BWEA (British Wind Energy Association) will be launching its first Budget submission, ahead of the Budget speech on April 24th. Following a consultation process led by the BWEA, the UK wind industry is putting forward proposals to the Treasury on how to maintain the momentum in the wind sector, on and offshore, during the […]
Read More"Green Grid" – Excellent article in New Scientist by David Strahan (The Last Oil Shock) on HVDC supergrids
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 […]
Read MoreUK National Grid talking about wind in the future, when there is a high penetration
Slide 14 of the presentation labelled future system operation at : http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/Balancing/operationalforum/2009/ – presented to all and sundry at the Operational Forum (open to all comers) by National Grid at the Ardencote Manor 2 weeks ago, may interest. The following three slides after that are also interesting, as […]
Read MoreCritique of Carbon Trust Report – Offshore Wind Power
Critique of the Carbon Trust Report Offshore Wind Power: big challenge, big opportunity Maximising the environmental, economic and security benefit
Read MorePumping Power calculator – what power is needed to pump seawater to the middle of the Gobi Desert for desalination in the SeaWater Greenhouse? – answer – not a lot
The spread sheet for calculating this, kindly provided by Wessex Water, one of the UK’s leading water supply companies, is available here: This spread sheet enables you to calculate power needed to pump water any distance through any height: http://tx1.fcomet.com/~claverto/cms/?dl_name=Pipe_Headloss__Power_calculator.xls You can see that in fact, compared to national energy consumptions, […]
Read MoreNew Study Puts The Generation Costs For Power From New Nuclear Plants Triple Current U.S. Electricity Rates
A new study puts the generation costs for power from new nuclear plants at 25 to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour — triple current U.S. electricity rates.
see: http://climateprogress.org/2009/01/05/study-cost-risks-new-nuclear-power-plants/ rel=no follow
Current CSP costs (still substantially less than nuclear):
Vinod Khosla gives current CSP at 16 cents kWh (and note PV far higher at 22.4 cents kW/hr – see slide 124 onwards at http://www.slideshare.net/guest76ed37/khosla92507 rel=no follow
Also, good summary of costs can be found here: puts current CSP at 13 – 17 cents kWh: http://peakenergy.blogspot.com/2008/04/concentrating-on-important-things-solar.html/ rel=no follow
Makes CSP look very attractive indeed at 11 cents per kWh by 2011 (cf Ausra & Bright Source CSP plants signed up with PG&E in South West America) – compatible with gas prices, and estimated to reduce to 4-6 cents per kWhr by 2020. Nuclear costs unlikely to reduce, but instead are on an upward trajectory.
First Section Of The 11 MWe 'Abengoa' Concentrating Solar Power Plant
This is the first 11 MWe operating module of three towers currently being built to constitute what will be soon a 50 MWe concentrated solar power (CSP) facility that is sited a few kms west of Seville in Spain near a place called Sanlúcar la Mayor. It works, as most will know, by reflecting solar […]
Read MorePaul-Frederik Bach, ex-Director of West Denmark Power talks about Danish Windpower and smart grids.
Paul-Frederik – who has been a stalwart member of the group and attended 3 previous Conferences, could not make the last meeting due to illness. He was kind enough to give us this presentation which came with the following note:
Dear Chris, Dave and Fred,
The Claverton group is a fascinating forum, because different and interesting people meet there. Of course I am disappointed that I cannot attend the conference. I hope to be present at a future event.
I attach a brief PowerPoint (7 slides) to meet your request. I have tried to summarize my views. You are welcome to use it as you may prefer, for presentation, for handout or for other purposes. Slide 4 is a summary of my Platts paper (which was written for the Claverton discussions from the beginning).
The conference programme seems to be well packed with interesting contributions. I hope that the papers will be available at the web site.
Read MoreEuropean Super Grid – press release
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.
Read MoreHigh Profile EU Speaker at 2008 Claverton Conference!
Dr. Gregor Czisch is a confirmed speaker for this years Claverton conference, with a paper titled “Common Affordable and Renewable Electricity Supply for Europe and its Neighbourhood – Optimal solution: 100% Renewable HVDC-Supergrid To Save Our Climate”
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