Wind power follies

[addjunkie]

You wouldn't look at margin on something like that, it would be IRR, either lifetime or 25 year blocks

I am looking into things I can't discuss here, but some of my early stage stuff has grid connection dates after 2030

Predicting far out commodity prices and returns, is electricity a comodity. Requires stable history, stable inflation, stable geo politics and a bit of crystal ball…..quite understandable how sometimes companies get it a bit wrong sometimes.

 

[Kayos]

Predicting far out commodity prices and returns, is electricity a comodity. Requires stable history, stable inflation, stable geo politics and a bit of crystal ball…..quite understandable how sometimes companies get it a bit wrong sometimes.

That's why we have CFDs and they are based on 2012 prices

It's a recognised solution to a challenging situation

 

[minimutly]

You wouldn't look at margin on something like that, it would be IRR, either lifetime or 25 year blocks

I am looking into things I can't discuss here, but some of my early stage stuff has grid connection dates after 2030

Agreed, but I was trying to keep it simple

 

[Gareth J]

that is disgusting.

ive been looking at a home-build turbine along the ridge of my new workshop - just a 100w or so to run pond pumps + garden lights.
even with the cost of storage batteries, payback time is 1/2 that of feeding back into the grid according to my calcs - and i can keep adding to the installation without falling foul of the g98(?) form "gotcha"[1]


[1] from what i've read, over a certain installation size, the application form puts the applicant on the hook for upgrading the entire network in the area if its deemed neccesary?

You can do it mounted to a shed/dwelling, or within the curtilage, less than a certain height (10m?), under permitted development. But unless you live in a hobit hole, on a hilltop, that's likely limiting you to a pretty poor site.

The size you can mount to a shed will be likely low voltage, so need to be run to your supply via a charge controller to a battery bank then another inverter, rather than a direct to grid inverter.

A neighbour has a shed mounted turbine as part of an off grid setup. It's ~1kW iirc. Is a reasonable quality machine and he's in an okish site, when the prevailing wind blows up the valley. But it takes close to a gale to startup.

 

[Mikes]

Without going too far off topic, the failure to secure the next batch of wind farm licences made me wonder why there is no shortage of planning applications at present for solar farms. Do they get a better feed in tariff or is it that the groups behind these can negotiate directly with the National Grid without the need for a government licence? Some of the ones recently approved or in planning have large outputs (obviously not in the same league as a large wind farm) and will make a good contribution to the power demand. The capital outlay for these is obviously less than the offshore wind farms so perhaps that's where the investment money is going.

 

[fizzy]

All along I said that wind was being artificially bolstered by stupidly low strike prices that they never delivered on. All the greens jumped on the bandwagon saying look how cheap wind power is. Now they are starting to realise that it isn't that cheap after all.
Last year Britain still needed gas for something like 260 days of the year. Even with unlimited wind power there will be periods with no wind - across the whole of Europe!
And no there is still no way of storing it. And carbon capture doesn't work either.
Today wind is doing very well - and yet France is still putting out 10x less CO2 than Britain and Germany - all thanks to nuclear.

 

[addjunkie]

From an environmental emissions point of view nuclear ticks lots of boxes, if you also include less interference with the eye line and not disturbing birds. Only real issues is catastrophic failure and waste recycled at end of life…..

No matter what view any of us prefer, common sense tells us we need an element of independence in a global economy , so we need multiple energy supplies to cover when some are off for what ever reason.

 

[Shox Dr]

They have been cutting willow today, tractors pulling silage bins through the town, muck and mulch blathered from one end to other. Lots of chatter about it on local FB, doubtless the council will turn up tomorrow when they'll have cut it all

Taking it directly to Drax. I cant get my head round the amount of man power and diesel it must take. Annnnd then when it gets there its put it massive dehumidier bins to dry it out before its burnt, using Gas.
F'ing bonkers.

 

[fizzy]

They have been cutting willow today, tractors pulling silage bins through the town, muck and mulch blathered from one end to other. Lots of chatter about it on local FB, doubtless the council will turn up tomorrow when they'll have cut it all

Taking it directly to Drax. I cant get my head round the amount of man power and diesel it must take. Annnnd then when it gets there its put it massive dehumidier bins to dry it out before its burnt, using Gas.
F'ing bonkers.

Indeed it is
Just stop oil don't seem to care though or Greta so it must be good

 

[Erie Fred]

They have been cutting willow today, tractors pulling silage bins through the town, muck and mulch blathered from one end to other. Lots of chatter about it on local FB, doubtless the council will turn up tomorrow when they'll have cut it all

Taking it directly to Drax. I cant get my head round the amount of man power and diesel it must take. Annnnd then when it gets there its put it massive dehumidier bins to dry it out before its burnt, using Gas.
F'ing bonkers.

It could be there is some waste heat coming off the back end of that station that is used for the drying.
Powerplants of all kinds have those dissipation towers, as they have no customers for process heat.

 

[Shox Dr]

It could be there is some waste heat coming off the back end of that station that is used for the drying.
Powerplants of all kinds have those dissipation towers, as they have no customers for process heat.

Most likely. Its still a process and handling it has to go through.

When Drax was powered by coal it was supplied mainly by a pit called Big K, coal was transported via underground convyer straight to the mills to be blown in. The difference in cost must be massive.

 

[julianthegypsy]

It could be there is some waste heat coming off the back end of that station that is used for the drying.
Powerplants of all kinds have those dissipation towers, as they have no customers for process heat.

In Scandinavia they pipe the hot water and provide hot water heating for the local towns I believe, but here they'd rather waste it than give it away...

 

[Erie Fred]

In Scandinavia they pipe the hot water and provide hot water heating for the local towns I believe, but here they'd rather waste it than give it away...

NIMBY'S at work, lowering the efficiency of the generating station.....

 

[addjunkie]

They have been cutting willow today, tractors pulling silage bins through the town, muck and mulch blathered from one end to other. Lots of chatter about it on local FB, doubtless the council will turn up tomorrow when they'll have cut it all

Taking it directly to Drax. I cant get my head round the amount of man power and diesel it must take. Annnnd then when it gets there its put it massive dehumidier bins to dry it out before its burnt, using Gas.
F'ing bonkers.

Tis only viable with the supplements….take that away, with inflated timber and straw prices many of these projects will fail financially! Theyll then be revalued and sold to the highest bidders for far less than they go bump for!