CIP Picks Stiesdal Floater For 100MW Scottish Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Offshore Engineering.
These two paragraphs introduce the project.
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has selected Stiesdal Offshore’s TetraSub floating foundation structure for the 100MW Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm project, to be located off the coast of Dounreay, Caithness, Scotland.
The technology has been said to offer a lightweight and cost-effective floating solution, based on factory-made modules which are then assembled domestically in port to form a complete foundation.
Note.
- The TetraSub seems to have been designed for ease of manufacture.
- One if the aims appears to be to build a strong local supply chain.
- The TetraSub was designed with the help of Edinburgh University.
- The TetraSpar Demonstrator is in operation off the coast of Norway.
- This page on Mission Innovation describes the TetraSpar in detail.
- The TetraSpar foundation, owned by Shell, TEPCO RP, RWE, and Stiesdal.
- It can be deployed in water with a depth of up to 200 metres.
- Currently, they carry a 3.6 MW turbine.
- At that size, they’d need 27 or 28 turbines to create a 100 MW wind farm.
The home page of the Pentland Offshore Wind Farm gives more details.
This article on offshoreWIND.biz is entitled CIP And Hexicon To Halve Pentland Floating Wind Project Area.
- The project area has been halved.
- The number of turbines has been reduced from ten to seven.
- Compact turbines will be used.
- The project will be built in two phases, one turbine in 2025 and six in 2026.
- Effectively, the first turbine will help to fund the second phase, which eases cash flow.
The changes show how the wind farm has changed during development due to local pressures and improved technology.
Conclusion
It does seem that the competition is growing in the field of floating wind turbines.
Given the quality of the research and backing for these floats and the fact they now have an order, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this technology be a success.
Alternative Energy Storage Technologies To Challenge Electrochemistry
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Battery and Energy Storage Magazine.
It gives a good summary of two energy storage system; Highview Power and Gravitricity, that I rate highly promising.
It also gives details of a Danish system called Stiesdal Storage Technologies, which is developing a hot rocks energy storage system.
The article says this about the system.
The pumped-heat ESS uses pea-sized crushed basalt, rock in insulated steel tanks with the stored energy released by turbine.
SST CEO Peder Riis Nickelsen said: “The cost of crushed stone is at a totally different level per unit of energy than practically any other material for energy storage. Our charging and discharging system can utilise well-known technologies that have been applied for a century within other industries and are well-suited for mass production.”
The cost of materials is estimated to be €10 ($12) per kWh.
The first demonstration project, a 1-2MW, 24h capacity unit, will be installed at a power plant in Denmark next year, and will operate commercially.
This page on the Striesdal web site, explains the technology.
It sounds like the system uses very similar principles to Siemens Gamesa ETES, with a different heat storage medium.
Conclusion
At my last count, there now appears to be upwards of half-a-dozen viable alternatives to chemical batteries and traditional pumped storage. Some of the technologies are also backed, by large companies, organisations and countries, who can afford to take a long-term view.
I hope those, who claim that renewables will never power the world, have at least got the recipe for the cooking of humble pie ready.
The Anonymous Widower 