Wind Turbines

[JohnD]

Wind is now 43%, and gas only 13% (of a relatively low demand because the weather is quite mild and industrial demand is even lower than most Sundays).

It isn't even very windy.

We are approaching the point where wind will supply so much that no gas generation is "needed" at all on some days. A great saving. Remember when coal generation was no longer needed?

This will incidentally weaken the hand of Putinistas who want the West to reduce support to Ukraine so it surrenders land to the Russian invader.

 

[Justin Passing]

If the gov saved up the excess money the hard-up people are currently paying for wind generated electricity based on the gas price, maybe we could buy out the foreign interests and ownerships of our low cost production,

and then reduce the effin prices people have to pay.

 

[bernardgreen]

La Rance tidal power station in France seems to be a successful project

 

[ajohn]

paying for wind generated electricity based on the gas price,

There was mention of adding an extra tax on the companies using wind, Other than the mention ........................?

Sunak's corporation tax idea might be viewed as a better option. Probably most attractive to companies making excessive profits. The idea is invest £100 and tax gets reduced by £95. Sounds good but I wonder, Dividends come out of profits, Those can have a bearing on share prices, The petro companies have been buying a lot of their own shares out of it as well. I assume that is because of high profit levels,

 

[JohnD]

.

 

[Justin Passing]

There was mention of adding an extra tax on the companies using wind, Other than the mention ........................?

Sunak's corporation tax idea might be viewed as a better option. Probably most attractive to companies making excessive profits. The idea is invest £100 and tax gets reduced by £95. Sounds good but I wonder, Dividends come out of profits, Those can have a bearing on share prices, The petro companies have been buying a lot of their own shares out of it as well. I assume that is because of high profit levels,

Sorry, wot, eh?
Dunnowotcheronabout.

 

[Justin Passing]

Any chance of the thread staying somewhere near the subject??

 

[Justin Passing]

La Rance tidal power station in France seems to be a successful project

Just had a look at the geography, which was pretty fortunate.

It's been studied widely, but I suppose it's telling that the installation hasn't spawned any new developments despite 50 years of output..
There's a generally positive description here: https://www.power-technology.com/features/la-rance-learning-from-the-worlds-oldest-tidal-project/
which makes a big deal of the environmental issues. Silting, loss of sand-eels and plaice, but other habitats seem to have stabilized.
"general consensus seems to be that more research into the environmental impacts of tidal plants needs to be done for the technology to become a legitimate alternative to conventional energy forms." Hmmm, like coal fired power stations??

It took 20 years to pay for itself, even with its 8m tide reach which IS exceptional.
Money isn't everything, which I've alluded to before - power security, long life, predictability, lack of pollution, employment, all matter enough to be ascribed monetary value.

The largest effort is in S Korea. Worth a look....

 

[ajohn]

Any chance of the thread staying somewhere near the subject??

If the gov saved up the excess money the hard-up people are currently paying for wind generated electricity based on the gas price,

 

[Justin Passing]

Any chance of the thread staying somewhere near the subject??

If the gov saved up the excess money the hard-up people are currently paying for wind generated electricity based on the gas price,

What's the problem?? We're told WIND POWER is cheap but we aren't getting it any cheaper than gas. So that's relevant to the subject. I don't know the sum for the extra the public is paying. Do you?
OK?

Other than the mention ........................?

Sunak's corporation tax idea might be viewed as a better option.

Eh? What tax idea? Corporation tax applies to all companies. No idea what you're on about. Can YOU join your dots?
JohnD took it as a tangent to have another general tax rant at the government, but deleted it.

Can you explain how your comments and how/if they are helpful, please?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

They look so delightful all over the English countryside and hillsides.

Living within sight of 4 or 5 of them (weather permitting), no they ****ing don't!

 

[robinbanks]

I find them quite hypnotic to watch, but especially when standing underneath them

no they ****ing don't!

but other markers of civilisation, pylons, factories, commercial greenhouses etc are ok?

Over dinner this evening I heard it claimed that the emerging plan is to have offshore wind farms generate electricity that hydrolyses the surrounding sea water to generate hydrogen, which would be transported ashore rather than sending electricity ashore. Anyone know any more detail on this?

 

[Justin Passing]

I find them quite hypnotic to watch, but especially when standing underneath them

but other markers of civilisation, pylons, factories, commercial greenhouses etc are ok?

Over dinner this evening I heard it claimed that the emerging plan is to have offshore wind farms generate electricity that hydrolyses the surrounding sea water to generate hydrogen, which would be transported ashore rather than sending electricity ashore. Anyone know any more detail on this?

It was in the news a year or so ago. I haven't seen WHY you would do that. All those pipes?
100 hydrolysis plants out at sea instead of one onshore? Maybe ITM knows of an advantage.

I did see a different take - to convert an oil platform into a hydrogen production station, to pump hydrogen ashore via pipes that are currently transporting natural gas.
They seem unlikely, when something as basically sound as tidal energy harvesting isn't hapenning.

 

[IT Minion]

I find them quite hypnotic to watch, but especially when standing underneath them

but other markers of civilisation, pylons, factories, commercial greenhouses etc are ok?

Over dinner this evening I heard it claimed that the emerging plan is to have offshore wind farms generate electricity that hydrolyses the surrounding sea water to generate hydrogen, which would be transported ashore rather than sending electricity ashore. Anyone know any more detail on this?

The theory is it's cheaper to desalinse and crack the hydrogen close to the turbines and then pump it off into a tanker at intervals than run cables to the shore and do it there.

It would be a shared resource between a group of turbines rather than integrated into each.

I'm not convinced, if you run a cable to shore you can sell the power when the price is high and buy power from other sources if your own turbines aren't running at full. Plus the cost to run the electrolysers at sea and force you to use a ship to move it.

 

[Justin Passing]

I'd have thought a cable from the turbine is cheaper to install and maintain than a pipe. + the economy of scale on the hydrolyser and gas compression, ease of maintenance. Nah.
Oil rigs don't do refining...