RWE To Start Building Battery Storage That Will Support Dutch Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
RWE has finalised its investment decision for a battery storage project in the Netherlands that will optimise the OranjeWind offshore wind farm’s integration into the Dutch energy system. The company plans to invest approximately EUR 24 million into the project.
This paragraph outlines the system.
The system, which will have an installed power capacity of 35 MW and a storage capacity of 41 MWh, will consist of a total of 110 lithium-ion battery racks that will be installed at RWE’s biomass plant in Eemshaven and will be virtually coupled with RWE’s power plants in the Netherlands.
There is also an explanatory infographic.
Note.
I visited Eemshaven in The Train Station At The Northern End Of The Netherlands.
- The wind farm has a capacity of 760 MW.
- Solar panels will float between the wind turbines.
- Surplus energy will be turned into hydrogen.
The OranjeWind wind farm has a web site, with a video that explains RWE’s philosophy.
The web site has a section, which is entitled Innovations At OranjeWind, where this is said.
In order to realise system integration and accelerate the energy transition, RWE is working together with a number of innovators on new developments in offshore wind farms. The company is realising and testing these innovations in the OranjeWind wind farm.
These innovations include offshore floating solar, a subsea lithium-ion battery, LiDAR power forecasting system and a subsea hydro storage power plant off-site.
Three innovations are discussed in a bit more detail, with links to more information.
- Subsea pumped hydro storage power plant – Ocean Grazer – More…
- Floating solar – SolarDuck – More…
- Intelligent Subsea Energy Storage – Verlume – More…
Big companies should always support innovation.
RWE Applies For Rampion 2 Development Consent, Reduces Number Of Offshore Wind Turbines
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Last month, RWE and its project partners submitted an application for the development consent order (DCO) for the Rampion 2 offshore wind farm in the UK. The Planning Inspectorate accepted the application for examination on 7 September and will start the examination process within three months.
RWE and other major wind developers may well have taken a pass in acquiring new offshore wind leases in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 5 last week, but RWE seem to be carrying on with the projects they already have.
Dates for the 1200 MW Rampion 2 wind farm include.
- Development Consent – Early 2025
- Construction Start – Late 2026 or Early 2027
- Fully Operational – End of the decade.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rampion 2 being earlier, as it is the only wind farm in the development queue in the South of England.
Two UK Offshore Wind Farm Extension Projects Sign ‘Good Neighbour Agreement’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The North Falls and Five Estuaries offshore wind projects, both extensions to existing offshore wind farms, have signed what is called a “good neighbour agreement” with regard to their connections to the UK grid.
I have flagged up this article as it shows the benefits that can accrue if infrastructure developers listen to the locals and cooperate with all stakeholders.
This paragraph describes the agreement,
The agreement enables closer liaison, information sharing and joint planning, and is a result of feedback gathered through public consultation, which has shown a preference for more cooperation and coordination between the two projects on the landfall location, onshore corridor route, substation location and stakeholder engagement.
It is probably helpful that RWE is involved in both projects.
North Falls wind farm is a 504 MW wind farm being developed by SSE Renewables and RWE.
Five Estuaries wind farm is under development by RWE and the size doesn’t seem to have been decided yet.
This is all good project management.
Let’s hope ur all goes well!
SSE And RWE Tweak North Falls Project Following Public Input, DCO Application Now Expected In 2024
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
RWE and SSE Renewables have made a number of changes to the North Falls offshore wind project in the UK, a proposed extension to the existing 504 MW Greater Gabbard, whose implementation will likely move the planned date for filing a development consent order (DCO) application into 2024. The most significant changes to the project plans include removing the northern array area and reducing the number and height of wind turbines.
These two paragraphs introduce the article.
The developers are tweaking the project following a review of the feedback received from the North Falls statutory consultation held during the summer.
Initially, North Falls comprised two offshore array areas totalling 150 square kilometres and will now have a single array occupying 95 square kilometres. This also moves the wind farm farther offshore, with its closest point to shore now being 42 kilometres, 20 kilometres farther out at sea than proposed originally.
It looks like RWE and SSE Renewables have listened to the public and acted.
But then the developers are two of the most experienced in the UK.
£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.
The Anonymous Widower 