Power
The page is about seeing how electric power is being supplied and the future of renewable generation. Also, about our gas supply and the future of that and how heat pumps may in the future replace gas boilers.
I believe we need more nuclear power for when there is no wind or sun for renewable generation. Rolls Royce are developing 500 mw Small Modular Nuclear Reactors that can be built in factories. When there is wind and sun the excess electricity can be used to create green hydrogen for transport etc. We cannot have electric lorries as the ratio of weight of the load to batteries required is too large.
This page has a lot of detail.
ELECTRICITY WIND AND SOLAR
Chart showing change in the mix
Shows coal coming down since 1990 and the dramatic rise in renewable energy since 2010.
Now https://www.energydashboard.co.uk/live is an amazing site. Click on the 48 hour tab. Then click on the tab Map and you can click on the right on the type of power you want to see.
Future of renewable off shore power.
Here are some examples
03-02-22 article Nov 2021 https://www.edie.net/news/10/SSE-outlines–12-5bn-net-zero-investment-plan-through-to-2026
Energy giant SSE has unveiled a £12.5bn capital investment plan for decarbonisation through to 2026, representing a 65% increase in spending on the low-carbon transition on current levels.
The funding will be used to double SSE’s net installed renewable energy generation capacity to 8GW by 2026 and more than 16GW by 2030.
Offshore wind will account for the bulk of this expansion. SSE is aiming to have at least 10GW of offshore wind operating in the UK by the end of the decade, by which point the Government is striving for Britain to host 40GW of offshore wind capacity.
SSE is notably working with Equinor to develop the 3.6GW Dogger Bank wind farm off the North East coast of England, which will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world when all phases are operational.
20-21-21 https://www.offshorewind.biz/2021/12/17/deme-orders-tekmar-kit-for-dogger-bank-wind-farm/
Dogger Bank is a 3.6 GW offshore wind farm located 130 kilometres off the North East coast of England. The project is a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Eni and is set to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of generating enough renewable energy to power six million UK homes once fully operational in 2026
22-12-21 off the coast at Grimsby 1.2 Gig goes live https://www.inceptivemind.com/orsted-hornsea-2-offshore-wind-farm-generates-first-power/22563/
So, a lot is happening. Each wind turbine on the Dogger Bank in the North Sea can generate 12 MW (Million watts) An electric heater in your house would be 1000 watts for example. When the wind blade of the turbine is at the top it is the same height of the Gherkin office block in London.
Land Wind Turbine power is on 40% of the time and offshore is 60%.
Solar
With the subsidies reduced on solar it is currently a concern if one will get your money back on house installed solar if installed now. However, the already installed solar on houses and from commercial units is providing up to 10 GIG watts of electricity. See https://www.energydashboard.co.uk/fourtyeight
Even though wind and solar power are not continuous they are the most economic way of generating electricity.
Nuclear
Nuclear in my opinion is safe and is needed when there is no wind or sunshine.
What is the cost of nuclear compared to wind? Hinkley Point C in Somerset 12+ years to build and 3.6 gig at £26 billion. Dogger Bank North Sea offshore wind farm 3.6 gig and finish by 2026 starting 2022 and cost £9 billion without the large ongoing costs of Nuclear. Dogger 3.6 GW cost £9 billion so at average 40% active power = 1.44 GW = £6.42 billion per GW. Hinkley Point C £6 billion per GW but then have cost of uranium, staff and disposal of waste. Need Nuclear when no sun and or wind. Dogger bank 4 years to build compared to Sizewell C 12+ years. Nuclear £104 per MW and wind £55 per MW. Nuclear lasts at least 50 years and wind lasts 25 years.
A large problem with Nuclear power is the time to build the power stations.
Small Reactors are used in submarines etc and Rolls Royce using their expertise have developed Small Modular Reactors that can be mostly built in a factory. The approval for this design is expected to be granted in 2024.
GAS
50% of our gas comes from our North Sea gas fields and 25% from Norway.
To use an electric heater is expensive due to the losses when generating electricity. So how do we replace gas boilers?
There is much talk about using heat pumps to replace gas boilers. Heat pumps are air-conditioning units in reverse which take heat from the air or the ground and put it in water that can be used to heat a house. Heat pumps can produce three to four units of heat for every unit of electricity they consume.
Currently the water is not very hot and a house needs to be well insulated plus or deeper radiators fitted.
Recently a firm in the Netherlands has developed a hotter heat pump.
07-01-22 https://group.vattenfall.com/uk/newsroom/pressreleases/2022/vattenfall-launches-heat-pump-solution-to-replace-gas-boilers The heat pump is claimed to be able to provide a water temperature of between 60 and 80 degrees Celsius, which means its use doesn’t require the improvement of a house’s insulation, Similar price to existing Heat Pumps. Available UK 2023
The latest exiting news on 18th May 2022 was a tweet I spotted about Hybrid Heat pumps https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/netherlands-to-ban-fossil-heating-by-2026-make-heat-pumps-mandatory/?s=03
“Using a hybrid heat pump “leads to an average 60% saving on natural gas consumption,” the government said in a press release.
German manufacturers are more optimistic. Kai Lobo, head of German public affairs at Europe’s second-largest heat pump manufacturer Viessman, says “hybrid solutions (combi heat pump and gas boiler)” can reduce fossil energy consumption “by as much as 80-90%.”
Similarly to the German approach of underlining the mandate with generous funding, the Dutch government will subsidise the purchase of (hybrid) heat pumps.
“Up to and including 2030, the cabinet has reserved €150 million per year to continue to support homeowners with the purchase of a (hybrid) heat pump. In addition, there is financing through the National Heat Fund,” the government stated.”
The main problem we have is that much, much more solar and wind power is needed to have enough electric power for heat pumps to replace gas boilers.
If you look at https://www.energydashboard.co.uk/fourtyeight often half of the nation’s 40 gig watts of electric power is still from gas generators. So, we are a long way off including producing Green Hydrogen which is produced using renewable sources such wind and solar or nuclear power in an electrolysis plant to split clean water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Hydrogen is already used in huge quantities to refine oil and to produce methanol, ammonia and other chemicals, and is produced mostly from natural gas. But the carbon emissions from the process – called steam methane reforming (SMR) – contributes to global warming.
Hydrogen from natural gas is known as grey hydrogen.
Capturing the carbon dioxide from the SMR process and utilising it to produce sustainable fuels or chemicals, or storing it in depleted gas fields offshore is called blue hydrogen.
This blue hydrogen can be added to our existing gas supplies for heating up to 20% with the existing pipes and modifying the gas boilers.