UK fires up old coal power plant as gas prices soar

[Oven ManParticipant @ovenman]

I think I read somewhere that the JCB "green Hydrogen" is coming from Australia.

Interesting comment from the Environment Minister. He doesn't have a heat pump because he does not think the technology is quite there yet.

Peter

[JuddyParticipant @juddy]

The use of UK sourced coal was stopped due to the high sulfur content which causes acid rain (now largely a thing of the past) the imported coal has a much lower sulfur content. This was one of the primary driving forces in the demise of the UK coal industry.

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

Agreed , coal is far from perfect but neither is no wind and no sun !

We could have installed Carbon Capture, NOX and SOX filters to reduce the 'nasties' , at least until we had built

40GW of nuclear to provide reliable base-energy to replace gas.

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

At least you have nuclear power stations in the UK. In Australia, we have neither the political will nor the expertise to build them.

1. How many nuclear power stations in the UK ?

2. What percentage of power can they supply to the grid ?

3. Are all the power stations of the one design or do they vary ?

4. When was the first and last nuclear power station built in the UK ?

5. How much nuclear waste do they generate and what is done with it ? Don't say they dump it in France !

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I don't think we have the expertise to build nuclear power stations after I think it was the Labour government sold off the world leading British Nuclear Fuels? I could be wrong but again we have to rely on foreign powers for our essentials.

Tony

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

If I was Australia , I truly would never go nuclear .

Clean coal for you.

There are very nasty but essential reasons for running nuclear power by 'us' .

[Perko7Participant @perko7]

I am surprised that for a country with an apparent abundance of water compared with Australia there has not been any mention of hydro-electric storage. Use excess power when available to pump water into elevated storage dams/lakes and then when demand is high release said water through turbines to generate additional power. Repeat as necessary. We have such a system at Wivenhoe dam in South East Queensland. Mind you I have no idea how reliable or efficient it is, but I believe it does work as intended.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Perko7 on 04/11/2021 07:30:27:

I am surprised that for a country with an apparent abundance of water compared with Australia there has not been any mention of hydro- […]

.

Then let me mention it : The ‘Electric Mountain’ is our best effort to date

Small, but perfectly formed:

.

 

MichaelG.

 

.

Edit: __ and of course there is this: https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/cos/sloy-hydroelectric-plant/

I have fond memories of seeing Trials riders pictured using those pipes as an obstacle on the ISDT

 

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 04/11/2021 08:50:21

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

That option is all about topography , Norway good , UK bad .

Tidal is totally overlooked .

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

There still seems to be very little progress towards developing tidal power in the UK. If there's one thing we have in abundance it's plenty of coastline and the tides are reliable and predictable. France has had *** La Rance Barrage *** operating for years but all we seem to have come up with is *** Salters Duck *** and that's about it.

Perhaps spend a bit more on tidal power research and less on generating hot air at COP 26

John

[steamdaveParticipant @steamdave]

Posted by Journeyman on 04/11/2021 09:05:38:

There still seems to be very little progress towards developing tidal power in the UK. If there's one thing we have in abundance it's plenty of coastline and the tides are reliable and predictable. France has had *** La Rance Barrage *** operating for years but all we seem to have come up with is *** Salters Duck *** and that's about it.

Perhaps spend a bit more on tidal power research and less on generating hot air at COP 26

John

10 years or so ago, there was an experimental tidal generator in the Bay Of Fundy (Canada). Talking to crew members of the support vessel, they told me that the generator lasted about 6 months before being destroyed by boulders being washed to and fro on the tides trying to pass through the generator. Apparently, it did produce good quantities of electricity when it (briefly) worked.

On one of the previous posts about Pumped Hydro, this system, but using sea water, has been working in Okinawa for about 20 years. There is a plan to copy their design in Co. Mayo, Ireland where a lake 150m above sea level is located very close to the sea. Like most things in Ireland, it might get built one day after all the bureaucratic interference has been overcome.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

[Adrian R2Participant @adrianr2]

For the record, UK gridwatch shows power generation from coal is back down to zero today. Nice timing for the COP26 announcement eh?

Edited By Adrian R2 on 04/11/2021 12:01:35

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

Wind came to the rescue today , Europe is only being allowed just enough gas to meet their needs by Vlad , so

they have no spare electrical energy for us to buy. via the interconnector.

[DiodeDickParticipant @diodedick]

Pumped Storage (Cruachan and Foyers in Scotland) is great, but further expansion of it hits the buffers when you ask what valley you are going to flood next. Generally, in the Uk, there will be a lobby group more interested in natter jacks, or whatever, than having something noisy in their backyard. In France they do not consult the wildlife, they just build.

Tidal seems attractive, but as I understand it, there two tides every day with not much flow, or output, at high and low water, so something else has to cover the shortages. There was a tidal race system tested in the Pentland Firth, feeding into the grid connections for Dounray Power Station. It got washed away the first winter. Forget unicorns and stick to what we known. We should have built another pair of AGR stations after Heysham2 and Torness while the manufacturing train was all in place.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

We need to start looking at superconducting north-south and east-west grids. When the sun rises provide electric light to the dark west, in the evening get the energy back while they are still in sunlight. In the summer the north can still provide energy for lights after pm in the south and visa versa in winter.

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

And now COP is over , today , we are back to relying on coal again , approx 3 % of requirements.

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

It would appear , that on Nov 3rd , Nat. Grid were paying, at one point £4/Kwh (unit) , for those coal-fired

stations to save the day . 100 x normal price.

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

Going for 'records' today folks, exporting, no coal firing , wind at 44%, nukes flat out, gas at all time low.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I might have missed it but is there a website with all this data on?

Tony

[Maurice TaylorParticipant @mauricetaylor82093]

Hi, **LINK**     gridwatch uk

Maurice

Edited By Maurice Taylor on 07/11/2021 09:47:18

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Posted by Maurice Taylor on 07/11/2021 09:46:07:

Hi, **LINK** gridwatch uk

Maurice

Edited By Maurice Taylor on 07/11/2021 09:47:18

Thanks!

Tony

[J HancockParticipant @jhancock95746]

The above is a 'colourful' link , but I find the ' GB National Grid status ' presentation easier to follow.

[colin hawesParticipant @colinhawes85982]

I think that the only reliable natural energy source in UK is tidal rise and fall as it varies all around the coastline so overlapping generation could provide a continuous supply.. More development needed. Colin

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

This is another website showing generation data:

**LINK**

Stuart

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

I use the one quoted by Maurice, but also:

**LINK**

which is an older, but often more useful form, and

**LINK**

most of the time. There are quite a few which offer the same information in different forms.

[Author]

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