UK announces commercial operations of longest land/subsea interconnector
nationalgrid.com
nationalgrid.com
F the entire thing.
Given that much of the hydro power is state-owned in Norway, this generates profits that ultimately benefit the Norwegian people and economy.
Norway got rich exporting its excess oil and gas in the past century. Now they are starting to do the same with clean energy.
Where do you think they’d be today if they’d decided to keep all the oil & gas for themselves and not export any of it?!
But inter-connectors are a great alternative to pumped hydro. When the UK and Denmark have an excess of wind energy, it can be sent to Norway. Norway can then conserve water in their storage lakes, and sell it back to the UK and Denmark on days when they need it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_coal-fired_powe...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratcliffe-on-Soar_Power_Statio...
Edit: interconnector already ramped to 800MW importing to the UK. Let’s gooooooooo!
The fuel (coal) left onsite is also an environmental liability and really needs to be gotten rid of by burning it, necessitating a carefully planned shutdown schedule.
Realistically, there is no going back: once the last coal-fired plant is closed (in September 2024), it will be gone for good.
We probably want to be sure if gas imports are heavily hit again or a major interconnector goes down we'll be fine before entirely demolishing it.
Gas is now more of a year-round flexible baseload, taking up the slack whenever demand is high and/or renewables production is low.
Nuclear is now the only true baseload in the UK - always generating more-or-less the same output except when they have to be shut down for maintenance, refuelling, or decommissioning!
Ratcliffe-on-Soar, the last coal fired power plant in the UK, is scheduled to close in September.
They probably won't close earlier as they will be under capacity market contracts until then, and will have a supply of coal that needs to be disposed of (ie: burned/used).
A typical Brit might work 80,000 hours in a lifetime. So this interconnector is the lifetimes work of 50 people.
It is approximately 1 millionth of the total work output of all people alive in the UK.
Not sure if that is more or less than I expected...
https://energygraph.info/d/7dWs1mVVk/interconnect-physical-f...
That should also cut the tops and bottoms off the spot price of electricity.
Spikes in production and demand occurring at different places at different times and electrical storage being tricky makes this a good thing.
Inuendo by AssO (not a nsfw actor name). Who said trenchers don't have a sense of humour?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/08/what-wen...
The solution is to increase demand during those moments and thus these new interconnects to Denmark and Norway. Other option is to build storage or new consumption (hydrogen, ammonia, e fuels, etc)
Is there anywhere I can read about these arrangements? It would be really interesting to know the true cost per mWh delivered from some of these schemes.
There's a summary at the House of Commons library website here. I hadn't seen it before today but it seems to cover most of the key points I'm aware of (from investing in the UK and European power space for work) and is reasonably concise: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/08/what-wen...
There are certainly times when the UK generates excess energy from wind.
This is part of a wider strategy with The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany and interconnect their energy markets using the north sea renewables as both generation and interconnection.
The future is bright.
> Annual transmission capacity of 12.3 TWh.
> The actual cable is made of copper, steel, paper and plastic and weighs about 40 kg per meter.
> It is similar in capacity and length to the UK–Norway North Sea Link.
For reference, a human child weighs about 15 kg per meter. But since humans grow in 3 dimensions, a healthy adult human will be around 40–45 kg per meter, similar to the cable. In our current overweight society, realistic adult humans are of course heavier.
NGV develops, operates and invests in energy projects, technologies and partnerships
to accelerate the development of our clean energy future.
That's quite good for infrastructure, considering that it operates for hundreds of years - that's the age for most bridges, tunnels, etc.
For example: I could imagine sabotaging public infra is more akin to an attack on the state (therefore disincentized). But on the other hand, I suspect private interests can be more clever in protecting their investment, because they can more readily pay for high mitigation costs when consequent losses would be high.
Anyone else know how to thing of the tradeoffs between public vs private infrastructure here?
The main defining factor in how the state responds to such an attack is whether escalation is in the interest of the victim. E.g. recent attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
- It was the Russians, and the demands by the public to respond might escalate the current situation from a nice contained proxy war into something that might get actual voters killed.
- It was the Ukrainians, which would be politically awkward because we're supposed to be allies.
- It was the USA, which would also be politically awkward for the same reason.
So in all cases it would be better to not find out in the first place, hence the current faffing about.
Right now it’s transporting ~20MW from Denmark to the UK
The map seems buggy for Canada. The "Country" map for Canada seems to be wrong, as it looks like it's subdivided into several pieces (as if it was the "Zone" view).
As an aside, the UK is still part of this but thanks to Brexit they got the opportunity to finance this interconnector by themselves and not avail themselves to the vast funds from the European Energy Programme for Recovery. For example Malta did and while the Malta Interconnector is not a world record in length but it certainly is in the relative amount: currently it's already above a quarter of the energy needs of Malta and in 2015 the relevant EU report said it's expected this to grow to 35% eventually.
the UK was a net contributor to the EU
everything it "received" from the EU was paid for by itself
The UK’s net EU budget contribution in 2014 was £9.8 billion https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-...
Meanwhile the UK exported $276 billion worth of good to the EU more than half of its total https://www.worldstopexports.com/united-kingdoms-top-import-...
Not counting anything else just these two we could say the EU had a 3.6% tariff on UK imports (insanely low! check https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/daily_update_e/ta... -- and note the post brexit deal only created a 0% tariff on goods and not services). And even that is a severe exaggeration because there were other benefits to this.
On the other hand, the way these things went it's very likely the UK already contributed to the EERP but got nothing out of it.
I for one am swimming in all the surplus cash not going to the EU any more, as well as all those upwards revisions to GDP and employment, and our pound soaring to new highs improving my purchasing power.
the state’s budget contribution. aka taxes and other income of the state.
> Meanwhile the UK exported $276 billion worth of good to the EU more than half of its total
not the UK, not the state. the opposite. the private sector.
this "analysis" makes the infamous Boris bus number look almost honest by comparison
NordPool market zones are crazy and some zones see insane price surges when demand prices for neighboring zones are high.
The cable can move electricity from the UK to Denmark too btw, so some of the price surges in the Danish region could get damped because the UK will start exporting electricity and the additional supply will bring down the price again.
If you believe that I have a monorail to sell you! Why pass onto consumers what you can take as profit.
Norwegian news is reporting that the price of electricity will increase a tiny amount (about £10-15 a year) in both Norway & the UK as an increased flow of power means more bidders for it, pushing the price up when power is scarce (which seems to be most of the time).
https://www.nrk.no/sorlandet/ny-kraftkabel-kan-fore-til-dyre...
Because other suppliers will outbid you.
>Norwegian news is reporting that the price of electricity will increase a tiny amount (about £10-15 a year) in both Norway & the UK as an increased flow of power means more bidders for it, pushing the price up when power is scarce (which seems to be most of the time).
That doesn't make sense, if energy is scarce in one country but not the other then the additional supply should lower prices.
The cable works both ways.
Having an inter-connector opens the market to a larger pool of suppliers on both sides of the cable. You would expect this to lower prices rather than increase them.
With Denmark able to buy 1GW this will increase demand at the cheapest bits (when supply is high), but with Denmark able to sell 1GW it will increase supply and thus drive lower price.
The majority of people in the UK don't pay market prices for electricity and instead pay a government set "cap" which is based around hiding the actual cost in the marketing material because far too many people in the UK don't understand what you can do with 1kWh or how it affects your bill - some people on think that turning 30W of LED lights off makes a material difference to the monthly cost they pay for example.
I understand that, the market is trying to deal with an inefficiency in the system. What I don't understand is how removing those inefficiencies will lead to higher prices. If anything it should do the opposite.
The cap is incidental, I don't like it but it doesn't really have much to do with this.
If the cost in the UK is 5p/unit and in Denmark is 7p/unit, the price will stabilise at 6p/unit as the UK sells to Denmark, decreasing UK supply thus pushing price up
If the cost in the UK is 42p/unit and in Denmark it's 40p/unit, the price will instead by 41p/unit as the UK buys more from Denmark, increasing supply, thus pushing the price down
That's about 15p per month per household
Aaaa-aaaaaa-ah! Aaaa-aaaaaa-ah!
It comes from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the cold winds blow
The hammer of the gods
Will turn the blades of turbines
To light the grid, sing and cry
Wind power, I am coming…
Has the Danelaw come again? Someone call Uhtred!
(Tune begins with a rising, powerful melody)
Verse 1: From the shores of the Danes to Britannia's realm, Where the sea meets the sky in a watery helm, There's a thread made of power, so silent and sleek, A marvel of might that the ancients would seek.
Chorus: Oh, Viking Link, your cables enfold, Uniting the lands as the sagas once told. Electric currents, like legends of old, Viking Link, forging futures so bold.
Verse 2: Beneath the North Sea where the mermaids do sing, Lies a path of pure energy, a power-bringing string, Connecting the heart of the emerald isles, With wind-harnessed force that covers the miles.
Chorus: Oh, Viking Link, your currents so free, Dance 'cross the depths of the deep, briny sea. Blending the watts as the mead-masters would, Viking Link, for the greater world's good.
Bridge: Hark! As the turbines spin round and round, A whisper of Odin, in kilowatts found. Thor might have thundered with fierce, mighty sound, But our silent giant lies under the ground.
Verse 3: From the fjords where the Vikings once launched their great fleets, Comes a new age of conquest, where technology meets. And the UK replies with welcoming hands, Together they stand, where power demands.
Final Chorus: Oh, Viking Link, your saga's begun, Tales of electrons, from dusk until dawn. May your current flow steady and strong, Viking Link, in our hearts, your song lingers on.
(End with a triumphant harmony)
National Grid Ventures is registered in the UK, so they would be eligible for a *.uk domain if they wanted one.
There were strange third-level-only location-based restrictions on .us for a long time, created by the one guy (!) responsible for it, so it didn't get much use in the critical 1990s period. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.us