the UK.

But surely, as more wind farms are developed power will flow the other way.

Wilhelmshaven Will Be A German Hub For Green Hydrogen

In Uniper To Make Wilhelmshaven German Hub For Green Hydrogen; Green Ammonia Import Terminal, I described plans by the Germans for a hydrogen hub at Wilhelmshaven.

The original story came from an article with the same name on Green Car Congress.

This is the first two paragraphs.

Under the name “Green Wilhelmshaven,” Germany-based international energy company Uniper plans to establish a German national hub for hydrogen in Wilhelmshaven and is working on a corresponding feasibility study.

Plans include an import terminal for green ammonia. The terminal will be equipped with an ammonia cracker for producing green hydrogen and will also be connected to the planned hydrogen network. A 410-megawatt electrolysis plant is also planned, which—in combination with the import terminal—would be capable of supplying around 295,000 metric tons or 10% of the demand expected for the whole of Germany in 2030.

As I said in the original post, I’m not happy about green ammonia, but the 1.4 GW NeuConnect interconnector has more than enough power to run a 410 MW electrolyser plant at full capacity.

It could even run three electrolysers of this size.

Hooksiel And Wilhelmshaven

NeuConnect will make landfall at Hooksiel.

This Google Map shows Hooksiel and Wilhelmshaven.

Note.

  1. Hooksiel is the village outlined in red.
  2. The water to the right of the map is the Jade Bight.
  3. The square block sticking out into the bight appears to be a container port.
  4. There appears to be chemical works or oil refineries North of the port.
  5. Wilhelmshaven is the town to the South of the port.

There would appear to be plenty of space for Uniper to construct Green Wilhelmshaven.

German And UK Wind Power Production

According to this page on Wikipedia, which is entitled Wind Power By Country, in 2020, these were installed wind power in various countries.

  • Germany – 62,184 MW
  • Spain – 27,089 MW
  • UK – 24,665 MW
  • France – 17,382 MW
  • Italy – 10,389 MW
  • Netherlands – 6,600 MW

In 2020 we were 37.5 GW behind Germany.

It looks like we’ll commission 3.3 GW this year and 6.1 in 2023, with Wikipedia saying that 12.9 GW is under development, which should close the gap to a certain extent.

In ScotWind Offshore Wind Leasing Delivers Major Boost To Scotland’s Net Zero Aspirations, I described how Scotland will add 15.1 GW of floating and 9.7 GW of fixed foundation offshore wind.

It looks like initially, we’ll be buying German wind-generated electricity, but in the future the direction could easily change around.

Boris And Olaf

There were mumblings from Boris, that energy was talked about in their meeting in Downing Street last week.

It does appear there is a lot of ways that the UK and Germany can co-operate in the future with respect to energy.

  • German finance can be used to build wind farms in UK waters.
  • German companies can build the turbines and the interconnectors we need to develop vast offshore wind farms.
  • We can supply surplus energy to Germany through the NeuConnect interconnector.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Boris and Olaf had signed a very comprehensive energy co-operation agreement.

 

April 11, 2022 Posted by | Energy, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Armoured Vehicles For Ukraine

I have just listened to extracts of the press conference by Boris and Olaf on the BBC and there was talk of boxers.

Not the Mayor of Kyiv, the admirable Vitali Klitschko, but the German-produced armoured fighting vehicle.

Looking at the Wikipedia entry for the Boxer, it states that up to 1500 Boxers for the British Army will start to be delivered from an updated BAe factory in Telford this year, for entry into service in 2023. So with two factories in Europe and another in Australia, will this allow older armoured vehicles to be passed on to Ukraine?

Australia has already stated they will send the Ukraine twenty of their thousand Bushmasters.

Perhaps we could send Ukraine some Mastiffs.

April 9, 2022 Posted by | World | , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments