Wrightbus To Provide Hydrogen Buses For Sizewell C Nuclear Plant
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Ballymena bus manufacturer Wrightbus is providing four hydrogen buses to the Sizewell C nuclear power site as part of a pilot scheme.
These first three paragraphs outline the scheme.
If successful, up to 150 buses could be ordered, making it one of the largest hydrogen bus fleets in the world.
Construction of the plant is to begin next year and multiple vehicles will be needed to move workers to and from the site.
Sizewell C will test the performance of four double-decker buses.
As I used to live in that area, I know the buses are bad and this will surely help.
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.
Signalling Team Trials Hydrogen Power
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
These two paragraphs outline the project.
The use of hydrogen to provide power for staff welfare compounds and to recharge battery tools and electric vehicles has been tested by Colas Rail UK’s signalling team during a project in the Gloucester area.
H-Power Tower fuel cell stacks designed by AFC Energy to replace diesel generators at off-grid construction sites were used to provide power for Eco-Cabins supplied by Sunbelt Rental. The H-Towers were also used to recharge battery-operated equipment and electric-hybrid vehicles.
There has been a large saving in carbon emission during the work.
Whilst living in the Suffolk countryside for nearly forty years, we had three major power outages.
The first was the smallest and Eastern Electricity or whoever it was around 1980, needed to change the transformer that fed the village where we lived. So a diesel generator was plugged in and it fed the village, whilst the new transformer was connected.
Then in the Great Storm of 1987, where we were without power for fourteen days until a load of happy foreigners from the other side of Offa’s Dyke, got the system up and singing again. I think today, that waiting two weeks to be reconnected would be unacceptable. Although the problems in 1987, were more down to the considerable amount of damage in Suffolk.
The last time, the power went just as we were going to bed on a summer evening.
We woke to find that the power had been restored.
The manner of the restoration was a textbook case of how power outages can be solved.
- Our house and the farm buildings around it, were fed from a transformer up a pole in the hedge by the drive.
- A driver who had known what they were doing had backed a full-size articulated lorry into the field alongside the transformer.
- Inside the trailer was a diesel generator and this had been connected to the transformer.
- When I investigated early in the morning, an engineer appeared from inside the trailer and asked if everything was OK.
- I said it was and asked a few technical questions.
- It turned out, that someone had brought the overhead cables down, whilst moving a load of straw near the prison.
So as our house was on one end of the cable that connected a few villages and farms to the grid, by temporarily connecting their mobile generator to the transformer everybody could be reconnected until the damage done near the prison could be repaired.
How long will it be before emergencies like these are handled by generators powered by hydrogen rather than diesel?
In HS2 Smashes Carbon Target, I describe how High Speed Two are making use of hydrogen electricity generators.
In UK Consortium To Develop Mobile Hydrogen Refuelling For Construction Sites, I talked about a UK government project to develop the hydrogen refuelling technology for construction sites. This would also work for the refuelling of emergency generators.
I can envisage the development of a series of zero-carbon hydrogen-powered trucks with onboard hydrogen generators of different sizes.
Conclusion
Hydrogen will bring a revolution in how we provide power on construction sites, in emergencies and in remote areas.
3GW Green Hydrogen Project To Power Heavy Industry With Surplus Scottish Wind Energy
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Institute of Mechanical Engineers web site.
I have covered the Kintore Electrolyser before, but this is a professional description of the project from a respected institution, who should know what they are talking about.
I can see several other giant electrolysers being built, in places like Humberside, Merseyside, Teesside, where there are large amounts of wind power and heavy energy users in the cement, chemicals and steel industries.
There could also be one in Norfolk or Suffolk to use the masses of offshore wind power being developed.
Vattenfall Selects Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone O&M Base
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Vattenfall has selected Peel Ports as the preferred bidder, and its port at Great Yarmouth as the location for the operations and maintenance base of the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone in the UK.
This was said about the competition to host the facility.
Vattenfall said that the competition was fierce to secure the agreement with an excellent bid from Lowestoft and Associated British Ports. With both ports offering excellent services it is clear that East Anglia’s potential as a superpower of offshore wind is secure.
I have a few thoughts.
Lowestoft In Suffolk And Great Yarmouth In Norfolk Must Work Together
This Google Map shows the coast between the two ports.
Note.
- Great Yarmouth is at the top of the map.
- Lowestoft is at the bottom of the map.
- The two towns are less than twelve miles apart.
- The Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour, is towards the top of the map.
The Google Map shows the port in more detail.
Note.
- Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour only opened in 2009.
- It has an average depth of 10 metres.
- It was planned as a container port, but the ships didn’t materialise.
- Some consider it to be a bit of a white elephant.
Could the Outer Harbour be used to assemble floating wind turbines?
I think it could but at present, there are no plans to use floating wind turbines off the coast of Norfolk.
I suspect though, if someone decided to build floating wind farms to the East of the Vattenfall’s Norfolk Zone fields, that Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour could be used to assemble the floating wind turbines.
This Google Map shows the Port of Lowestoft.
Note.
- There is over a kilometre of quays.
- It doesn’t have the water depth of Great Yarmouth.
- There is a lot of brownfield sites along the River Waveney.
- The East Anglia One wind farm is managed from Lowestoft.
Both harbours have their good and bad points.
- Both have good rail connections to Norwich.
- Lowestoft has a rail connection to Ipswich and has been promised a London service.
- Road connections to Ipswich and Norwich need improvement.
I suspect that it was a close contest, as to the port that got the Vattenfall contract.
A Lowestoft And Great Yarmouth Rail Connection
This map from Open RailwayMap between the two towns.
Note.
- The existing railways are shown in yellow.
- Former railways are shown in black dotted lines.
- There was even a railway along the coast.
The only rail connection between the ports is via Reedham, where the track layout is shown on this second OpenRailwayMap.
Note.
- Reedham station is in the North West corner on the line to Norwich.
- The line going North-East goes to Great Yarmouth.
- The line going South goes to Lowestoft.
There used to be a chord connecting Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, but it was cancelled by Beeching’s grandfather.
There is certainly scope to improve the rail connection between the two ports.
- There could be a convenient change at Reedham, if the timetables were adjusted.
- Trains could reverse at Reedham.
- The chord could be reopened to allow direct trains.
It wouldn’t be the most challenging rail project to have an hourly rail service between the two ports.
A Lowestoft And London Rail Service
This was promised with a frequency of something like four trains per day (tpd)
I think it should run between London and Yarmouth with a reverse at Lowestoft.
Suffolk Doesn’t Do Easy!
Many parts of the UK consider Suffolk to be rather sleepy.
I was conceived in the county and have spent at least half my life there.
I have a strong affection from my adopted county, which always seem to punch above its apparent weight.
- All thoroughbred horses have bloodlines that can be traced back to Newmarket, which is a town of 17,000 people in West Suffolk.
- The Battle of Landguard Fort is recorded as the last opposed attack on England, where on the 2nd of July 1667, a much larger Dutch force was repelled by Nathaniel Darrell and his marines.
- The exploits of Ipswich Town over the years are on a par with those of many prominent clubs in much bigger towns and cities.
- Since the 1950’s, the Port of Felixstowe has grown to be the United Kingdom’s busiest container port.
This morning I received a marketing e-mail from Adnams; the Suffolk brewer and this is an extract.
Ghost Ship 0.5% is brewed just like our other beers, so you can count on 150 years of brewing heritage. It was crafted to taste like our best-selling brew, so you can also count on its flavour.
It is always our aim to make great-tasting products, but when creating Ghost Ship 0.5%, the brewing team didn’t simply have to make something delicious, it had to taste like a well-loved and well-known beer. They were dealing with great expectations.
Adnams invested in a de-alcoholiser specifically to make this beer. We could brew in the normal way; adding the lovely fruity flavours you get from a full fermentation, before removing the alcohol. This alters the balance and the mouthfeel of a beer, so it still took months of trials and tinkering to get to where we wanted.
We used all our expertise the finest East Anglian malt and bold American hops to create a low-alcohol beer that tastes frighteningly good. It’s now our second most popular brew, and at 0.5% abv, can be enjoyed whenever and wherever the moment takes you. So, you can get out there, travel that little bit further, and taste just a little bit more.
Note in the last paragraph, that it is now their second most popular brew.
- It tastes just like the halves of bitter, I used to drink around 1960, whilst playing snooker with my father in his club in Felixstowe.
- Adnams has been my preferred beer since then.
- Like all zero-alcohol beers, my coeliac gut doesn’t react to it.
As a regular drinker of this beer, it looks like Suffolk has another success on its hands.
I’ll drink to that!
Low Carbon Construction Of Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station
Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station is going to be built on the Suffolk Coast.
Wikipedia says this about the power station’s construction.
The project is expected to commence before 2024, with construction taking between nine and twelve years, depending on developments at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, which is also being developed by EDF Energy and which shares major similarities with the Sizewell plant.
It is a massive project and I believe the construction program will be designed to be as low-carbon as possible.
High Speed Two is following the low-carbon route and as an example, this news item on their web site, which is entitled HS2 Completes Largest Ever UK Pour Of Carbon-Reducing Concrete On Euston Station Site, makes all the right noises.
These three paragraphs explain in detail what has been done on the Euston station site.
The team constructing HS2’s new Euston station has undertaken the largest ever UK pour of Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC) – a material that reduces the amount of carbon embedded into the concrete, saving over 76 tonnes of CO2 overall. John F Hunt, working for HS2’s station Construction Partner, Mace Dragados joint venture, completed the 232 m3 concrete pour in early September.
The EFC product, supplied by Capital Concrete, has been used as a foundation slab that will support polymer silos used for future piling works at the north of the Euston station site. Whilst the foundation is temporary, it will be in use for two years, and historically would have been constructed with a more traditional cement-based concrete.
The use of the product on this scale is an important step forward in how new, innovative environmentally sustainable products can be used in construction. It also helps support HS2’s objective of net-zero construction by 2035, and achieve its goal of halving the amount of carbon in the construction of Britain’s new high speed rail line.
Note.
- Ten of these slabs would fill an Olympic swimming pool.
- I first wrote about Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC) in this post called Earth Friendly Concrete.
- EFC is an Australian invention and is based on a geopolymer binder that is made from the chemical activation of two recycled industrial wastes; flyash and slag.
- HS2’s objective of net-zero construction by 2035 is laudable.
- It does appear that this is a trial, but as the slab will be removed in two years, they will be able to examine in detail how it performed.
I hope the Sizewell C project team are following High Speed Two’s lead.
Rail Support For Sizewell C
The Sizewell site has a rail connection and it appears that this will be used to bring in construction materials for the project.
In the January 2023 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article, which is entitled Rail Set To Support Sizewell C Construction.
It details how sidings will be built to support the construction, with up to four trains per day (tpd), but electrification is not mentioned.
This is surprising to me, as increasingly, big construction projects are being managed to emit as small an amount of carbon as possible. Sizewell C may be an isolated site, but in Sizewell B, it’s got one of the UK’s biggest independent carbon-free electricity generators a couple of hundred metres away.
The writer of the Modern Railways article, thinks an opportunity is being missed.
I feel the following should be done.
- Improve and electrify the East Suffolk Line between Ipswich and Saxmundham Junction.
- Electrify the Aldeburgh Branch Line and the sidings to support the construction or agree to use battery-electric or hydrogen zero-carbon locomotives.
Sizewell C could be a superb demonstration project for low-carbon construction!
Sizewell C Deliveries
Sizewell C will be a massive project and and will require a large number of deliveries, many of which will be heavy.
The roads in the area are congested, so I suspect rail is the preferred method for deliveries.
We already know from the Modern Railways article, that four tpd will shuttle material to a number of sidings close to the site. This is a good start.
Since Sizewell A opened, trains have regularly served the Sizewell site to bring in and take out nuclear material. These occasional trains go via Ipswich and in the last couple of years have generally been hauled by Class 88 electro-diesel locomotives.
It would be reasonable to assume that the Sizewell C sidings will be served in the same manner.
But the route between Westerfield Junction and Ipswich station is becoming increasingly busy with the following services.
- Greater Anglia’s London and Norwich services
- Greater Anglia’s Ipswich and Cambridge services
- Greater Anglia’s Ipswich and Felixstowe services
- Greater Anglia’s Ipswich and Lowestoft services
- Greater Anglia’s Ipswich and Peterborough services
- Freight services serving the Port of Felixstowe, which are expected to increase significantly in forthcoming years.
But the Modern Railways article says this about Saxmundham junction.
Saxmundham junction, where the branch meets the main line, will be relaid on a slightly revised alignment, retaining the existing layout but with full signalling giving three routes from the junction protecting signal on the Down East Suffolk line and two in the Down direction on the bidirectional Up East Suffolk line. Trap points will be installed on the branch to protect the main line, with the exit signal having routes to both running lines.
Does the comprehensive signalling mean that a freight train can enter or leave the Sizewell sidings to or from either the busy Ipswich or the quieter Lowestoft direction in a very safe manner?
I’m no expert on signalling, but I think it does.
- A train coming from the Lowestoft direction needing to enter the sidings would go past Saxmundham junction on the Up line. Once clear of the junction, it would stop and reverse into the branch.
- A train coming from the Ipswich direction needing to enter the sidings would approach in the wrong direction on the Up line and go straight into the branch.
- A train leaving the sidings in the Lowestoft direction would exit from the branch and take the Up line until it became single track. The train would then stop and reverse on to the Down line and take this all the way to Lowestoft.
- A train leaving the sidings in the Ipswich direction would exit from the branch and take the Up line all the way to Ipswich.
There would need to be ability to move the locomotive from one end to the other inside the Sizewell site or perhaps these trains could be run with a locomotive on both ends.
The advantage of being able to run freight trains between Sizewell and Lowestoft becomes obvious, when you look at this Google Map, which shows the Port of Lowestoft.
Note.
- The Inner Harbour of the Port of Lowestoft.
- The East Suffolk Line running East-West to the North of the Inner Harbour.
- Lowestoft station at the East side of the map.
I doubt it would be the most difficult or expensive of projects to build a small freight terminal on the North side of the Inner Harbour.
I suspect that the easiest way to bring the material needed to build the power station to Sizewell would be to do the following.
- Deliver it to the Port of Lowestoft by ship.
- Tranship to a suitable shuttle train for the journey to the Sizewell sidings.
- I estimate that the distance is only about 25 miles and a battery or hydrogen locomotive will surely be available in the UK in the next few years, that will be able to provide the motive power for the return journey.
In The TruckTrain, I wrote about a revolutionary freight concept, that could be ideal for the Sizewell freight shuttle.
In addition, there is no reason, why shuttle trains couldn’t come in from anywhere connected to the East Suffolk Line.
Zero-Carbon Construction
Sizewell C could be the first major construction site in the UK to use electricity rather than diesel simply because of its neighbour.
Conclusion
I shall be following the construction methods at Sizewell C, as I’m fairly sure they will break new ground in the decarbonisation of the Construction industry.
EuroLink, Nautilus And Sea Link
EuroLink, Nautilus and Sea Link are three proposed interconnectors being developed by National Grid Ventures.
EuroLink
EuroLink has a web site, where this is said.
To support the UK’s growing energy needs, National Grid Ventures (NGV) is bringing forward proposals for a Multi-Purpose Interconnector (MPI) called EuroLink, which will deliver a new electricity link between Great Britain to the Netherlands.
EuroLink could supply up to 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, which will be enough to power approximately 1.8 million homes, as well as contribute to our national energy security and support the UK’s climate and energy goals. We’re holding a non-statutory public consultation to inform you about our EuroLink proposals, gather your feedback to help refine our plans and respond to your questions.
Note, that EuroLink is a Multi-Purpose Interconnector (MPI) and they are described on this page of the National Grid website.
In EuroLink’s case, this means it is basically an interconnector between the UK and The Netherlands, that also connects wind farms on the route to the shore.
- Coastal communities get less disruption, as the number of connecting cables coming ashore is reduced.
- Less space is needed onshore for substations.
- Electricity from the wind farms can be directed to where it is needed or can be stored.
As an Electrical and Control Engineer, I like the MPI approach.
The technology to implement the MPI approach is very much tried and tested.
There are many references to EuroLink terminating at Friston.
Nautilus
Nautilus has a web site, where this is said.
Nautilus could connect up to 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind to each country through subsea electricity whilst connecting to offshore wind farm/s at sea. By combining offshore wind generation with interconnector capacity between the UK and Belgium, Nautilus would significantly reduce the amount of infrastructure and disruption required both onshore and offshore.
With this new technology, we hope to reduce the impact of infrastructure on local communities and the environment, as well as support the government’s net zero and energy security targets. We are already working closely with other developers in the area to coordinate activities and minimise impact on local communities. We believe that through improved coordination, the UK government can achieve and support the co-existence of renewable energy with coastal communities.
Nautilus is another MPI.
This is said on the web site.
Last year, National Grid Ventures ran a non-statutory consultation for Nautilus, which proposed a connection at Friston.
NGV holds a connection agreement on the Isle of Grain in Kent as part of its development portfolio and we are currently investigating if this could be a potential location for Nautilus. Until this is confirmed to be technically feasible, Nautilus will be included as part of our coordination work in East Suffolk.
So it looks like, Nautilus could connect to the UK grid at Friston or the Isle of Grain.
Sea Link
Sea Link has a web site, and is a proposed interconnector across the Thames Estuary between Suffolk and Kent.
This is said on the web site about the need for and design of Sea Link.
The UK electricity industry is evolving at pace to help lead the way in meeting the climate challenge, whilst also creating a secure energy supply based on renewable and low carbon technologies.
The demands on the electricity network are set to grow as other sectors of the economy diversify their energy consumption from using fossil fuels towards cleaner forms, the move towards electric vehicles being just one example.
Where we’re getting our power from is changing and we need to change too. The new sources of renewable and low-carbon energy are located along the coastline. We need to reinforce existing transmission network and build new electricity infrastructure in these areas in order to transport the power to where it’s needed. This is the case along the whole of the East Coast including Suffolk and Kent.
To allow this increase in energy generation, we need to reinforce the electricity transmission system. Sea Link helps to reinforce the electricity network across Suffolk and Kent.
Our proposals include building an offshore high voltage direct current (HVDC) link between Suffolk and Kent with onshore converter stations and connections back to the national electricity transmission system.
On the web site, in answer to a question of What Is Sea Link?, this is said.
Sea Link is an essential upgrade to Britain’s electricity network in East Anglia and Kent using subsea and underground cable. The proposal includes approximately 130km of subsea cables between Sizewell area in East Suffolk and Richborough in Kent. At landfall, the cables would go underground for up to 5 km to a converter station (one at each end). The converter station converts direct current used for the subsea section to alternating current, which our homes and businesses use. A connection is then made to the existing transmission network. In Suffolk, via the proposed Friston substation; in Kent via a direct connection to the overhead line between Richborough and Canterbury.
Note, that from Kent electricity can also be exported to the Continent.
All Cables Lead To Friston In Suffolk
It looks like EuroLink, Nautilus and Sea Link could all be connected to a new substation at Friston.
But these will not be the only cables to pass close to the village.
This Google Map shows the village.
Running South-West to North-East across the map can be seen the dual line of electricity pylons, that connect the nuclear power stations at Sizewell to the UK electricity grid.
Has Friston been chosen for the substation, so that, the various interconnectors can be connected to the power lines, that connect the Sizewell site to the UK electricity grid.
This would enable EuroLink, Nautilus and/or Sea Link to stand in for the Sizewell nuclear stations, if they are shut down for any reason?
It does appear from reports on the Internet that the Friston substation is not welcome.
Exploring Opportunities For Coordination
The title of this section is a heading in the EuroLink web site, where this is said.
In response to stakeholder feedback, NGV’s Eurolink and Nautilus projects and NGET’s Sea Link project are exploring potential opportunities to coordinate. Coordination could range from co-location of infrastructure from different projects on the same site, to coordinating construction activities to reduce potential impacts on local communities and the environment.
That sounds very sensible.
National Grid Invites Local Community To Comment On Proposals For Green Electricity Projects Needed To Boost Home-Grown Energy Supplies And Progress Towards Net Zero
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
These are the four main bullet points.
- New interconnector with Netherlands and subsea cable between Suffolk and Kent will strengthen electricity supplies and transport low carbon power to homes and businesses.
- 8-week public consultations will introduce the plans and ask for views of local communities.
- The proposals include possible co-location of infrastructure (buildings and underground cables.) to reduce the impact on local communities.
- Projects form part of the electricity network upgrades identified across the UK to help deliver the government’s energy security strategy and net zero targets.
Note.
- Eurolink is a subsea electricity cable between Great Britain and the Netherlands.
- Sea Link is a subsea electricity cable between Suffolk and Kent.
- The consultations will start on October the 24th.
This paragraph from the press release describes Eurolink.
Developed by National Grid Ventures, the Eurolink multi-purpose interconnector (MPI) is designed to harness the increasing volumes of offshore wind power in the North Sea and has the potential to power approximately 1.8 million homes. It will enable the connection of offshore wind farms to both the British and Dutch electricity grids via an interconnector, enabling the transport of clean electricity from where it’s produced to where it’s needed most.
And this paragraph describes Sea Link.
Developed by National Grid Electricity Transmission, Sea Link will add additional capacity to the electricity network in Suffolk and Kent, enabling low carbon and green energy to power local homes and businesses and be transported around the country. The proposals outline a preferred route of 10km of onshore and 140km of undersea cables, together with potential landfall and converter station locations at the proposed Friston substation in Suffolk and in Richborough in Kent.
These two new interconnectors would appear to open up the delivery of green electricity to the South-East of England and the Continent.
As I’ve said before, there doesn’t be any shortage of money to build wind farms and interconnectors between Great Britain, Belgium and The Netherlands.
How Much Wind Capacity Is Lined Up Around The South-East Of England?
Wind farms listed in the area include.
- Operation – Dudgeon – 402 MW
- Operation – East Anglia One – 714 MW
- Operation – Greater Gabbard – 504 MW
- Operation – Gunfleet Sands – 184 MW
- Operation -Kentish Flats – 140 MW
- Operation – London Array – 630 MW
- Operation – Rampion – 400 MW
- Operation – Scoby Sands – 60 MW
- Operation – Sheringham Shoal – 317 MW
- Operation – Thanet – 300 MW
- Proposed – East Anglia Three – 1372 MW
- Proposed – Norfolk Boreas – 1386 MW
- Exploratory – East Anglia One North – 800 MW
- Exploratory – East Anglia Two – 900 MW
- Exploratory – Rampion 2 Extension – 1200 MW
- Exploratory – Norfolk Vanguard – 1800 MW
- Exploratory – North Falls – 504 MW
- Exploratory – Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Extensions – 719 MW
Note.
- These wind farms total to 12.3 GW.
- As the UK needs about 23 GW, these wind farms can power about half the UK.
- But no matter, as the East Anglian Array is planned to go to 7.2 GW and only 4.7 GW is so far operational or planned.
- So there could be up to another 2.5 GW to come.
This is not bad news for Rishi Sunak’s first days in office.
There’s More To Come
The National Grid press release finishes with these two paragraphs.
Last year, National Grid Ventures also ran a non-statutory consultation on Nautilus, a proposed MPI linking Britain and Belgium, which proposed a connection at Friston. National Grid Ventures is now investigating the potential to move the Nautilus MPI project to the Isle of Grain in Kent.
Much of the UK’s electricity network was built in the 1960s when the country was more reliant on fossil fuels. Today, we need to connect huge volumes of renewable power, such as offshore wind, to the network, to help deliver the government’s energy security strategy and net zero targets and to transition to a cleaner, more affordable, and more independent energy system. New infrastructure, and network upgrades are necessary to get the new clean energy from where it’s generated to where it’s needed.In addition to these proposals in Suffolk and Kent (and the East Anglia GREEN proposals which are currently being consulted on) the need for new network infrastructure has also been identified in North and South Wales, the Scottish Islands and West Coast, the East Coast of Scotland and Aberdeenshire, Lancashire, North-East England, and Yorkshire & Humber.
National Grid have numerous plans to connect up all the renewable energy being developed.
Plan To Build £150m Green Hydrogen Plant At Felixstowe Port
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
These two paragraphs introduce the project.
A £150 million green hydrogen plant is to be built at the UK’s busiest container port according to proposals by ScottishPower, it emerged yesterday.
The energy company has devised plans for a 100MW plant at the Port of Felixstowe which will provide fuel to power trains, trucks and ships.
There’s a lot more to this project than it would appear at first.
Where Will The Electrolyser Be Sited?
The Times article says this.
The site will be around the size of a football pitch, on brownfield land within the port.
I have flown my virtual helicopter over the port and there could be a couple of suitable football pitch-sized plots.
Where Will The Electricity Come From?
The East Anglia Array is a proposed massive series of offshore wind farms, which will be about thirty miles off the Suffolk coast.
Wikipedia says this about the size.
Up to six individual projects could be set up in the area with a maximum capacity of up to 7.2 GW.
But the main thing about the East Anglian Array is that it is being developed by a partnership of ScottishPower and Vattenfall.
Negotiations shouldn’t be difficult.
This Google Map shows the town of Felixstowe.
Note.
- The Ports of Felixstowe and Harwich are opposite each other on the two banks of the River Orwell.
- The power cable to the East Anglia Array comes ashore at Bawdsey in the North-East corner of the map.
- The Port of Felixstowe has two rail links, which are not electrified.
I suspect that the electric power to the electrolyser might well be routed underwater to the Port of Felixstowe either from Bawdsey or possibly direct from the wind farm.
A Meeting With A Crane Driver
I used to regularly go to Ipswich Town away matches and at one match, I met a senior crane operator from the Port of Felixstowe. We got talking about electrifying the rail link to the port and decarbonisation of the port in general.
He was adamant that electrification of the rail lines in the port, wouldn’t be a good idea as containers occasionally get dropped or crane drivers aren’t as accurate as they should be.
Hydrogen-Powered Freight Locomotives
When, I told him about the possibilities of hydrogen rail locomotives, he felt this was the way to go, as no rail electrification would be needed in the port.
Hydrogen-electric hybrid locomotives would also be able to take containers cross-country to the main electrified routes to the North and West, where they would raise their pantographs and use electric power.
How many trucks would be removed from the A14, A1 and M6?
Will Greater Anglia Convert Their Class 755 Trains to Hydrogen?
Class 755 trains have a short PowerPack in the middle and are designed for conversion to hydrogen-electric operation.
Note the PowerPack has four slots for diesel engines, batteries or hydrogen fuel-cells.
A Better Working Environment
But my fellow supporter felt the biggest gain in the port, would come with replacement or updating of all the vehicles and handling equipment, as if all these machines were hydrogen-powered, this would greatly improve the working conditions for the dock workers.
ScottishPower’s Vision
This press release on ScottishPower’s web site is entitled ScottishPower Vision For Green Hydrogen Fuels Hub At Port Of Felixstowe.
Conclusion
The Port of Felixstowe is doing the planning for this in the right way, as ensuring the hydrogen supply in the port first, is the logical way to transition to hydrogen power.
But then, I’ve watched the Port of Felixstowe grow since the 1960s and they usually get their decisions right.
The press release starts with these bullet points.
- ScottishPower explores green hydrogen at Port of Felixstowe to help decarbonise the UK’s busiest port.
- The project could help kick-start the low carbon transformation of the UK’s heavy transport sector.
- 100MW facility could deliver up to 40 tonnes of green hydrogen per day – enough to power 1300 hydrogen trucks.
- International export also being explored.
And these two paragraphs.
ScottishPower, with Hutchison Ports, is exploring the opportunity to develop, build and operate a multi-hundred MW green hydrogen production facility at the Port of Felixstowe – with the potential to decarbonise industry and transportation in the region.
Both companies have set out their vision to help create a greener port, which could provide clean fuel for customers at Britain’s busiest container port.Plans are being developed to use green hydrogen for onshore purposes, such as road, rail and industrial use, with the potential to create liquid forms, such as green ammonia or e-methanol. This could, in turn, provide clean fuels for shipping and aviation, and create opportunities for cost-effective export to international markets. The project aims to continue engineering and site development works to align with customer demand from 2025 onwards.
It is certainly a very extremely ambitious vision!
But then the county of my conception, has a tremendous determination to succeed. And often against all conventional logic!
The Anonymous Widower 