Energy Matters Global and Domestic

[mickthemaverick]

I came across this video while looking into solar panels and I thought some others may be interested. However I have to say the presentation is mind numbingly poor so you will do well to see it all, but if you do it does bring up some interesting facts:

[NewcastleFalcon]

The clear up of the damage to the power grid, is proving difficult, and many are still without power. We have been affected in a small way, two batches of 12 hours-ish without power. Yes and when the electric goes off, that's the gas boiler out of action too, and for the first time the water pumping stations and treatment works went down as well.

How long did the adverse weather event last, probably not much over a single day but severe enough to bring down the proliferation of wooden poles either directly or with trees coming down on them.

Not sure if any of the major transmission lines which run from Tyneside up to near Kelso in Scotland have been damaged, or whether the major damage was on distribution lines on the wooden poles.

When the lads from Northern Powergrid replaced our service head a few weeks ago, I mentioned to them the "Pylon Men" films from the 50's and 60's, and their methods of working. They said that there is no way they could repair or build the pylon infrastructure as quickly now due to the vastly different methods of working now with regard to health and safety. Quite right too, while the storm was in action, absolute madness for the teams to put lives at risk.

When it subsided so many trees blocking roads, and in precarious positions, and the scale of damage to the power infrastructure too big to fix everything straightaway.

Try the Pylon Men (1956) or indeed the Pylon Men (1966)

REgards Neil

[myglaren]

Huge Nissan SolarFarm.

[NewcastleFalcon]

After a couple of viewings of "Winter Walks" in North Yorkshire with Kate Bottley and Alistair Campbell, next autoplay in "recommended for you" on the firestick was "Black Black Oil" an hour long documentary from BBC Scotland.

Interesting enough to let play on and a very good review of North Sea Oil its past and future. Only started in the early 70's. Well worth a watch, fairly balanced. Available on Catch up/I Player here.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00118sk

I liked the illustration of carving up the North Sea with a ruler and a pencil.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Very interesting piece of the film "Black Black Oil", was the "ownership" or lack of it, of the North Sea oil reserves, with the auction of the drilling licences to the highest bidder. The North Sea has by no means run out, and includes controversial Cambo field development which may potentially have reserves of hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. News today that Shell have pulled out of the Cambo project.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... 0enough%22.

As a cautionary note, the likes of Shell and BP have embraced to a degree the transformation from Oil and Gas companies to energy companies, the queue behind them may not have the same view.

One particular section of "Black Black Oil", rather prophetically and co-incidentally focuses on the scaling back of some of the big oil companies from the North Sea, and the emergence of other smaller players and state sponsored players willing to take their place. Appears at the end of the film but the gist I have put in the spoiler. You may be unsurprised to know that the Chinese National Offshore Oil Company is one of those players.

From 53.53
BBC Scotland: Black Black Oil . Rough transcript of the relevant piece of the film in the spoiler.

Spoiler: show

You see the big oil companies, they are now beginning to sum up and move away and in their place come a whole range of much smaller companies. So those are private equity companies who are owned by private individuals based in for example Switzerland or the USA or Russia, and then also the state owned companies such as Malaysia or Abu Dhabi China and Iran. The Chinese National Offshore Oil Company has 3 Major Oilfields in the North Sea. Telford Golden Eagle and Buzzard. Buzzard is the highest producing oil field in the UK North Sea. China has an increasing important role to play in the future of this area and that's an important thing when we think about how much control do we as British Citizens have over the future of the North Sea. If say the people of Scotland say "We don't want oil exploited because of climate change", then the UK would have to compensate the Chinese National Oil Company and effectively the Chinese State for tearing up the contract its made with them.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Hot topic, Jeremy Vine tackled the Cambo Oil Fields withdrawal announcement from Royal Dutch Shell.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0011zvq

Contrary to some of the general public's views expressed like
"Rather than producing our own oil the public will pay inflated prices for imports from another country."
"Use local oil rather than foreign oil"

North Sea oil has already been sold, the UK State does not own the oil produced from the North Sea. Oil companies have paid for the rights to extract it via licences, and they are the ones who own it, refine and sell it. What they extract is a globally traded commodity, not bottled and labelled UK Oil, for UK consumption only. Reality is that a very high percentage of North Sea oil is exported.

Oil Companies are owned by shareholders, and many of the players in the UK North Sea now are 100% owned by overseas shareholders and overseas Governments. The UK Government has no equity interest in any oil or gas company and effectively doesn't own a drop of UK Sector North Sea Oil.

The only way a single drop of UK Sector Cambo crude will ever reach the shores of the UK, will be if the UK buys the oil on world markets and pays the price. Yes if it goes ahead oil from Cambo will be loaded directly at sea onto tankers, and sold and supplied to the highest bidder. The UK will effectively import oil at the market price at the time from the Cambo oilfield, with Siccar Point Energy and their partners and developers of the field, generating revenues, profits and dividends for shareholders. Very much in the queue for replacing Shell are the state-sponsored players currently taking over BP and Shell's former North Sea territories.

Gordon Innes from Buckie commenting on the JV programme, made a decent point and in his view the withdrawal of Shell is unlikely to scupper the project on its own.

"A lot of the oilfields have been sold by BP and Shell to other countries from Middle East and China and these countries are not signing up to the same agreements as the UK. One of these countries will put the money in and Cambo will go ahead."

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Norway took a different approach to their half of the North Sea, and continue to invest in State Ownership to find, extract and transport oil and gas, and control development of, and collect revenues from, their oil and gas fields in the Norwegian North Sea. In the early days very much a "bet" with public money relying for success of finding oil and gas in sufficient quantities, and overcoming difficulties of economic extraction and transportation.

Norway's former Statoil now Equinor remains 67% State owned, and Petoro is 100% State Owned managing the Government's portfolio—collectively called State's Direct Financial Interest (SDFI)—of exploration and production licenses for petroleum and natural gas on the Norwegian continental shelf.

So how's the bet looking now
Worth a read if interested, can't vouch for the accuracy of the research, little bit out of date (2015)
Did the U.K. Miss Out on £400 Billion Worth of Oil Revenue

There may be a sting in the tail though, should the move away from fossil fuels turn from talk into action, and the Oil and Gas industry, including the state owned Companies, end up with "$Trillions of stranded assets"

oilprice.com Norway's oil boom is only just beginning

What comes after boom?
oilprice.comThe Oil And Gas Industry Is Facing A $3.3 Trillion Stranded Asset Nightmare


Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

So we have already discovered that the development of oil and gas in the North Sea via the state owned and controlled approach of Norway has resulted in Norway initially taking the risks, but very much reaping the rewards and contributing to Norway accumulating the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world,

https://www.statista.com/statistics/276 ... orth%20Sea.

So what's the approach to the UK's Wind resources in the North Sea. Pretty much the same as oil. No UK State equity involvement. Various rounds of auctions (4 so far) inviting bids from Companies for Contracts for Difference (CFD) to develop windfarms in specific areas.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... difference

The biggest project of all Dogger Bank A B and C has these partners.

SSE privatised former utility UK based (well at least they were until they bailed out to Swiss Holding Company),
Equinor (67% owned by the Norwegian State)
Eni (Italy).

More info at the Dogger Bank Wind Farm website

https://doggerbank.com/

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Complicated business these Contracts for Difference. SSE report the strike price for their involvement in Dogger Bank A, B as at September 2019

https://www.sserenewables.com/news-and- ... 023%2F2024

Dogger Bank Wind Farms, CfDs for 3,600MW (SSE share 50%) – located off the North East coast of England, this is a joint venture (JV) with Equinor in which SSE Renewables has a 50% stake. The following Dogger Bank Wind Farms projects have been awarded a CfD:

Dogger Bank Creyke Beck A has been awarded a CfD for 1,200MW at a strike price of £39.65/MWh for delivery in 2023/2024

Dogger Bank Creyke Beck B has been awarded a CfD for 1,200MW at a strike price of £41.61/MWh for delivery in 2024/2025

Dogger Bank Teesside A has been awarded a CfD for 1,200MW at a strike price of £41.61/MWh for delivery in 2024/2025

The CFD contracts are managed by the Low Carbon Contracts Company If the Market Reference Price specified in the contract for Electricity exceeds the strike price, the Generators pay the LCCC the difference, and vice versa.

If I read it right, the generators for on-stream wind farms will be in a phase of paying the LCCC under the CFD contracts, as current market prices as calculated by EMR Settlement Limited (EMR=Electricity Market Reform) for the baseload market reference price (BMRP), and intermittent market reference price (IMRP) are in excess of original strike prices.

No shortage of investors, effectively a 15 year commitment of guarantee on price for the output of the developments
and competition in the bidding process for the contracts. No development risk taken with a direct State shareholding being taken in any of the developments, but also no reward of profits should the long term revenues of the schemes outside the 15 year CFD prove substantial.

Not Dave this time, but a horse's mouth Government information explanation...don't expect it to be too enlightening.



Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Surprisingly in easily watchable form, Simon Reeve takes us through some energy matters in the third of his programmes on the Lakes, focussing as well as on the odd Natterjack toad and sand dunes, the West Cumbrian economy, nuclear, wind, and coal.

Visits Sellafield, its nuclear waste pools and what they are trying do do about them, and offshore wind farm development off the West Cumbrian coast by Orstead, Denmark's State-owned (still 50.1%) largest offshore wind company in the World.

Easy watch available on BBC I Player https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00123r2

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

After watching Simon Reeve's visit to the Sellafield pools, time to see how the UK plan to deal with Nuclear Waste from the 1950's to the present day is progressing.

This is ancient, 2017 but not too onerous for a 3 minute read but asked a few FOI salient questions relevant to the matter, and also relevant enough today, of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

https://www.onr.org.uk/foi/2017/2017011037.htm

eg.

10. How much will be paid to the UK government to dispose of the waste produced at the end of the plant’s life. What is the cap on the liability of the operator of the nuclear power station?

ONR does not hold this information

.

Anyone with more bang up to date info, feel free to contribute. Wonder if the single permanent geological store has been constructed (engineering on the scale of the Channel Tunnel) and any news as to whether its going to be in Hyde Park? Plenty London Clay to cut through but eventually underneath at the appropriate depth some suitable strata will be found and lined with lead.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

The Crown Estate and its role in Wind Farm Developments.
https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/round-4/
The Crown Estate Scotland and its role in Windfarm Developments
https://www.crownestatescotland.com/our ... s/scotwind

An odd body like the Crown Estate, ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Estate) seems a bit 18th Century. Since 1 April 2012, under the terms of the Sovereign Grant Act 2011 (SSG), the Civil List was abolished and the monarch has been provided with a stable source of revenue indexed to a percentage of the Crown Estate's annual net income (currently set at 25%).

So windfarm developments on the Sovereign's Public Estate (inc the UK Seabed) can be a nice little earner, and big oil companies piling in and buying rights to wind farm development all add to the 25% windfall.

Of course with no UK state equity involvement over the many years of the windfarm development, outside of the initial licence period, the Crown Estates will forgo future revenue streams from any profits from the developments, after the initial lease periods.

Crown gives go ahead to rival ‘net zero carbon’ North Sea schemes
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ea-schemes

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Teesside News.

First...Plans for a new net zero 300MW powerstation.

How's that going to happen then

https://www.sembcorpenergy.co.uk/blog/8 ... an-energy/

The Whitetail facility is expected to harness the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle (AFC), pioneered by NET Power and 8 Rivers Capital. The process combusts natural gas with oxygen, rather than air, and uses supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) as a working fluid to drive a turbine instead of steam. As a result, all air emissions, including traditional pollutants and CO2, are eliminated and pipeline-quality CO2 is produced so that it can be captured and stored offshore, making Whitetail a Net Zero emissions plant.

Second plans for the biggest battery storage facility (so far) in Europe
A new 360MW energy storage system will be built at Wilton International in North Yorkshire

Teesside to become home to Europe’s largest battery
A new 360MW energy storage system will be built at Wilton International in North Yorkshire
Sembcorp Energy UK (SEUK) to build a 360MW energy storage system at the site on Teesside.

https://www.energylivenews.com/2021/12/ ... t-battery/

Another factor in the business model for Sembcorp with proposed powerstation and battery storage facility may well be tied to the lucrative world of grid balancing. From September to November 2021 in the UK, the Grid Balancing Mechanism cost reached £967m, compared to £337m the same period last year according to this article

https://www.energylivenews.com/2021/12/ ... ed-by-294/

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

We have had a little dabble into infrared heating systems on the thread.

Today, was down at Newcastle Racecourse, and noticed infrared heaters place at intervals high up around the walls and structural pillars of the open concourse with doors at various points still open for ventilation. Have to say they were very effective with noticeable warmth.

Didn't click the camera so the system was pretty much as in this video for the Pride Park Stadium in Derby.



This mob tend to specialise in the industrial and commercial, and the odd church and village hall.



REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

On the back of todays POTD entry...what goes on at Milford Haven

One particularly significant activity is the import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Ever heard of South Hook LNG Terminal Company.

UK surrounded by oil and gas fields but the UK is one of the biggest importers of LNG, and most of it comes in through Milford Haven and much handled by https://www.southhooklng.com/. As one of the largest Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals in Europe, South Hook have the ability to meet around 20% of the UK’s daily natural gas needs.

Major Shareholders Qatar Energy 67.5%, EXXON Mobil 24.15% Total Energies 8.35%

Qatar is by far the largest source of imported LNG for the UK, with supplies also coming from the USA, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and Algeria

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... a%20reload.

REgards Neil