Talking Climate Tech 041
🔋 Big BESS | 🚢 Empire Wind | 🥊 Trump v IMO | 🐟 Grimsby Revolution | 👂 Survey | 📷 Climate Visuals
Something a bit different this week, hope you enjoy it!
🗞️ News Roundup
Big Battery 🇬🇧
This is very welcome news:
NatPower UK has secured an agreement with Sembcorp Utilities (UK) Limited, for a 32-acre site at Wilton International in Redcar to deliver a 1GW / 8GWh lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
An absolute beast of a project up in Teeside, 400kV due to connect 2028. 🔋🔋🔋
More here, snapshot of what's involved ⬇️
💰 £1bn privately funded investment, with no subsidies
⚡ Combines grid-scale BESS with maritime electrification infrastructure
👷♀️ Around 200 construction-phase jobs
🏠 £2 million annually to a community benefit fund
🚢 Power ships at berth and recharge electric propulsion systems
🇬🇧 UK industrial resilience and reduces clean energy curtailment costs
More of these please on the East Coast, we need to store all that juicy wind power we keep paying to curtail, while we work on easing grid transmission and congestion.
Empire Wind, Again 🚢
You might recall this was one of DJT's 'flagship' policies - cancelling a wind farm project that was already underway. Recap on the reopening here in 025, Empire Strikes Back 🪁
The ongoing project fallout continues, however...
Empire Wind vessel cancelled with ship '99% finished': Equinor mulls options
Shipbuilder to consult lawyers as $475m deal for vessel to work on New York offshore wind farm project terminated
The cancellation is on the ship order from Maersk, who are being unsurprisingly sheepish about it. It's complicated - it involves the Jones Act, transfer barges and this installation vessel.
The Jones Act restricts foreign-flagged vessels from calling in at consecutive US ports or points on the outer continental shelf, including a wind turbine foundation.
The lack of domestically built installation vessels has forced offshore wind developers to deploy costly feeder barge solutions to deliver blades, nacelles, and towers to the foreign-flagged WIV parked at the lease site.
Expect this one to keep on sailing...more details here.
Shipping Hell 🚢
While we are on ships; the IMO released its Net Zero Framework earlier this year. A very poisitive step to decarbonise shipping. To get a global consensus on this was a real progressive step;
The Net-Zero Framework (NZF) includes a package of technical and economic elements that sets the sector on a transition path to net-zero emissions by 2050. This includes a global fuel standard that sets GHG intensity reduction targets for each year through 2035 and penalties for failing to meet them.
It also established a credit trading scheme through which vessels with lower emissions can generate credits to sell to owners of higher-emissions vessels. Revenues generated by the penalties will fund a reward mechanism for zero- and near-zero emission fuels and support a just and equitable transition. This includes areas such as availability, uptake, and transfer of zero-emission fuels and technologies, seafarer training, capacity building, and addressing disproportionate negative impacts on developing states.
An article on 'Future Fuels' here from Michael Sura and me for some wider context on the runners and riders.
Michael Sura
Deep dive into scope via IMO here.
Anyway, back to the news. What's widely regarded as a good progressive decarbonisation strategy that also supports developing nations globally, isn't good enough for Agent 🍊. Full statement here.
President Trump has made it clear that the United States will not accept any international environmental agreement that unduly or unfairly burdens the United States or harms the interests of the American people
Apart from more emissions, environmental pollution, water pollution, healthcare impacts and everything 'drill baby drill' 🙄
The Administration unequivocally rejects this proposal before the IMO and will not tolerate any action that increases costs for our citizens, energy providers, shipping companies and their customers, or tourists. The economic impacts from this measure could be disastrous, with some estimates forecasting global shipping costs increasing as much as 10% or more.
Lest we forget, the 'disastrous' 10% pales into comparison with the policy of leveraging 20/30/50/80/100/200% whatever your number, tariffs on finished goods to US citizens. 🤯
I hope you enjoy reading this week's post - currently, Talking Climate Tech is a free newsletter - you can always become a supporter by popping something in the tip jar and keeping the coffee machine stoked!
🔎 Deeper Dive
Energise...Grimsby⁉️
Now you may be wondering why we are featuring Grimsby, a medium-sized town in the North of the UK, on a globally read newsletter. Refresher, it's here:
Well, two reasons; first, I'm from Grimsby originally, so you know, author privilege. Secondly, it's actually more important than it looks - it's the key O&M hub for offshore-wind farm support to the UK's multi-GW clean power projects. Energy Guide:
Which is nice for regional economic recovery, as the town had been through some hard times after the collapse of the fishing industry. You can read about the 'Cod Wars' here, and 'The Docks' here if you are so inclined for some of the UK's rich history and heritage.
Remarkably, Grimsby was the largest fishing port in the 🌏 WORLD at one time! 🤯
A century previously, Grimsby had been a fairly sleepy fishing village, but by the 1890s, it was on the way to becoming the biggest fishing port in the world. In the mid-20th century, trawlers were bringing in 500 tonnes of fish a day.
Yes, there is even the Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre. Quite the attraction to visit - sights, sounds and smells! 🐟
There is also the "Ice Factory' which has one of the oldest and largest heat pump systems - it used to make 1,200 tonnes of ice a day! It's now Grade II listed. For the tech geeks:
The factory used four Pontifex ammonia compressors that were powered by steam produced from Lancashire boilers.[5] Ice production increased in 1933, when electrical generators replaced the steam power source.[5] Upon the introduction of electricity, two Linde ammonia compressors that were being used were replaced with "four four-cylinder vertical valve ammonia compressors" manufactured by J & E Hall.[5] These latter J & E Hall compressors remain inside the building today, and have been described as "the sole surviving example of this type of equipment".[5]
See, all relevant - offshore wind and heat pumps 🤷♂️
Aside from all this good stuff, what caught my eye recently was this project. It's only relatively small for now, but a ray of light that will help lift people out of fuel poverty, and create a template that can be replicated around some of the country's most economically-deprived areas.
It's a project delivered by the Energy Savings Trust, Ashden, Create the Streets and the University of York.
This project will develop a viable and scalable business model to share solar surpluses from the re-developed Ice Factory on the Grimsby docks, and install rooftop solar and batteries at no up-front cost to low-income, terraced homes, including those in the private rented sector in the East Marsh area of Grimsby.
...a mix of philanthropic, public and community investment for 250+ home pilot (200 homes to receive gifted solar from the Grimsby Docks Ice Factory re-development and 50 homes direct PV installation).
You can check in on Sky News here and East Marsh United on how this wider community-led project is enabling the community to thrive, rediscover its homes, place and pride.
What's specifically interesting about the Ashden / EST project for Solar PV and Battery Storage is the free issue of capital equipment - the biggest barrier to adoption - and enables residents to feel the benefits of low-cost behind-the-meter renewable generation and storage. High-impact on energy bills. ⚡
I met with a Southampton City Councillor recently; we walked down to St Mary's to have a look at a similar street and economically-deprived area. He is passionate about helping his community rise out of fuel poverty. We are working on a plan.
This scheme has already served as an inspiration in another area. Think of how effective it could be for people to really feel and scale the clean energy transition across the nation. 📈
On a final note, please take a couple of minutes to watch this from our friends at Antidote, on a community and community energy project, in Lawrence Weston, Bristol.
This is what the energy transition can do, if we put people at the heart of it.
🏡 Konfab News
Talking Climate Tech Survey 01 👂
It's finally here - you will have received an email earlier with the link 🔗 , but for extra completeness, it's here again!
Kane Watkinson
LinkedIn Recap ↩️
I've been chatting on about the following this last couple of weeks:
♨️ The new Hull Heat Network - read more
🕵️ The UK's legacy Heatnetwork blackhole - read more
🇭🇺 Hungary's geothermal progress - read more
Plus some other stuff on Putin's new dissent campaign;
…apparent epidemic of defenestration in Moscow….
Don't stand next to an open window in Moscow. 😱
Alongside some more Trump, methane, and fossil fuel lobbying.
😃 Good Stuff
Climate Visuals 📷
I came across this great project recently, 'Climate Visuals' - an open source image gallery documenting many different aspects of climate-related change.
I'm going to feature a few shots in the coming weeks. First up, this one from Germany. Every image tells a story...but maybe not the one you think. ⬇️
The solar park located outside the village of Feldheim, Germany on February 21, 2023. Feldheim is the first village in Germany to be completely self-sufficient in energy. With the help of wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas, biomass, a regulating power plant and a local heating network, the village covers its own needs. The large amounts of surplus energy generated in the process are fed into the public grid. A total of 284 movers, equipped with 9,844 photovoltaic modules, generate an overall output of 2.25 MWp, yielding 2,748 MWh per year. This amount of energy is sufficient to meet the yearly electricity demands of approximately 600 households consisting of four individuals each.
Thanks for your time, interest and support as always, let's keep pushing forward - remember, the momentum is unstoppable despite everything you might see and hear! 🌍
Kane
