£100m Boost For Biggest UK Hydro Scheme In Decades
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A giant hydro scheme which would double the UK’s ability to store energy for long periods is taking a leap forward with a £100m investment by SSE.
These are the first three paragraphs.
The proposed 92m-high dam and two reservoirs at Coire Glas in the Highlands would be Britain’s biggest hydroelectric project for 40 years.
Scottish ministers approved the 1.5 GW pumped storage facility in 2020.
But power giant SSE wants assurances from the UK government before finally signing it off.
There are two major problems with this scheme.
Why The Forty Year Wait?
I am an Electrical and Control Engineer and it is a scandal that we are waiting forty years for another pumped storage scheme like the successful Electric Mountain or Cruachan power stations to arrive.
Petrol or diesel vehicles have batteries for these three main purposes.
- To start the engine.
- To stabilise the output of the generator or alternator.
- To provide emergency power.
As to the latter, I can’t be the only person, who has dragged a car out of a ford on the starter motor. But think of the times, you’ve used the hazard warning lights, after an accident or an engine failure.
The nightmare of any operator of a complicated electricity network like the UK’s is a black start, which is defined by Wikipedia like this.
A black start is the process of restoring an electric power station or a part of an electric grid to operation without relying on the external electric power transmission network to recover from a total or partial shutdown.
Hydro electric power stations and especially those that are part of pumped storage schemes are ideal for providing the initial power, as they are often easy to start and have water available. Cruachan power station has a black start capability, but at 440 MW is it big enough?
Over the last few years, many lithium-ion batteries have been added to the UK power network, which are used to stabilise the grid, when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.
There are four pumped storage hydro-electric schemes in the UK.
- Cruachan – 440 MW/7 GWh – 1965
- Dinorwig (Electric Mountain) – 1800 MW/9.1 GWh -1984
- Ffestiniog – 360MW/1.44 GWh – 1963
- Foyers – 300 MW/6.3 GWh – 1974
Note.
- I always give the power output and the storage capacity for a battery, if it is known.
- According to Wikipedia, Scotland has a potential for around 500 GWh of pumped storage.
- The largest lithium-ion battery that I know, that is being planned in the UK, is Intergen’s 320 MW/640 MWh battery at Thames Gateway, that I wrote about in Giant Batteries Will Provide Surge Of Electricity Storage. It’s smaller than any of the four current pumped storage schemes.
- The Wikipedia entry for Coire Glas says that it is a 1.5 GW/30 GWh pumped storage hydro-electric power station.
I very much feel that even one 1.5 GW/30 GWh pumped storage hydro-electric power station must make a big difference mathematically.
Why have we had to wait so long? It’s not as though a pumped storage hydro-electric power station of this size has suffered a serious disaster.
Drax Needs Assurances Too?
The BBC article says this.
Scotland’s only other pumped storage scheme, operated by Drax Group, is housed within a giant artificial cavern inside Ben Cruachan on the shores of Loch Awe in Argyll.
The North Yorkshire-based company plans to more than double the generating capacity of its facility, nicknamed Hollow Mountain, to more than 1GW, with the construction of a new underground power station.
But both Drax and SSE have been reluctant to press ahead without assurances from Whitehall.
It looks like the right assurances would open up at least two pumped storage hydro-electric power station projects.
But it could be better than that, as there are other projects under development.
- Balliemeanoch – 1.5GW/45 GWh
- Corrievarkie – 600 MW/14.5 GWh
- Loch Earba – 900 MW/33 GWh
- Loch Kemp – 300 MW/9 GWh
- Red John – 450 MW/2.8 GWh
This totals to 3750 MW/104.3 GWh or 5850 MW/134.3 GWh with the addition of Coire Glas and the extension to Cruachan.
Getting the assurances right could result in large amounts of construction in Scotland!
What Assurances Do Power Giants SSE And Drax Want Before Signing Off?
This news item on SSE Renewables, which is dated 18th March 2022, is entitled Ministerial Roundtable Seeks To Unlock Investment In UK Energy Storage.
These three paragraphs gives details of the meeting.
Business leaders have met with UK Energy Minister the Rt Hon Greg Hands MP to discuss how the government could unlock significant investment in vital energy storage technologies needed to decarbonise the power sector and help ensure greater energy independence.
The meeting was organised by the Long-Duration Electricity Storage Alliance, a new association of companies, progressing plans across a range of technologies to be first of their kind to be developed in the UK for decades.
Representatives from Drax, SSE Renewables, Highview Power and Invinity Energy Systems met with The Rt Hon Greg Hands MP, Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth [yesterday].
But they still don’t seem to have come up with a funding mechanism.
- In this case, it seems that multiple politicians may not be to blame, as Greg Hands was the Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth until the 6th of September 2022, when he handed over to Graham Stuart, who is still the incumbent.
- Could it be that civil servants for this problem need to be augmented by a Control Engineer with mathematical modelling skills from a practical university?
It is the sort of problem, I would love to get my teeth into, but unfortunately my three mentors in accountancy and banking; Bob, Brian and David, who could have helped me, have all passed on to another place to help someone else with their problems.
I’ve just had a virtual meeting with all three and they told me to look at it like a warehousing system.
Consider.
- It would be very easy to measure the amount of water stored in the upper reservoir of a pumped storage hydro-electric power station.
- It would also be easy to measure the electricity flows to and from the pumped storage hydro-electric power station.
- A monetary value could be placed on the water in the upper reservoir and the flows, depending on the current price for electricity.
So it should be possible to know that a pumped storage hydro-electric power station, was perhaps storing energy as follows.
- 10 GWh for SSE
- 8 GWh for RWE
- 6 GWh for Scottish Power
- 6 GWh is not being used
And just as in a warehouse, they would pay a fee of so much for storing each GWh for an hour.
- The system would work with any type of storage.
- Would competition between the various storage sites bring down prices for storing electricity?
- Pumped storage operators would get a bonus when it rained heavily.
- Just as they do now, electricity generators would store it when prices are low and retrieve it when prices are high.
A lot of the rules used to decide where electricity goes would still work.
RWE Underlines Commitment To Floating Offshore Wind In The Celtic Sea Through New ‘Vision’ Document
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from RWE.
These are the three bullet points.
- Offshore floating wind in the Celtic Sea could unlock 3,000 jobs and £682 million in supply chain opportunities by 2030
- RWE is targeting the development at least 1GW of floating wind in the region
- Using experience from demonstrator projects and partnerships with local supply chain to strengthen ambitions
These opening three paragraphs outline more of RWE’s vision.
RWE, the world’s second largest offshore wind player and largest generator of clean power in Wales, has unveiled its vision for the future of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea region and the opportunities it presents from new large-scale, commercial projects. Entitled “RWE’s Vision for the Celtic Sea”, the document was unveiled during day one of the Marine Energy Wales conference, in Swansea, where RWE is the Platinum Sponsor.
RWE sees floating wind technology as the next frontier in the development of the offshore wind sector, and which could potentially unlock a multi-billion pound opportunity for the broader Celtic Sea region and the UK.
Studies anticipate the first GW of floating wind to be developed in the Celtic Sea could potentially deliver around 3,000 jobs and £682 million in supply chain opportunities for Wales and the south west of England. Against this backdrop, it’s anticipated the technology could unlock a resurgence in Welsh industry, helping to decarbonise industry and transport, spur on academic innovation, and spearhead the growth of a new, highly skilled workforce.
Reading further down, there are these statements.
- RWE will be bidding in the upcoming Celtic Sea auction with the aim of securing at least 1 gigawatt (GW) of installed capacity, to be developed throughout the 2020’s.
- The Celtic Sea region is pivotal to RWE’s ‘Growing Green’ strategy in the UK, where we expect to invest £15 billion in clean energy infrastructure by 2030.
- A cooperation agreement with Tata SteelUK to understand and explore the production of steel components that could be used in high-tech floating wind foundations and structures for projects in the Celtic Sea.
- The company has also signed agreements with ABP Port Talbot, the Port of Milford Haven and Marine Power Systems of Swansea, to explore opportunities for building the supply chain for floating wind.
- RWE is the largest power producer and renewable energy generator in Wales with more than 3GW of energy across 11 sites.
- If successful in the leasing round, RWE’s Celtic Sea projects will also play a key role in the development of RWE’s Pembroke Net Zero Centre, as well as decarbonizing wider industrial processes and transportation across South Wales.
It looks like RWE are very serious about the Celtic Sea and Pembrokeshire.
Pembroke Net Zero Centre
The Pembroke Net Zero Centre looks to be a powerful beast.
It will be located at the 2200 MW Pembroke power station, which is the largest gas-fired power station in Europe.
These are the first two paragraphs on its web page.
RWE is a world leader in renewables, a market leader in the development of offshore wind and a key driver of the global energy transition. In turn, Pembroke is looking to continue its transformation as part of a decarbonisation hub under the title of the PNZC, linking-up with new innovative technologies needed for a low carbon future, including hydrogen production, Carbon Capture and Storage and floating offshore wind.
The PNZC will bring together all areas of the company’s decarbonisation expertise, including innovation, offshore wind, power engineering, trading and the development/operation of highly technical plants.
The page also talks of burning hydrogen in the power station and an initial 100-300 MW ‘pathfinder’ electrolyser on the Pembroke site.
Conclusion
In some ways, RWE are following a similar philosophy in the area, to that being pursued by SSE at Keadby on Humberside.
As The Crown Estate is talking of 4 GW in the Celtic Sea, it looks like RWE are positioning Pembroke to be the backup, when the wind doesn’t blow.
RWE Conducting Seabed Habitat Survey For 3 GW Offshore Wind Farm In UK
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
RWE is performing a benthic survey off the northeast coast of the UK, where the company plans to build its 3 GW Dogger Bank South (DBS) Offshore Wind Farm.
That sounds like another 3 GW will soon be on its way.
In How Long Does It Take To Build An Offshore Wind Farm?, I said that six years from planning permission to commissioning was typical, so as this wind farm is applying for planning permission in 2024, I would expect that a completion date of 2030 is possible.
Call For Innovations In Offshore Wind – RWE Launches Global Innovation Competition 2023
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from RWE.
This is the sub-heading.
Solutions wanted in the domains of ecology, circularity and system integration – Deadline for submission is 17th of April 2023
This is the first paragraph.
RWE, one of the world leaders in offshore wind, has launched its second annual Innovation Competition. The company is looking for solutions in the domains of ecology, system integration and circularity in offshore wind. RWE is dedicated to exploring and supporting innovative solutions that can both accelerate the pace of deployment of offshore wind, as well as contribute to sustainable development of offshore wind farms worldwide.
As someone who explored the dynamics of towing out and erecting floating oil platforms in the 1970s, I don’t think my experience fits entering. But I’ll be thinking about something.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm Officially Celebrates Its Operations And Maintenance Base Opening
The title of this post is the same as that of this news item on the Dogger Bank wind farm web site.
These bullet points introduce the item.
- 150 guests and employees gathered to celebrate the official opening.
- The state-of-the-art base will be the hub for operations and monitor 5% of UK electricity from its control room.
- Over 400 long-term jobs have been created locally to support Operations and Maintenance from South Tyneside for the 35-year life of the wind farm.
- The world-class facility will be operated in line with the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework
This Google Map shows the location of the base.
The red arrow indicates the base, which appears to be convenient for the North Sea.
This second Google Map shows a close up if the site.
There is a nice long quayside, which in the future could be large enough to assemble floating turbines.
This third image is a Google Map 3D visualisation of the site from across the Tyne.
The news item says this about the ownership and operation of the Dogger Bank wind farm.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%). SSE Renewables is lead operator for the development and construction of Dogger Bank Wind Farm. Equinor will be lead operator of the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years.
Initially, the Port of Tyne base will operate and maintain these wind farms.
- Dogger Bank A – 1235 MW
- Dogger Bank B – 1235 MW
- Dogger Bank C – 1218 MW
This gives a total of 3688 MW.
Note.
- SSE Renewables and Equinor are also developing the 1500 MW Dogger Bank D wind farm.
- This would bring the total up to 5188 MW.
- RWE are also developing the 3000 MW Dogger Bank South wind farm.
Leases were signed for both the Dogger Bank D and Dogger Bank South wind farms in January 2023.
I doubt all of these wind farms will be operated and maintained from the Port of Tyne base, due to the different ownership of Dogger Bank South.
But, I do hope that the facility can be expanded to handle Dogger Bank D.
ITM Signs 200MW Electrolyser Deal
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on renews.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Agreements with Linde Engineering will be for installation at RWE’s GET H2 Nukleus project in Germany
These paragraphs outline the deal.
ITM Power has signed two contracts for electrolysers, totalling 200MW, which will be installed in green hydrogen plants in Germany that will be supplied by North Sea offshore wind.
The contracts, both with Linde Engineering, are each for 100MW of PEM electrolysers.
The machines will be installed at two plants operated by RWE in Lingen, Germany.
Note.
- Linde Engineering and ITM Power were preselected by RWE for these orders.
- ITM Power seem to be going through scale-up problems.
But the comments in the article and the orders, surely show that ITM Power is now more likely to recover.
Lützerath: German Coal Mine Stand Off Amid Ukraine War Energy Crunch
The title of this post, is the same as that on this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
From her tiny wooden treehouse, which sways precariously in the winter wind, a young woman watches an enormous mechanical digger tear into the earth below, its jaws edging ever closer to the village which she’s determined to save.
And these two paragraphs outline the protest.
Lützerath, in western Germany, is on the verge – literally – of being swallowed up by the massive coal mine on its doorstep.
Around 200 climate change activists, who are now all that stand in the way of the diggers expanding the Garzweiler opencast mine, have been warned that if they don’t leave by Tuesday they’ll be forcibly evicted.
But this is not about coal or bituminous coal, as we know it in the UK, this mine will produce lignite or brown coal.
Read both Wikipedia entries linked to the previous sentence and you find some choice phrases.
For bituminous coal.
- Within the coal mining industry, this type of coal is known for releasing the largest amounts of firedamp, a dangerous mixture of gases that can cause underground explosions.
- Extraction of bituminous coal demands the highest safety procedures involving attentive gas monitoring, good ventilation and vigilant site management.
- The leading producer is China, with India and the United States a distant second and third.
For lignite.
- It has a carbon content around 25–35%. and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content.
- When removed from the ground, it contains a very high amount of moisture which partially explains its low carbon content.
- The combustion of lignite produces less heat for the amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur released than other ranks of coal. As a result, environmental advocates have characterized lignite as the most harmful coal to human health.
- Depending on the source, various toxic heavy metals, including naturally occurring radioactive materials may be present in lignite which are left over in the coal fly ash produced from its combustion, further increasing health risks.
- Lignite’s high moisture content and susceptibility to spontaneous combustion can cause problems in transportation and storage.
I don’t think, that we’ve ever burned lignite in the UK for electricity, as it is just too filthy.
This map shows the mine.
Note.
- The autobahn at the West of the map, is a six-land highway, so gives an idea of the scale.
- The village of Lützerath is towards the bottom of the map in the middle.
- What has been left after the mining, is going to take a lot of restoration.
It almost appears that some of the scenes of devastation, we are seeing in the Ukraine are also happening in Germany due to the frantic search for energy.
A 1960s-Educated Engineer’s Attitude To Coal
I was one of about four-hundred engineers in my year at Liverpool University in the 1960s.
- Quite a few of those engineers were from coal-mining areas and some were children of miners.
- I remember the graduate recruitment fair at the University in 1968, where the representative from the National Coal Board sat there alone, as if he’d got the 1960s version of Covid-19.
- Some went and talked to him, as they felt sorry for him.
- As far as I know, not one of us, went to work for the National Coal Board.
Engineers and other graduates of the 1960s, didn’t feel that coal was the future.
Had Aberfan and the other pit disasters of the era killed coal as a career, amongst my generation of the UK population?
What Should The Germans Do?
It is my view that whatever the Germans do, burning brown coal, should not be on the list. It’s just too polluting.
This article on euronews is entitled Germany And Poland Have A Dirty Big Secret – An Addiction To Brown Coal.
A few years ago, I was in Katowice on Poland and I have never seen such pollution in Europe, since the smogs of the 1950s.
The euronews article says this.
In eastern Germany some members of a little-known group claim they are being ethnically cleansed, not by militia groups, but by the coal mining industry.
Bulldozers have so far destroyed over 130 Sorb villages to make way for the mining of Europe’s dirtiest kind of fossil fuel – brown coal, or lignite as it is also known.
Brown coal mines are open cast and devour vast tracts of land. As well as whole villages farming and wildlife are destroyed.
The Penk family live in the village of Rohne. They feel their whole culture is also being destroyed.
Note that the Sorbs have a Wikipedia entry, which says there are 60,000 Sorbs in Germany.
One thing the Germans are doing is investing in the UK renewable energy industry.
- RWE own or part-own over 7 GW of offshore wind farms in the UK, some of which are under development.
- enBW and BP are developing 3 GW of offshore wind farms in the UK.
- Over twenty offshore wind farms use Siemens Gamesa turbines.
- The NeuConnect interconnector is being built between the Isle of Grain and Wilhelmshaven.
Would it not be better for the physical and mental health of German citizens, if they abandoned their dirty love of brown coal and spent the money in the North Sea?
Ramboll To Develop Offshore Wind-To-Hydrogen Concept
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Ramboll has been selected to investigate the feasibility of producing hydrogen offshore at a multi-gigawatt scale with NortH2 in the Dutch part of the North Sea.
Note.
- NortH2 has a web site.
- There is a very rich About NortH2 page.
- NortH2 is a consortium made up of Equinor, Eneco, Gasunie, Groningen Seaports, RWE and Shell Netherlands.
- The consortium aims to use 4 GW to produce hydrogen by 2030 and 10 GW by 2040.
The world needs more ambitious projects like this.
RWE Looking for Innovators To Boost UK’s Offshore Wind Supply Chain
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
RWE appear to be looking for innovators in three areas.
- Autonomous solutions and the best way to integrate them into wind farm site investigations, construction, and operations and maintenance (O&M) is the first challenge for which RWE is looking for responses.
- The second challenge is about solutions to measure and reduce the environmental impacts of offshore wind farm construction and operations on birds.
- The last challenge focuses on ideas and innovations in cable monitoring and protection, aiming to secure a reduction in offshore wind farm cable failures.
As sums of around £25,000 are talked about in the article, it could be worth applying, if you have a relevant idea.
Is it slightly flattering to the UK’s skills, that a German company is backing British innovation?
But then I was involved in a British invention, which was also backed by the Germans and made me a reasonable amount of money.
Plans Emerge For 8 GW Of Offshore Wind On Dogger Bank
Wikipedia has an entry, which is a List Of Offshore Wind Farms In The United Kingdom.
The totals are worth a look.
- Operational – 13279 MW
- Under Construction – 4125 MW
- Proposed Under The UK Government’s Contracts For Difference Round 3 – 2412 MW
- Proposed Under The UK Government’s Contracts For Difference Round 4 – 7026 MW
- Exploratory Phase, But No Contract for Difference – Scotland – 24,826 MW
- Exploratory Phase, But No Contract for Difference – England – 14,500 MW
Note.
- That gives a Grand Total of 66,168 MW or 66.168 GW.
- The government’s target is 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030.
- The typical UK power need is around 23 GW, so with nuclear and solar, we could be approaching three times the electricity generation capacity that we currently need.
The figures don’t include projects like Berwick Bank, Cerulean Wind, Norfolk Vanguard or Northern Horizons, which are not mentioned in Wikipedia’s list.
I regularly look at the list of wind farms in this Wikipedia entry and noticed that the number of Dogger Bank wind farms had increased.
They are now given as.
- Dogger Bank A – 1200 MW – Completion in 2023/24
- Dogger Bank B – 1200 MW – Completion in 2024/25
- Dogger Bank C – 1200 MW – Completion in 2024/25
- Dogger Bank D – 1320 MW – No Completion Given
- Dogger Bank South – 3000 MW – No Completion Given
Note, that gives a Grand Total of 7920 MW or 7.920 GW.
This article on offshoreWIND.biz is entitled BREAKING: SSE, Equinor Plan 1.3 GW Dogger Bank D Offshore Wind Project.
It was published on the October 6th, 2022 and starts with this summary.
SSE Renewables and Equinor are looking into building what would be the fourth part of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, whose three phases (A, B and C) are currently under construction. Surveys are now underway at an offshore site where the partners want to develop Dogger Bank D, which would bring Dogger Bank Wind Farm’s total capacity to nearly 5 GW if built.
Obviously, there are a few ifs and buts about this development, but it does look like SSE Renewables and Equinor are serious about developing Dogger Bank D.
More Dogger Bank Gigawatts for UK As RWE Moves Forward With Two 1.5 GW Projects
This subheading describes, the 3 GW wind farm, that I listed earlier as Dogger Bank South.
These three paragraphs describe the projects.
RWE is now moving forward with two new offshore wind farms in the Zone, each with a 1.5 GW generation capacity, after the company obtained approval from the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to enter into an Agreement for Lease with The Crown Estate this Summer, following the Round 4 leasing process.
The wind farms will be built at two adjacent sites located just southwest of the Dogger Bank A offshore wind farm and are dubbed Dogger Bank South (DBS) East and Dogger Bank South (DBS) West.
RWE has also started with geophysical seabed surveys within the wind turbine array areas for its two new projects.
It appears that they have already got the leasing process started.
When Will Dogger Bank D And Dogger Bank South Be Operational?
Consider.
- In How Long Does It Take To Build An Offshore Wind Farm?, showed that a lot of offshore wind farms have gone from planning permission to first operation in six years.
- I don’t think that there will be planning permission problems on the Dogger Bank.
- The two wind farms are a continuation of Dogger Bank A, B and C and the Sofia wind farms.
- A lot of the construction, would be more of the same.
With average luck, I can see Dogger Bank D and Dogger Bank South in full production before the end of 2028.
The Anonymous Widower 