News August 2019

Heysham/Hydrogen

31 August 2019

Plans to build a hydrogen gas generation plant at Heysham Power Stations have been announced. EDF Energy R&D says it is leading the “innovative and exciting” Hydrogen to Heysham (H2H) project which is looking at generating low carbon, low cost, local hydrogen from Heysham Power Stations. The consortium of industrial and academic partners, led by EDF Energy, is looking to design a hydrogen gas generation plant at Heysham Power Stations. The gas can then be used as a zero-carbon transport or heating fuel. The company recently launched its Generation Electric campaign to “build a brighter energy future for every home in the UK, using cutting-edge technologies which will accelerate the transition to a sustainable future”, and said this project fits that ambition. The consortium brings together the teams from EDF Energy R&D, Heysham Power Stations, Lancaster University, Atkins, European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER) and EDF Group’s Hydrogen subsidiary Hynamics. It is funded as part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s £20 million Hydrogen Supply programme. It runs in two phases, the first is a feasibility study which will be completed by September 2019; and the second (subject to selection by the UK government) will be the pilot demonstration, starting in 2020 and running for two years. The H2H plan is to take advantage of the low carbon, low cost electricity from the nuclear power station to produce hydrogen gas in bulk from electrolysers.

Lancaster Guardian 29th Aug 2019 read more »

Exelon and Nel Hydrogen aim to demonstrate integrated hydrogen production, storage and utilisation at existing nuclear-power site as part of a US Department of Energy project.

The Engineer 30th Aug 2019 read more »

Moorside

31 August 2019

Cumbria pushes the case for small nuclear reactors at Moorside. Cumbrian business have pushed their case to support the manufacture of an innovative new nuclear reactor which it is hoped could be located on the vacant Moorside site. Representatives from Shepley Engineers Ltd, TSP Engineering and Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster (BECBC), which has more than 300 members, were among the businesses to showcase their expertise and capability to multi-national engineering company Rolls-Royce. In July the Government said it will invest up to £18 million to support a consortium led by Rolls-Royce to design a first-of-a-kind Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Appetite for the technology has grown in the past few years following the collapse of the NuGen’s £15bn large-scale development at the Moorside site adjacent to Sellafield, and the shelving of two other similarly sized projects in Wales and Gloucestershire over the eye-watering up-front costs involved. And Copeland MP Trudy Harrison and Copeland Borough Council have both vowed to up the ante on lobbying the Government to push for SMRs in Copeland, with Moorside an obvious location as a site already earmarked for nuclear development.

Carlisle News & Star 30th Aug 2019 read more »

Energy Supplies

31 August 2019

The share of coal in the UK’s electricity system has fallen to record lows in recent months, according to government data. The figures show electricity generated by the UK’s most polluting power plants made up an average of 0.7% of the total in the second quarter of this year. The amount of coal used to power the electricity grid fell by almost two-thirds compared with the same months last year. A government spokesperson said coal-generated energy “will soon be a distant memory” as the UK moves towards becoming a net zero emissions economy. The UK electricity market is on track to phase out coal-fired power generation entirely by the government’s target date of 2025. This year three major energy companies have announced plans to close coal-fired power plants in the UK, which would leave only four remaining after the coming winter. Meanwhile, the government’s data shows that renewable energy climbed by 12% from the second quarter of last year, boosted by the startup of the Beatrice windfarm in the Moray Firth in Scotland. The cleaner power system could accelerate carbon savings from the UK’s roads, too, as more drivers opt for electric vehicles. A study by Imperial College London for the energy company Drax found that the UK’s increasingly low-carbon energy system meant electric cars were a greener option even when taking into account the carbon emissions produced by making car batteries.

Guardian 30th Aug 2019 read more »

Business Green 30th Aug 2019 read more »

Robotics

31 August 2019

Having developed a range of technologies specifically designed for the nuclear sector, Forth Engineering now has its sights set on saving time, money and lives across the energy industry as a whole. Based in Cumbria, the UK firm’s product range comprises robots, which it claims have the potential to save millions while also preventing fatal accidents, able to perform everything from oil pipeline fixes to hazardous underwater work. Having deployed these solutions in the nuclear industry, the company now seeks to expand its remit, backed by Innovate UK, a government agency with a £400m ($487m) budget designed to accelerate the growth of tech in the country. Mark Telford, Forth’s managing director, said: “We have developed a range of robotic solutions for harsh environments which have been successfully used in the nuclear sector in the UK. “There’s a fantastic opportunity for other businesses and organisations in the UK and across the world, whether that’s other nuclear, oil and gas, renewables, agriculture or perhaps areas we haven’t even thought of, to make use of that technology. “These tools have already been developed for, and used by the Sellafield nuclear site, to successfully solve challenges in the nuclear industry.

NS Energy 30th Aug 2019 read more »

France

31 August 2019

France’s CEA nuclear agency has dropped plans to build a prototype sodium-cooled nuclear reactor, it said on Friday, after decades of research and hundreds of millions of euros in development costs. Confirming a report in daily newspaper Le Monde, the state agency said it would finalise research in so-called “fourth generation” reactors in the ASTRID (Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration) project this year and is no longer planning to build a prototype in the short or medium term.

London South East 30th Aug 2019 read more »

Russia

31 August 2019

Rumours continue to swirl about a blast at a Russian naval base on 8 August, which killed five scientists and caused a short, unexplained spike in γ-radiation. Information has been slow to emerge and confused by conflicting reports, but this week, Russia’s weather agency, Roshydromet, finally revealed details about the nuclear radiation that was released. The information suggests that a nuclear reactor was involved in the blast, which lends weight to the theory that Russia was testing a missile known as Burevestintnik, or Skyfall. President Vladimir Putin told Russia’s parliament in 2018 that the nation was developing the missile, which is propelled by an on-board nuclear reactor and could have unlimited range. But because official information about the cause could be scarce, independent researchers are finding ways to glean more details about the explosion.

Nature 30th Aug 2019 read more »

Australia

31 August 2019

Australia should repeal its prohibition on nuclear energy regardless of whether it decides to build nuclear power plants, Ziggy Switkowski, a former chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, told a federal parliamentary committee yesterday. Switkowski, who led the 2006 Review of Uranium Mining Processing and Nuclear Energy in Australia, was the first to address the committee’s inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in the country.

World Nuclear News 30th Aug 2019 read more »

Hydrogen

31 August 2019

A distillery in Orkney could make gin with the help of hydrogen power. The Orkney Distillery ‘HySpirits’ project to explore the possibility of converting from using liquid petroleum gas has been awarded almost £150,000 of UK government funding. The aim is to make providing heat during distillation more environmentally friendly. The project is in conjunction with Napier University and the European Marine Energy Centre (Emec).

BBC 30th Aug 2019 read more »

Island Energy

31 August 2019

The UistWind renewables project in the Outer Hebrides has passed two key milestones. Its second turbine is now up after early problems with its concrete base meant the foundation had to be rebuilt.

Stornoway Gazette 30th Aug 2019 read more »

Energy Storage

31 August 2019

The managing director of London-based energy infrastructure company Statera has told pv magazine a clean energy grid in the U.K. will require as much flexible gas plant capacity as battery storage. The importance of energy storage in providing back-up grid power was demonstrated during an extensive blackout in the U.K. this month when 100 MW of battery capacity kicked in within 0.1 seconds to help keep the lights on. The battery capacity, operated by flexible power infrastructure business Statera, provided “100% of our performance to mitigate the effects” of the power outage, managing director Tom Vernon told pv magazine. Despite the tip-top performance of Statera’s utility scale battery capacity, however, Vernon said the ambition of a carbon-neutral U.K. by 2050 will prove impossible without extensive deployment of flexible gas back-up generation facilities. Others take the view, supported by numerous studies, that fossil fuel generation is not required at all in a 100% renewable energy system or to achieve a carbon neutral energy balance.

PV Magazine 30th Aug 2019 read more »

News August 2019

Heysham/Hydrogen

Moorside

Energy Supplies

Robotics

France

Russia

Australia

Hydrogen

Island Energy

Energy Storage

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