Pie in the sea

The government will today be called on to increase its support for wave and tidal power in a new report from MPs warning the UK is at risk of repeating mistakes which allowed the country to lose its early lead in the developing wind power industry.

MPs on the Commons' Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECC) on Monday released a report on the future of marine renewables, which will claim the UK could become a leading exporter of wave and tidal power equipment and expertise if the government adopts a more visionary approach to developing marine energy.

Oh that’ll work well then. As my one reader will recall, (Hi Mrs FE) the author of this poorly written blog was a marine engineer for some 43 years. I know from bitter experience how corrosive sea water is. Many a time I’ve been called to fix a salt water leak from a corroded  pipe. Especially when you are at the North of Norway in the middle of winter and it’s at two in the morning.

I envisage that these turbines will be vastly more costly than above water wind turbines.

1)  Wind turbines only have to be weather-proof. Submersed turbines have to be waterproof to the depth they are subjected to. What are the materials to be used in the manufacture? What paint coating will they use to protect against marine growth? After all they would be foolish to use a cheap coating. It’s somewhat difficult to re-paint underwater.

2) You have to place and secure them underwater. Somewhat expensive in my mind. You’ll need divers and submersibles for that.

3) Ditto connection of cables.

4) Maintenance. This always seems to be left out of the equation when these schemes are floated in front of our lords and masters. How do you change a gearbox bearing underwater? In fact how due you change the oil in the gearbox?

5) has anyone assessed a failure rate and what to do when one or more fail? Considering that seaborne wind turbines appear to have an effective life of eight years rather than the twenty touted by the industry.

6) The one in the picture above is designed to swivel. How long before the swivel bearing seizes due to salt water seepage.

Anything I’ve forgotten? 

You get my point I hope.

The reason why I wrote this post is the “My dick is bigger than your dick” mentality by our politicians when it concerns being “Green”.

But the report warns that an overly cautious approach to deployment may allow other less risk-averse countries to steal the UK's lead.

and

The ECC report will issue a series of recommendations designed to ensure the UK retains its leading position, including clarifying how much revenue support marine power can expect to receive beyond 2017 as soon as possible.

and more

"Britannia really could rule the waves when it comes to marine renewable energy," said committee chairman Tim Yeo. "We are extremely well placed to lead the world in wave and tidal technologies, which could potentially bring significant benefits in manufacturing and jobs, as well an abundant supply of reliable low-carbon electricity."

The question I’d like to put to Tim Yeo (I refuse to call him honourable. MPs’ lost that honorific due to the expenses scandal), why do you want to destroy the UK’s competiveness by hiking up energy prices to obscene levels?

Dear reader (Bugger, Mrs FE has gone to bed), what would you prefer? A cheap energy source supplying your needs, or one that threatens you to a life of fuel poverty and rolling blackouts. I know which one I prefer.

 

 

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Green Portugal. Bust.

Many should know that Portugal is seeking a rescue package. The reason for the bailout? Strange as it may seem: a green economy that has gotten dark, so much darker... Portugal will be the ONLY country in the World, according to the IMF  that will have a GDP negative growth in 2012. José Sócrates, Environment Minister between 1999 and 2002, and Prime Minister since 2005, is the person behind this tragedy. His green vision has brought Portugal some recognition amongst greenies, but mainly a dark future.
Almost everything imaginable in this Green promise has gone wrong. Murphy's law at its best:

Portugal was the first country with wave power in the world, at Aguçadoura; it broke down only two months later. (Take note those of you advocating it. FE knows how corrosive sea water is) Portugal has one of the biggest solar photovoltaic power stations in the World, at Amareleja, owned by Acciona, a Spanish company. The huge feed-in tariffs being paid for this solar energy is being sent to their neighbours.

Wind power has been a big bet. Big promises included green jobs, but the truth is that they are only a few thousands... The reality is that the more the wind blows, the poorer they get. This is true because wind feed-in tariffs are much higher than energy prices in the spot market.
With such a high share of wind energy, dam construction has started, so that they can be used for energy storage. A double cost, which would not be needed, if wind energy was not so big. But it doesn't stop there: Gas power stations had to be paid for being in standby, raising even more the indirect costs of wind power.

Portugal has boasted that it exported electricity energy for the first time in 2010. The truth is that most of that energy was exported at zero cost, a strange concept with an easy explanation: when wind blows, especially at night, energy consumption is low; the same does occur also in Spain, so they don't need the energy. Spain exports it through France, and gets the excess energy for free. Once again, Portuguese consumers and taxpayers are subsidizing other richer countries.

It isn't any surprise that electricity prices are very high in Portugal. Despite slightly above the European mean value, the low income means that energy is comparably much more expensive in Portugal. And this is only half of the picture, as the KWh energy price accounts for only about 40% of the electricity bill, the rest being taxes and subsidies.

Petrol and Diesel also have very high prices in Portugal, amongst the highest in the World. The reason: multiple taxes and subsidies paid at the  pump. All this has a great impact on the Economy, and is the main reason behind fuel tourism to Spain, where prices are much lower. In fact, they are so much lower, that near the border, people drive 50Km or more just to fill the tank!

Lately, things have got even worse. Sócrates is pushing for electric cars, but nothing in those cars is being made in Portugal. Once again, they are effectively paying for R&D being made somewhere else, without any advantage for the country. Despite being one of the countries with the highest lithium reserves in the World, no value is added in Portugal.

Portugal also has some well proven gas reserves. Despite that, they are not being explored, with tourism fears being invoked. It is viewed that Sócrates wouldn't go this way, as it is not green... And despite potential shale gas reserves being pointed out, no one talks about it in Portugal!

Talk about CO2 compensations sent to other countries, projects involving offshore wind or even more expensive solar energy. The truth is that the green promise has brought them a dark future.

Remember this, our politicians are trying to sell us the same green economy lunacy.

An ill wind

I’ve written before on how much renewable energy is becoming the most expensive form ever.

It looks even worse than I thought when I read this:

The UK has doubled its efforts to check the spiraling cost of offshore wind. A UKERC report published in October noted that in the last five years costs in the offshore wind sector have escalated dramatically, with capital costs doubling from approximately £1.5m/MW to over £3.0m/MW in 2009. The report noted that, as of June 2010, capital and energy costs peaked at approximately £3.0m/MW, or £150/MWh. Through funding, new test facilities and initiatives to flush out the most innovative ideas to address the costly challenge of deepwater, far shore wind, the UK hopes to curb these costs.

It looks like we are  shovelling more than just snow at the moment. £50 notes by the look of it.

Though it does look like one of the moneygrabbers is having trouble.

This year Vestas, the world's leading turbine manufacturer, posted first and second-quarter losses and cut its 2010 earnings outlook as customers delayed orders. In October, Vestas announced that  European market growth in 2011 would "not live up to Vestas’ expectations", prompting the company to consider closing down of a number of factories, primarily in Denmark, where its says costs are highest.

Source

Money down the drain.

More of our money lost in this stupid desire by our politicians to ruin the country.

The world’s largest offshore wind project has incurred major cost over-runs in recent months. Wind Energy Update investigates what went wrong and how future projects could avoid similar pitfalls.

And of course it will deliver enough energy for our future needs?

The Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Project, located 25km off the UK’s Suffolk coast, is the world's largest wind farm currently under construction.  When complete, it will boast 140 wind turbines with an installed capacity of 504MW, capable of producing 1,900kWh of energy every year – an impressive 5% of the UK's 2010 renewable energy target of 10%.

Will it buggery. We need gigawatts, not kilowatts. Note as well that they’ve missed their target by 50%.

Then of course they just have a teensy weensy problem with our money.

But the project, estimated to cost £650m excluding the cost of grid-connection, has run into difficulties.  As a result, US-based company Fluor, responsible for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), recently announced that its third quarter results will include approximately US$163 million (£101.484 million) in cost over-runs on the project.

FFS. I’ve had enough of this green shit. I’m going to chuck another log on the fire and pour myself a Large whisky.

Tilting at Windmills

Offshore wind turbines.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't profess to be an expert in this field, but I do have a few thoughts on the subject.

I've spent my whole career spent in the harsh environment that these edifices will have to be able to withstand. So I'm going to ask the proponents of these super duper energy saving devices, to convince me that they are cost effective.

Question 1

What are you going to build them on? If you are going to build them off the Thames estuary, which is mainly made up of sand, have you thought about the foundations that will be needed?

Question 2 (linked to Q1)

Given the weather in the North sea, how long will it take you to put in those foundations?

Question 3

What materials are you going to use in the construction of these turbines, given the harsh environment that they will be subjected to?

Question 4

If you have built them, how much is it going to cost to maintain them? Have you factored in the cost of surveying them, changing the turbine bearings, probably every 4 years, insulation resistance, etc. These costs have to be factored in to make the concept viable.

Question 5

What voltage are they going to produce? Anything less than 6.6kV would be inneficient. We go back to environment issues here. 6.6kV hates a sea water environment. The slightest touch of salt water, into the internal workings will destroy the generator. (Anyone near by is extremely dead as well)

Question 6

Given that they only produce energy for 30% of the time. How are they justified?

Question 6. No, a demand

All you green, turbine wankers must be forced to have a 200 ft wind turbine built in your back garden. And yes, this means you, George Monbiot, and Jonathan Porritt. Don't hide from your responsibilty. Apart from the fact that they are a complete eyesore and a blot on the landscape, and they kill off the birdlife, how can you refuse? Put your money where your political mouth is.

If you had any sense, you would have seen through this idiocy, and opted for nuclear. But then you wish to take us back to the middle ages.

Question 7 Am I being to stupid?

You tell me

And as an aside. I live in the real world of marine engineering. If you fuck up, you drown.