UK Electricity Stats For 2016

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By Paul Homewood

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has just published the latest set of electricity statistics, which now updates to Dec 2016.

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Coal, oil and gas still continue to dominate, accounting for 52% of total generation. This is unchanged from 2015. Although coal power output has more than halved to 30TWh, this has been almost entirely offset by the rise in gas power.
• Wind output has surprisingly actually fallen by 7% from 40.3TWh to 37.5TWh. Apparently this is because it was not as windy last year! This hardly offers much reassurance for when the grid becomes increasingly reliant on wind power in years to come.
• Solar power capacity effectively stopped expanding in Q4. Whether this reflects the withdrawal of solar subsidies earlier last year or not remains to be seen.
• Total supply has pretty much flatlined in the last three years, rather upsetting the government’s energy efficiency objectives.

The large scale switch from coal to gas, due in part to lower gas prices, will enable the government to claim a drop in CO2 emissions.

However, there is nothing here to suggest that we are even beginning to tackle the long term challenges to UK energy policy which we face.

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April 2, 2017 at 05:00AM

Objection to Repeal of Privacy Rule

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On March 28, The House of Representatives passed S.J.Res. 34 – Disapproving the Federal Communications Commission’s Rule on Privacy of Customers of Broadband Services.  S.J.Res. 34 which would nullify the Federal Communications Commission’s final rule titled “Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunication Services,” 81 Fed. Reg. 87274 (December 2, 2016).

Our private and personal information should not be for sale, not even with consent.  ISPs cannot be compared to the providers of content and web-based services because a) the Internet users must use an ISP to access the Internet and b) ISPs have no legitimate reason to collect personal information.  Other way around, Congress should consider limiting aggregation and abuse of personal information by the content and web-based services providers.

There are many areas in which the Internet Service Providers are subjected to unfair restrictions under the slogan of net neutrality, but the duty to protect privacy of the subscribers is not one of them.

Based on my 20+ years experience in the software and Internet industries, I petition President Trump to not sign S.J.Res. 34 into law.

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April 2, 2017 at 04:54AM

Winter Continues To Plague US In April …Also Data Show February Getting Colder

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Winter in the US refuses to yield as snow falls in the Rockies and in New England. More is on the way.

April Fools on global warming. Snow blankets parts of New England on April 1st. Photo: Reader Snowman.

And according to veteran meteorologist Joe Bastardi at Weatherbell, more surges of cold and snow are forecast later this week from Pennsylvania to the Smokies, and in California and Colorado, which is forecast to be hammered by a snowstorm. Even Chicago could get snow later in the week.

So winter obviously still has a ways to go and many ski lifts will be operating into Easter, which this year is in mid April.

Dramatic ocean sea surface cooling

Later Joe notes that the ocean sea surface temperature has seen a “dramatic cooling” since last year – especially the Indian Ocean, which may act to feed another El Nino.

Bumper crop – “very little drought area”

The warm Estern Gulf of Mexico will serve to bring more rain over central USA, which Joe says will help lead to a “great growing season” this summer in the United States. Bastardi also says he expects: “very little drought areas this year” and adds: “I think we’re going to see a bumper crop in the Plains in whatever you want to grow“.

Below normal Atlantic hurricane season forecast

On the hurricane season forecasting front, Joe expects a somewhat below normal hurricane season for the Atlantic this year:

Joe Bastardi predicts generally below average hurricane activity for the 2017 season. Along the eastern seaboard, western Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic the forecast is for above normal activity (red area). Chart source: Weatherbell Weekend Summary

Joe’s forecast is different from what veteran meteorologist David Dilley here issued earlier this year. In it Dilley warned it’ll probably be one of the worst in years. But Joe emphasized that this year’s forecast “is tricky” and harbors uncertainty. Yet overall he thinks the season will be more on the gentler side.

US months of February have been cooling

At 9 minutes into the Saturday Summary, Joe debunks claims that the months of February have been getting warmer over the years (a claim that is also often made about Europe, which is false). Joe shows that the recent 10 years (2007 – 2017) in fact “have been getting colder” and were much cooler than the previous 1996 – 2006 years.

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April 2, 2017 at 04:48AM

ESB seeking backers for 1600 MW UK gas-fired power plant 

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Knottingley is next door to the recently closed Ferrybridge C coal-fired power station [credit: Google maps]

If (as stated below) the UK’s electricity reserve margin fell to a feeble 0.1% this winter, now seems like a good time to get some new reliable power generation organised.

The ESB is planning a $1bn (€1bn) power plant in the UK and seeking an equity partner to help build the huge 1,600 megawatt facility, reports PEI.

The plant earmarked for Knottingley in Yorkshire would be one of Britain’s biggest, if it goes ahead. The company has already secured planning permission on the 50-acre site.

The Irish Independent reports that investment bank Nomura has been hired by the ESB to find a partner for the new gas-fired power station development, code-named Project Knight Rider.

Speaking to the Irish Independent earlier this month, group finance director Pat Fenlon said it would be the end of the year at the earliest before a decision would be made about when the project will actually proceed as the UK government doesn’t hold its next annual capacity auction until the end of this year.

Those auctions are held to ensure that the UK has adequate power supplies during winter periods, when demand peaks. The ESB has told potential investors that the UK will need new gas-fired power stations to take up the slack as about 20 GW of coal-fired and nuclear-powered electricity generation is shut down by 2025.

It has also told likely backers that the UK’s electricity reserve margin fell from about 18pc in 2011 to just 0.1pc during the winter that has just ended, before the use of emergency supplementary balancing reserves.

According to industry publication ‘SparkSpread’, which first reported that the ESB is now seeking an equity partner for Knottingley, the utility is also in talks with General Electric for the supply of two 800-MW turbines for the project.

Source: ESB seeking backers for 1600 MW UK gas-fired power plant – Power Engineering International
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Talkshop note: the successful ‘Knight Rider’ TV series is described as ‘A lone crimefighter battles the forces of evil’. Interesting choice of project name

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April 2, 2017 at 03:51AM