Archive for interconnectors/ hvdc / supergrid

Bernard is a senior electrical engineer and has sat on many generation industry committees.  He writes:

 

“I unfortunately missed the House of Commons presentation.  I think we all agree the we could overcome technical problems at a price. However how do we overcome the political risk ?  In the coal, nuclear, oil and gas areas this is dealt with by storage and multi sourcing.  I don’t know how we factor in the cost of occupying a country while alternative supplies are built – even if it were possible. Any comments”

 Admin writes:

Regarding political risk.

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Articles

“Green grid”

A version of this article was published in New Scientist on 12 March 2009. Original is here

(This article was in part stimulated by the last Claverton conference held at Wessex Water, Bath where Dr Czisch spoke, and various discussions, (various discussions2),   (various discussions3)  (varous discusions4) on this website.  Graeme Bathhurst is a Claverton member)

This is a shortened version of the original article.

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Example of potential HVDC grid for europe, with 42% net import from regions surrounding Europe.

Example of potential HVDC grid for europe, with 42% net import from regions surrounding Europe.

Map of existing

Map of European HVDC - Red - Built, Green - Building, Blue being built. Source:Wikipedia

The above slide from Czisch (”An affordable renewable power system for Europe”) shows that Europe is unlikely to be vulnerable to sudden disconnection / sabotage of say a single or several, North African regions since there is considerable redundancy in connection and diversity of supply areas, and European grids of necessity already have existing sophisticated systems for coping with the sudden loss of a large amount of generation.  Under Czisch’s cheapest scenario, only 42% overall is imported from outside Europe and this is shared amongst 10 such contributing generating regions including Ukraine, Kazakhstan etc. Each link is duplicated and if one half is lost, the other can carry the load temporarily. There is also a ring main system so power can still flow around the periphery even if a major link is cut. The Supergrid could be built without assuming net imports – this merely makes the power somewhat more expensive.
Arguably a string of pylons through an unpopulated desert area is very easy to protect militarily – cameras, satellites, tv cameras, no on else supposed to be around, helicopters etc.  It would be much easier to attack these installations in Europe itself where the attacker can melt into the background. No grid is 100% reliable – UK lost power in 2008 due to the sudden failure of Sizewell B nuclear power station,  the largest source of unreliability on the UK National Grid. 
 
Existing European fossil stations would be retained (plus nine months coal  and 2 weeks gas stocks – as now)  and kept warm as appropriate (numbers and loadings determined on a risk probability basis as now) and can be  started in  hours. Various automatic load shedding systems (2 GW in UK existing) and fast start generation (5 GW of diesels in France, 500 MW in UK , – existing ) Realtek1, Realteck2, ) French EJP tariff, can also be extended and deployed to make the risk of loss of supply no worse than it is now. These automatic load shedding and fast start power generation systems, plus hydro storage, can cover for the few hours taken whilst fossil plant is ramped up, making us immune to threats of sabotage and / or sudden disconnection, thereby removing any incentive for any perpetrators.
It is highly likely there will be an increase in electric powered vehicles and these can be used to store energy, back feed, or defer charging to support reliability.
 
Once built, the power output from external European generation can only be sent to its intended destination – unlike say oil and gas which can be switched elsewhere very quickly. For years Europe has imported crucial amounts of fuel from countries ill disposed to us such  Iran / Iraq with no problem. 
 
We also need to consider the humanitarian and moral issues involved. For years, Europe has plundered and impoverished Africa – the reason the Somali pirates changed from being peaceful fisherman to pirates, was because their fish stocks were destroyed by European and others over fishing their seas. (Europe has bought up the rights to many African country’s fish, meaning it is illegal  for the locals to fish, but have to watch the European trawlers stealing their fish, and then buy it back in tins from the local shops, assuming they have any money – little wonder they hop in their boats and hold up passing shipping – this is never of course mentioned in our hopeless newspapers).
 
We have seen the results of this systematic impoverishment coupled with population growth with the recent escape of 2000 North African boat people from detention on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
What would make sense would be for us to invest in these countries so that they had their  own indigenous source of power (in Czisch’s plan, the locals are all supplied and it is the residue which is exported to Europe), income and work, and Europe  would pay them to send the power to us.  This would start to give them a reason to live in and be proud of their own countries, and the ability to develop agriculture, (sea water green house)/ (desert rose scheme) rather than risking death trying to get to Europe.
 
The assertion that such a system of imported energy such as Czisch’s plan is likely to be  any less reliable than the present system of importing all our fuel from politically unstable areas, with dwindling resources is quite wrong. It will be much less vulnerable than say the Russian gas imports, since there is no alternative to Russian gas in our gas fired power stations.
 
The UTCE (Union of Transmission Companies in Europe) states it takes 7 – 10 years to build a typical line, so Europe should be getting together now and planning these to make space on the grid for both indigenous European resources (Czisch assumes 58% indigenous, but this could quite easily be 100%) and those which can be imported.  Wind farms by comparison take only typically 3 years to build.  Renewable development in UK is already stymied because we have failed to build grid connections ahead of demand.
 
Even the hopeless IEA (The International Energy Agency – the so called Rich Nations Energy Watchdog  (aka The Dog That Didn’t Bark) recognises the role that interconnection can play in accommodating renewables.
See also Czisch’ recent comment on security and imports.
Map of existing

HVDC lines - built - red, green - under construction, blue - planned. Courtesy Wikipedia

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Nov
01

European Super Grid – press release

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Expert unveils plan for a European-wide renewable electricity solution

At the fourth Claverton Energy conference, hosted by Wessex Water, Bath, international energy expert Dr Czisch outlined his strategy for a European-wide super grid that would supply all of Europe with entirely renewable electricity. Speaking at the conference Dr Czisch of Kassel University, Germany, also said the move to a renewable electricity system could cost the UK consumer the same as what is currently being paid, and, if there is the political will, he added that it could in theory be achieved in decades.

Dr Czisch, who has conducted research of world weather patterns and European electricity consumption on an hour by hour, day to day basis, says Europe could ensure its energy security, slash its CO2 emissions and have a sustainable, renewable electricity supply by employing a network of wind turbines that stretch across the continent from Siberia to North Africa, where the wind is most constant. This would be supported by biomass, coupled with an extended transmission system and existing hydropower plants providing storage capacity. In Dr Czich’s Czisch’s system wind would account for 70% of the electricity mix. Biomass and hydro would provide storage and back up and the biggest part of the remaining electricity production. All of this is the result of a mathematical optimisation that allows for maximum objectivity in searching for the lowest cost renewable electricity supply for Europe and its neighbourhood. Read More→

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