Engineering firm starts work on world’s largest offshore wind farm
Of course, this says nothing about wind condition in Continental Europe, whence power imports might be forthcoming, but in the depths of winter high-pressure conditions can lead to windless periods in the “dark doldrums” over much of Europe.
A power deficit of 70 GW can arise which would require 6,720 GWh of electricity which in the ZCB scenario comes from a fleet of gas turbines capable of generating 70 GW powered by natural gas drawn for the “green” gas store taking into account the 50% efficiency of the gas turbines.
Based on ten years of weather data the ZCB report estimates that an 80,000 GWh gas store (40,000 GWh of electricity) is required so that deposits made at an average gas power of 2GW in times of surplus and withdrawals during wind lulls never result in an empty store.
However, the big uncertainty here is, can small-scale plants with outputs below 1 MW be scaled up to plants capable of producing a total of 2GW of green gas for the gas store?
The intermittent nature of the surplus power production from periods of excess wind power presents process plant difficulties and there has been no progress to date.
The requirement of a fleet of gas generators capable of generating up to 70 GW, a gas store of capacity 80,000 GWh (well beyond UK gas storage capacity) and a hydrogen-tonatural gas process unproven on an industrial scale, give rise to serious doubts to the practicality of the ZCB scenario.
If so, then a firm source of power generation must be sought.
There are two possibilities, namely gas with carbon capture utilisation or sequestration (CCUS) technology which would produce electricity at 10p a kWh and nuclear power at 7p a kWh under sensible financing. Neither would be welcome in Germany,
The EU’s recent announcement of a Green Deal to stimulate growth, tackle climate change and to combat inequality, which has the support of a strong contingent in the UK, leaves me uneasy because I do not believe it is possible for this to be totally renewable.
I am surprised by the EU announcement given the failure of the German “Energiewende”, a very similar approach to the CAT ZCB proposal which started in 2011, and the apparent disregard of France’s success in providing more than 75% of its electricity from nuclear, which is most certainly a low-carbon source.
Indeed, an energy spokesman for Angela Merkel has said very recently that Germany was wrong to abandon nuclear power, the first official admission of the failure of the “Energiewende”.
In the face of a possible existential crises there has to be a full scientific determination of the way ahead, the very path that President Trump refuses to follow in his denial of man-made global warming.
■ Tegid Wyn Jones is an emeritus professor at University College London’s department for physics and astronomy.
A north Wales civil engineering company has started work on the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has commenced preliminary construction on onshore works for Dogger Bank Wind Farms near the coastal village of Ulrome, East Riding of Yorkshire.
Dogger Bank Wind Farms, a joint venture between SSE Renewables and Equinor, is made up of three offshore wind farm sites, totalling 3.6 gigawatts (GW): Creyke Beck A (1.2GW), Creyke Beck B (1.2GW) and Teesside A (1.2GW).
The offshore wind farm will generate enough renewable energy to power more than 4.5 million homes each year.
Ruthin-based Jones Bros – which employs 350 workers – was awarded the contract to install the onshore cable infrastructure for the Creyke Beck A and Creyke Beck B sites.
The works will also involve completing bulk earthworks at the onshore HVDC convertor station locations in East Riding.
The onshore infrastructure includes the installation of about 20 miles of electrical cables within ducts.
The ducts will be installed within trenches and where required via drilling under existing infrastructure and natural obstacles.
The completed onshore cable will transport the power generated by the two offshore wind farm sites, Creyke
Beck A and Creyke Beck B from the landfall point at Ulrome to the new convertor stations (one per project) in the south of Beverley.
The full works are expected to take about two years to complete.
Steve Wilson, managing director of Dogger Bank Wind Farms, said: “Getting the first spade in the ground is a significant milestone on any project, but for what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, this is a major moment for a project that has already been over a decade in the making.
“Dogger Bank Wind Farms will play a critical role in the UK’s effort to achieve net-zero through the use of low-carbon fuel sources and we’re incredibly pleased to work with one of the UK’s leading civil engineering contractors, Jones Bros, as we commence construction and start delivering Dogger Bank.”
Garod Evans, Jones Bros contracts director, said: “There will be up to 100 Jones Bros personnel, from management to apprentices and trainees, on site at the height of the works.
“This is a really significant project to be involved with and it’s exciting for us to play a part in delivering support to what will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farms will be home to the world’s most powerful turbine, GE’s Haliade-X machine.
All three sites were successful in the UK’s September 2019 Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions.