Tregoss Passing Loop On The Atlantic Coast Line
To increase the frequency of trains on the Atlantic Coast Line between Par and Newquay stations, from two-hourly to hourly, Network Rail are proposing to add a passing loop at Tregoss Moor.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the railway as it runs across the moor.
Note.
- Roche station in the North-East corner of the map.
- The red and blue crosses indicating level crossings on the route.
- The map seems to indicate a number of power cables.
I took these pictures from the train, as I came down to Par station.
Note.
- I was sitting on the right-hand-side of the train, looking West.
- In addition to the cables, there are about half a dozen wind turbines.
- Roche station is typical of the intermediate stations on the line – Small, functional and tidy, with a few car parking spaces.
On past form, I suspect that Network Rail could squeeze in a passing loop, that wouldn’t stir up too many antis.
I have one thought,
The St. Austell Link Road
This Google Map shows where the A30 to St. Austell Link Road is being built.
Note.
- The station at the top of the map by the area called Victoria and to the West of Higher Town is Roche station.
- The station at the right edge of the map about halfway down is Bugle station.
- The South of the map is covered by white china clay workings.
- Running diagonally across the map is the A30 to St. Austell Link Road.
This page on the Cornwall web site, says this about the road.
The St Austell to A30 link road will connect the old A30 near Victoria to the north and the A391 at Stenalees roundabout to the south. It will be a new 3.9 mile single carriageway road. It is a vital link to bring opportunities to the area.
This Google Map shows the area, where the Link Road will connect to the A30.
Note.
- The A30 running across the top of the map.
- The Victoria area and Roche station in the North-East corner of the map.
- In the South-West corner of the map their is the site office of the Link Road.
- The current end of the construction scar of the Link Road can be seen at the edge of the map.
- I would assume that the new road joins the roundabout to the North-East of the Construction Office.
- Traffic could be routes North-East from here along the B3274 to join the A30 at Cornwall Services.
- The railway sneaks between the A30 and the construction site.
I hope there’s been a bit of joined up thinking here and the road and the railway have been given the best joint design possible.
Energy / Sullom Voe Terminal To Be Connected To The Grid By The End Of Next Year
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Shetland News.
This is the sub-heading.
POWER supply to the Sullom Voe Terminal is set to be provided by two 43-kilometre underground power lines from the Gremista substation by the end of next year.
These four paragraphs outline some of EnQuest’s plans.
The on-site gas-fired power station, operated by Equans, is due to be switched off in the fourth quarter of 2025 as it no longer meets stringent carbon emission standards.
EnQuest, the operator of the terminal, gave an update on its plans for the 1,000-acre site during a Shetland suppliers forum held at Mareel on Wednesday morning.
The company was keen to present itself as one that is seeking collaborative working with the local businesses and the community as Sullom Voe transitions from an oil terminal to a green energy hub.
The company is in the middle of a “right-sizing” project that involves some significant decommissioning of equipment no longer needed to make space for long-term aspiration such as carbon capture and storage, green hydrogen production and offshore electrification.
Note.
- Two underground cables will be coming from Gremista to Sullom Voe.
- Up to seven wind turbines could fit on the site to produce power needed for green hydrogen production.
- Shetland is set to be connected to the UK national grid later this year thanks to a new 600MW HVDC subsea transmission link which will run to Caithness.
- The Sullom Voe power station, once switched off, could be “repurposed” to continue producing energy using clean fuels.
- EnQuest are certainly doing a comprehensive job on the transition.
- It looks to be a well-thought out plan to convert existing oil and gas infrastructure to a modern green asset.
This Google map shows Gremista to Sullom Voe.
Note.
- Sullum Voe is at the top of the map.
- Gremista is marked by the red arrow.
- It looks like the cable could take mainly a straight North-South route.
This second Google map shows Sullum Voe
Note.
- The Sullum Voe terminal is at the top of the map.
- Sullum Voe is a 1,000-acre site.
- In the South-West corner is the closed Scatsta airport.
This third Google map shows Lerwick.
Gremista is marked by the red arrow.
I do have some thoughts.
Scatsta Airport
Consider.
- It takes takes over three hours on a bus between Lerwick and Sullum Voe
- Scatsta Airport only closed in 2020.
Is there an opportunity for an air taxi between Lerwick and Scatsta?
World’s First Semi-Submersible Floating Offshore Wind Farm Smashes Predictions
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
WindFloat Atlantic, the world’s first semi-submersible floating offshore wind farm, has completed its third year in operation, closing in 2023 with an electricity production of 80 GWh.
These four paragraphs outline the performance of the wind farm.
Connected to the grid by the end of 2019 and fully commissioned in 2020, the floating offshore wind farm was developed by the Windplus consortium formed by Ocean Winds, a 50:50 joint venture between EDPR and ENGIE, Repsol, and Principle Power.
The pioneer wind farm consists of three platforms, each supporting one 8.4-MW Vestas turbine, which are anchored with chains to the seabed and connected to the onshore substation in the Portuguese municipality of Viana do Castelo through a 20-kilometre cable.
According to the project’s owners and operators, the 25 MW WindFloat Atlantic also closed in 2023 breaking more records with Storm Ciaran posing challenges with waves reaching a maximum height of 20 metres and wind gusts up to 139 kilometres per hour.
These conditions far surpassed the project’s previous records, demonstrating the readiness and robustness of the floating technology, even in extreme offshore conditions.
It would appear that this and the previous post; France’s First And Only Operational Floating Wind Turbine Gets Lifetime Extension, are not only indicating that floating wind power works, but that it works well in all types of conditions.
France’s First And Only Operational Floating Wind Turbine Gets Lifetime Extension
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Floatgen, the demonstration floating wind turbine installed at the SEM-REV offshore test site in France, has completed its planned five-year run but will operate for another five years as the demo project was decided to get a lifetime extension.
These are the first three paragraphs.
The floater, which consists of a 2 MW Vestas V80 wind turbine mounted on BW Ideol’s Damping Pool foundation, reached electricity production milestones several times since going into full operation in September 2018.
According to BW Ideol, Floatgen’s cumulated production has now surpassed 30 GWh, which the company ascribes to “the hydrodynamic properties and excellent sea-keeping capabilities” of its floating foundation.
Floatgen’s availability averaged 92.18 per cent between January 2021 and January 2024, with December 2023 standing out with a monthly production record of 922.026 MWh and a 61.96 per cent capacity factor, BW Ideol says.
Note.
- A three-year availability average of 92.18 % is surely very good.
- A 61.96 % capacity factor is better than most other floating wind farms, which are generally in the fifties.
With those figures, I suspect BW Ideol will be expecting, some orders soon.
This video shows a Floatgen being constructed.
Amazon Books Over Half Of Moray West Offshore Wind Capacity To Power UK Operations
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Amazon has signed a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) for a total of 473 MW of Moray West offshore wind farm’s generation capacity to help power its operations when the project becomes operational later this year.
These are the first two paragraphs.
The technology giant signed the CPPA with ENGIE, which owns the Moray West project through Ocean Winds, the 50-50 joint venture between ENGIE and EDP Renewables.
The 473 MW Amazon secured through the agreement is enough to power the equivalent of more than 650,000 UK homes annually and is more than half of the total installed capacity of the 882 MW Moray West offshore wind farm.
Note.
- In Google Buys Scottish Offshore Wind Power, I talked about how Google had signed a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement to buy 100 MW from the Moray West offshore wind farm.
- This would mean that there’s still 305 MW of capacity to allocate.
- I would assume you wouldn’t sell hundred percent of capacity to give yourself leeway.
But what do you do, if your wind farm isn’t producing the 573 MW you need to satisfy the CPPAs you’ve sold? I suspect you have to buy it on the market.
If And When Do Amazon Think About Batteries?
My twenty-five-year-old self could have developed methods to calculate the answer to that question, as it would have been a simple calculation for the analogue computer, that I was using at the time; a PACE-231-R.
They really were magnificent machines.
BlueFloat, Renantis And Ørsted Move Forward With 1 GW Scottish Floater
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Stromar Offshore Wind Farm Limited, a joint venture between Ørsted, BlueFloat Energy, and Renantis, has submitted the environmental impact assessment (EIA) scoping and habitats regulations appraisal (HRA) screening reports for the 1 GW floating offshore wind farm in Scotland.
These are the first three paragraphs, which outline the progress that has been made so far.
The reports for the project, which is located approximately 50 kilometres from the Port of Wick, were delivered to the Marine Directorate and Aberdeenshire Council.
The EIA scoping reports outline the plans for the development, addressing both onshore and offshore considerations while the HRA screening reports outline the key protected sites and species of relevance to the Stromar development area. The HRA screening reports also present how impacts will be assessed in more detail at the next stage, the developer said.
The project team will now schedule several community consultation events in Spring 2024 to ensure stakeholders are fully informed and that their views are considered in the site selection, design, and development of the project, according to the developer.
This map shows the various ScotWind leases.
Note.
- The numbers are Scotwind’s lease number in their documents.
- 10 is now Stromar
- This is the Stromar web site.
- One of the partners; Falck Renewables changed its name to Renantis in 2022.
- The next stage is to be awarded a Contract for Difference.
The Internet is suggesting a completion date of 2028.
ScottishPower Makes Hydrogen Aviation Pact
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on reNEWS.biz.
These two paragraphs outline the project.
ScottishPower has partnered with ZeroAvia to explore the development of green hydrogen supply solutions for key airports, with the aim of seeing the decarbonisation of air travel take off.
The collaboration will allow the companies to explore the hydrogen infrastructure for airports to support hydrogen-electric flight and other potential uses.
There is no point of having zero-carbon hydrogen-electric aircraft without the ability to refuel them.
This picture comes from ScottishPower’s original press release.
I can see a system like this having applications in industries like buses, farming, heavy transport and mining.
Funding Announced For First-In-Class Low-Carbon Installation Vessel For Floating Offshore Wind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Morek Engineering.
These two paragraphs outline the project.
The UK Government has awarded funding to a consortium led by Morek Engineering to design a new class of low-carbon installation vessel for the floating offshore wind market.
The consortium has won the funding through the UK Government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition based on their proven track record in innovative vessel design and delivery of complex offshore operations. The consortium includes Morek Engineering, Solis Marine Engineering, Tope Ocean, First Marine Solutions and Celtic Sea Power.
Note.
- The design of the ship certainly seems to tick all the boxes.
- This is Morek’s web site.
Because of my experience of writing project management systems, I often wonder, whether some of my discarded ideas of the 1980s could be used in the deployment of floating offshore wind.
RWE And National Grid Answer New York Offshore Wind Call
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Community Offshore Wind, a joint venture of RWE and National Grid Ventures, has submitted a proposal to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop 1.3 GW of new offshore wind capacity in response to New York’s expedited fourth competitive offshore wind solicitation.
These four paragraphs add more details.
This next phase of the project builds upon Community Offshore Wind’s provisional offtake award to deliver 1.3 GW of wind capacity as part of New York’s third solicitation for offshore wind. In total, the projects are expected to generate USD 4.4 billion in economic benefits to New York.
Combined with its provisionally awarded New York project, Community Offshore Wind is on track to deliver nearly USD 100 million in workforce and economic development investments, the developer said.
The new proposal includes nearly USD 50 million in funding for workforce and community initiatives, with a focus on creating opportunities for diverse New Yorkers and supporting local non-profit organizations.
The proposal also includes an investment of up to USD 10 million in the offshore wind supply chain, to help New York businesses prepare for the economic opportunities the growing industry will create. All of these commitments are contingent on NYSERDA’s final selections.
is this partly a result of the meeting between Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho and Germany’s Vice Chancellor, Robert Habeck, that I wrote abut in UK And Germany Boost Offshore Renewables Ties?
We certainly seem to be getting some good deals on renewable energy these days with the Germans and the Koreans.
Perhaps someone in the government is doing something right?
SeAH Wind Goes On Recruitment Spree For UK Monopile Factory
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
South Korea’s SeAH Wind has started its large-scale drive to recruit for positions including welders, platers, roll bending machine operatives, mechanical and electrical technicians, supervisors, and general operatives for its XXL monopile manufacturing facility on Teesworks, the UK.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Applications will be accepted via the company’s dedicated recruitment website where individuals can sign up for job alerts, register their expressions of interest, and apply directly for jobs.
SeAH Wind will hold events across multiple Teesside towns, including Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland, and Hartlepool over the coming months where more details will be shared about vacancies and training opportunities at the South Bank site.
These three paragraphs talk about the education and training, and the number of jobs.
As part of the recruitment drive, the South Korean firm has also joined forces with Nordic Products and Services and Middlesbrough College to create two programmes under its SeAH Wind Academy programme.
During the 24-week training and development programme, 30 people will be trained to become welders for SeAH Wind.
Once fully operational, it is expected that a total of 750 direct jobs and 1,500 further supply chain jobs are set to come from the SeAH manufacturing facility.
I suspect, this the sort of investment that Teesside needs and will welcome.
The Anonymous Widower 