Month: June 2024

Excited by reports of a late June heatwave to make up for the achingly familiar blustery showers that are expected to dominate the first couple of weeks of summer? Don’t be.

For one, the party-poopers at the Met Office were brutally quick to dismiss the likelihood of a prolonged hot spell later this month – so you can put away the Bermuda shorts and pack up the beach towels for the time being.

Still, as if the scepticism of the country’s best forecasters wasn’t enough to dampen our spirits, with near-comedic timing the doomsters at National Grid have weighed in to warn of the bleakest of winters.

The Grid’s “winter readiness” report, which every year evaluates how prepared the country is for the coming colder months, must be among its grimmest yet. In simple terms, the experts at its Electricity System Operator arm are warning that we are going to be more reliant than ever on imported power to keep the lights on during cold snaps.

In any civilised country this should be regarded as something of a national tragedy. The idea that Britain requires foreign imports to keep the lights on ought to be a source of great shame, although it seems nothing embarrasses our incompetent political masters anymore.

The North Sea might be in a state of terminal decline but it still contains abundant oil and gas resources. We have perfectly functioning coal power plants too, and Britain’s coastline and deep waters makes it one of the best places in the entire world for wind power.

By the same token, it seems remiss that we have yet to foster the astonishing strength of our tides in any meaningful way. Meanwhile, there have been significant inroads in solar, and there are five operational nuclear plants dotted around the country.

Yet we remain more reliant on the kindness of strangers than ever. It’s a genuine puzzler for the ages that every year the UK finds itself in the same position: at risk of blackouts if it wasn’t for costly imports from France, Norway, and increasingly Denmark via a giant network of high-voltage cables and interconnectors on the sea bed. The cables prevented 12 potential blackouts in the winter months of 2023 alone.

That our reliance on imports has become more acute, not less – despite the devastating energy crunch that swept across Europe after Putin declared war on Ukraine – is unforgivable.

The Kremlin’s aggression and subsequent weaponisation of oil and gas exports was supposed to be the Continent’s wake-up call to become more self-sufficient. As voters watched with horror at their energy bills entering previously unimaginable levels, they were promised that energy security was now the number one priority.

It was either a terrible lie or the incapability of those in charge is even greater than all our worst nightmares put together. In 2022, the European Union imported 62.5pc of the energy it consumed – the highest level of dependency since at least 1990 – and although Russian imports have fallen dramatically, Europe has merely swapped the Kremlin’s tainted energy for supplies from other places such as the US and Norway.

Though there is reassurance to be found in relying on firm allies rather than sworn enemies, energy independence remains a delusion for the West.

Though the UK is less dependent on imports than countries such as Germany, it still bought 37pc of its energy abroad in 2022 – a drop from nearly 50pc in the early 2010s, but higher than in the late 1990s, when the UK was a net exporter. Yet because of soaring prices, our energy bill has never been higher – topping more than £100bn for the first time ever in 2022.

Much of this is accounted for by oil and gas imports. The situation is less serious when it comes to electricity but is being made worse by the Government’s failed energy policy.

Britain’s ability to generate electricity has been severely strained by the closure of coal-fired power stations such as West Burton A in Nottinghamshire last year and Hinkley Point B nuclear plant. The imminent shutdown of the giant Ratcliffe on Soar power station means we will go into winter without any backup coal-fired generation for the first time ever.

In 2023, a record 13pc of our net electricity supply came from countries such as France, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands. At one point in April the figure was as high as 15pc.

The idea that this is somehow a good thing because much of it is derived from renewable sources such as French nuclear-power stations or Norwegian hydroelectric plants is absurd. Lower greenhouse gas emissions are to be welcomed but in this instance they come at a heavy price.

Britain spent £3.5bn last year alone on electricity imports. That is money straight out of the pockets of hard-working families into the coffers of foreign energy giants like EDF – best known in Britain for its risible attempts to build new nuclear plants on time and within budget.

They are a nice little money-spinner for the National Grid too. As the owner of many of the interconnectors, they take a cut, meaning they have every incentive to build more.

A general election is unlikely to bring more certainty. Labour says it has the solution but its grand plan has more holes in it than the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Not only does Great British Energy sound underfunded, much of the money it expects to raise will be spent on unproven technologies such as such green hydrogen and tidal power.

Shutting down the North Sea prematurely would be a mistake – but nor is it the basis for a long-term energy strategy, as the Tories seem to think. However, it’s not unthinkable that a Reform-backed Conservative Party seizes power next time around and reverses Labour’s green embrace, catapulting us back to square one.

Having failed to put any proper thought into it, the truth is neither side has the answers.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/06/06/britains-reliance-foreign-energ-national-tragedy/

As usual, Ben Marlow ignores the elephant in the room – Net Zero.

Increasing reliance on electricity imports is the direct result of closing coal plants and making gas power plants economically unviable, while at the same time building ever more intermittent renewable capacity.

If he really wants to solve this problem, he should demand the repeal of Net Zero, set out a plan to maximise whatever oil and gas we have under the North Sea, call for the ban on fracking to be lifted, and above all to demand an urgent programme to build new gas and coal plants.

As he won’t do this, why should anybody take him seriously?

FOOTNOTE

As if to highlight how confused he is, Marlow writes:

it seems remiss that we have yet to foster the astonishing strength of our tides in any meaningful way

But then comments on Labour’s plans:

much of the money it expects to raise will be spent on unproven technologies such as such tidal power.

Well, which is it Ben?

via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

https://ift.tt/CEATInb

June 7, 2024 at 04:08AM

Daily News 7 Jun 2024

Industrial Wind Power: A Depleting Resource?

From MasterResource

By Robert Bradley Jr.

“Getting wind projects built is getting a lot harder. The low-hanging fruit, the easier access places are gone.” (Sandhya Ganapathy, EDP Renewables North America, quoted below)

The New York Times article, “As Solar Power Surges, U.S. Wind Is in Trouble” (June 4, 2024), discussed the problems of wind problems, such as site depletion. But the article has nary a quotation, much less mention, from the legion of critics of the aged, doomed technology for economical, reliable grid power.

In order of appearance, the seven chosen by authors Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich were:

Trevor Houser, Rhodium Group; Sandhya Ganapathy, EDP Renewables North America; Matthew Eisenson, Columbia University; Ben Haley, Evolved Energy Research; Michael Thomas, energy writer; John Hensley, American Clean Power Association; Ryan Jones, Evolved Energy Research.

Where were the real critics on industrial wind’s cost, aesthetics, health, and ecological issues? Conspicuously missing was Robert Bryce, whose renewable rejection database bank lists nearly 700 delayed or cancelled wind and solar projects.

Why not include a perspective from an energy specialist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute or the Institute for Energy Research? Cato’s Travis Fisher?

At the grassroots level, why not interview Lisa Linowes, Kevon Martis, or Sherri Lang? What about the North American Platform Against Windpower or National Wind Watch. Pick just one of fifty wind-opposed organizations that represent grassroots environmentalism, not Big Green. [1]

The article talks about cost inflation, but what is the all-in cost of wind and solar versus power generated by a natural gas combined cycle plant? How much is the government subsidy? What are the costs of offshore wind versus onshore? Tell us about the avian mortality problem and the infrasound issue of ill-sited, in-service wind turbines? And what are wind subsidies adding to the federal budget deficit and need to inflate the money supply to pay for it (wind counterfeiting?)?

The gist of the article is that wind is great and Net Zero inviolate–but the industry has run into various issues that have shifted the (government-enabled) energy “transition” to solar and batteries. More government is needed, the article implies, such as building out (uneconomic) transmission. “… a growing backlash against new projects in many communities” is mentioned almost as an aside.

Some quotations from the article follow:

The country is now adding less wind capacity each year than before the [Inflation Reduction Act] was passed.

Some factors behind the wind industry’s recent slowdown may be temporary, such as snarled supply chains. But wind power is also more vulnerable than solar power to many of the biggest logistical hurdles that hinder energy projects today: a lack of transmission lines, a lengthy permitting process and a growing backlash against new projects in many communities.

If wind power continues to stagnate, that could make the fight against global warming much harder…. A boom in solar power alone, which runs only in daytime, isn’t enough.

… wind power is much more sensitive to location. Wind turbines in a gusty area can generate eight times as much electricity as turbines in an area with just half the breeze…. That means developers can’t just build wind farms anywhere.

In the United States, the best places for wind tend to be in the blustery Midwest and Great Plains. But many areas are now crowded with turbines and existing electric grids are clogged, making it difficult to add more projects.

“Getting wind projects built is getting a lot harder,” said Sandhya Ganapathy, chief executive of EDP Renewables North America, a leading wind and solar developer. “The low-hanging fruit, the easier access places are gone.”

Because they can reach the height of skyscrapers, wind turbines are more noticeable than solar farms and often attract more intense opposition from local communities. In Idaho, the entire State Legislature has opposed a new wind farm that would be visible from a World War II historic site. A few years ago, hundreds of residents were arrested on Oahu, Hawaii, for blocking the construction of a relatively small wind project.

Across the country, hundreds of local governments have restricted or banned wind or solar projects. If a county blocks a solar array, a developer might be able to move next door. But it’s not always as easy to find a new location for wind farms. [Where is Robert Bryce?]

Wind turbines are more visible than solar farms and often attract more intense opposition.

The wind industry has also been hampered by soaring equipment costs after the pandemic wrecked supply chains and inflation spiked. The cost increases have been devastating for offshore wind projects in the Northeast, where developers have canceled more than half the projects they planned to build this decade.

Wind isn’t languishing only in the United States. While a record 117 gigawatts of new wind capacity came online last year globally, virtually all of that growth was in China. In the rest of the world, developers weren’t installing wind turbines any faster than they were in 2020.

If wind power can’t expand as quickly as many proponents hope, the United States would need to rely much more heavily on other technologies that can supply carbon-free power throughout the day, such as new nuclear reactors or advanced geothermal power. But those technologies are still in earlier stages of development and are currently more expensive than wind. [Early stages of development? Just the opposite]

…some experts argue that the recent slowdown is only a temporary artifact of tax policy. It can take years to develop a wind farm and most companies had raced to finish projects by the end of 2021, which is when the last big federal tax credit for wind power was set to expire.

Many experts say federal legislation is still needed to ease the process of building high-voltage transmission lines. But that’s unlikely to happen in a sharply divided Congress.

Final Comment

Little doubt that authors authors Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich are under pressure from the New York Times nation to put wind power in the best light possible, while gingerly pointing out its problems. But the fact is that dilute, intermittent, land/seascape intensive industry wind turbines are bad economics and bad ecology. But the narrative must not be shaken too much, particularly in an election year when “the earth hangs in the balance.”

[1] Allegheny Treasures, Keyser, W. Va.; Allegheny Front Alliance, W. Va. & Md.; Allegheny Highlands Alliance, W. Va., Va., Pa., Md., & N. Car.; Altamont Landowners Against Rural Mismanagement, Calif.; Aspen’s Horse Ranch Preserve, Cle Elum, Wash.; Barbara Durkin, Mass.; Better Plan, Wisconsin; Calhan Wind Fraud, Colo.; Canyon Country Coalition for Responsible Renewable Energy, Ariz.; Citizens Against Wind Turbines in Lake Erie (CAWTILE), N. Y.; Citizens for Clear Skies, Ohio; Coalición Pro Bosque Seco Ventanas Verraco, Guayanilla, P. R.; Coalition for the Preservation of the Golden Crescent and 1000 Islands Region, N.Y.; Coalition for Rural Property Rights, Iowa; Concerned Citizens of Branch County, Mich.; Concerned Residents of Hammond, N.Y.; Columbia Gorge Audubon Society, Wash. & Ore.; Cumberland Mountain Preservation Coalition, Tenn.; Deepwater Resistance, R.I.; El Paso County Property Rights Coalition, Colo.; Flying M Ranch, Ellensburg, Wash.; Forest Ecology Network, Me.; Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County, W. Va.; Friends of Lincoln Lakes, Me.; Friends of Maine’s Mountains; Great Lakes Concerned Citizens, N.Y.; Great Lakes Wind Truth; Greenwich Neighbors United, Ohio; Health Care Professionals Against Commercial Wind in the Appalachian Mountains; The Heart of Henderson, N.Y.; Helderberg Community Watch, N.Y.; Howard County Citizens for Safe Energy, Ind.; Ill Wind, R.I.; Industrial Wind Energy Opposition (AWEO); Indiana Wind Watch; Kansas Wind Alert; Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance, Kent County, Md.; Keepers of the Blue Ridge, N. Car.; Know Wind Organization, Ubly, Mich.; Lake Michigan P.O.W.E.R. Coalition, Pentwater, Mich.; Lower Laguna Madre Foundation, Texas; Laurel Mountain Preservation Association, W. Va.; Lucien Rosenbloom, N. Car.; Lynn Studebaker, Ind.; Mountain Ridge Protection Act Alliance, N.Car.; National Wind Watch; Neighbors Caring About Neighbors, Wis.; New England Wind Turbine Education Center, Vt.; No Union Beach Wind Turbine!, N.J.; No Wind Farm, New Castle, Ind.; Open Water, West Olive, Mich.; Partnership for the Preservation of the Downeast Lakes Watershed, Me.; People Against the Lake Michigan Wind Farm, Mich.; People’s Task Force on Wind Power, Me.; Porter Quarter Horses, King City, Mo.; Preserve the Sandhills, Neb.; Protect Our Lakes, Me.; Saint Francis Arboreal and Wildlife Association, Fla.; Save God’s Country, Pa.; Save Coteau Prairie Landscape, N. Dak.; Save Our Allegheny Ridges, Pa.; Save Our Seashore, Mass.; Save Our Sherman, Mich.; Save Our Tehachapi Mountains, Calif.; Save Western Ohio; Save the Prairie, Woodward, Okla.; Savoy Neighbors, Mass.; Selman Ranch, Okla.; Seneca Anti-Wind Union, Ohio; Stearns Wind Truth, Minn.; Stop Ill Wind, Md.; Swanton Wind, Vt.; Vermonters With Vision; Whitley County Concerned Citizens, Ind.; Wind Energy – Concerns About Rural Environment (WE-CARE), N. Dak.; Wind Energy Is a Scam!, Wis.; Wind Power Ethics Group, Cape Vincent, N.Y.; Wind Turbine Syndrome