UK Wind + Interconnectors = Net Zero?

[Stinsy]

Anyone know our current potential capability for wind and solar generation ? Just the commercial stuff.

The records for both are:

• Solar 9.7GW

• Wind 17.6GW

I guess the actual installed capacity will be above this...

[dan_b]

UK is targeting 40GW of Offshore Wind nameplate capacity by 2030.
There is a "pipeline" of some 17GW of solar PV in planning, with UK seemingly installing about 1GWp/year, so that takes us out quite a few years.
I can find no similar information of onshore wind as the Tory Govt basically killed onshore wind development in favour of off-shore.

So there's a lot planned. Is it enough? No idea. Is it quick enough? Probably not.
Would be interesting to find out about planned storage projects - both pumped hydro, but also grid-scale batteries.

[Stinsy]

For us lot storage is bad. We like the wild price fluctuations with our batteries and storage heaters...

[AE-NMidlands]

For us lot storage is bad. We like the wild price fluctuations with our batteries and storage heaters...

Some of us haven't got panels (yet!)
However what we all really want is someone to reset the market so that storage becomes as viable as generation, which would stop generated or potentially-generated electricity being turned off, i.e captured carbon-replacing energy going to waste.
What chance?
A

[Bugtownboy]

UK is targeting 40GW of Offshore Wind nameplate capacity by 2030.
There is a "pipeline" of some 17GW of solar PV in planning, with UK seemingly installing about 1GWp/year, so that takes us out quite a few years.
I can find no similar information of onshore wind as the Tory Govt basically killed onshore wind development in favour of off-shore.

So there's a lot planned. Is it enough? No idea. Is it quick enough? Probably not.
Would be interesting to find out about planned storage projects - both pumped hydro, but also grid-scale batteries.

Gut feeling, because I can’t do the maths, is that it feels ball park - if there’s adequate, and appropriate, storage.

But is that the elephant in the room ?

[AE-NMidlands]

UK is targeting 40GW of Offshore Wind nameplate capacity by 2030.
There is a "pipeline" of some 17GW of solar PV in planning, with UK seemingly installing about 1GWp/year, so that takes us out quite a few years.
I can find no similar information of onshore wind as the Tory Govt basically killed onshore wind development in favour of off-shore.

So there's a lot planned. Is it enough? No idea. Is it quick enough? Probably not.

Would be interesting to find out about planned storage projects - both pumped hydro, but also grid-scale batteries.

and the other non-battery storage technologies currently under development: e.g. Liquid air (or something like it) at Carrington, plus I would love to see the compressed-air/water filled reinforced concrete cylinders at the bottom of Loch Ness - near where there is a surplus of generation so the grid should like it on windless days.
A

[Mart]

UK is targeting 40GW of Offshore Wind nameplate capacity by 2030.
There is a "pipeline" of some 17GW of solar PV in planning, with UK seemingly installing about 1GWp/year, so that takes us out quite a few years.
I can find no similar information of onshore wind as the Tory Govt basically killed onshore wind development in favour of off-shore.

So there's a lot planned. Is it enough? No idea. Is it quick enough? Probably not.
Would be interesting to find out about planned storage projects - both pumped hydro, but also grid-scale batteries.

Hopefully we'll get an idea after the CfD auctions in Dec(?) now that PV and on-shore wind have been allowed back in (cough - Tory u-turn - cough), and I think the off-shore CfD doesn't have a capacity cap, but a budget cap, so the cheaper the bids, the more we could see.

Roughly, we seem to be displacing 3.5% of generation pa with RE, which is great, but we do still have ~40% FF and 20% ageing nuclear, so assuming HPC comes online this decade, we still have ~50% or 15yrs to meet that demand, before considering transport and space heating, which could double demand.

And there's the issue of storage now that excess RE generation is starting to become large enough, and regular enough to consider sizeable storage options.

So too many moving targets, but I'd suggest our roll out of RE isn't fast enough, but the good news is that as costs fall we get more bang for our buck, and the subsidies go much further, such as the subsidy element of the latest off-shore wind contracts with a strike price of £47, probably allows for ~10x the generation that the earlier contracts at £164 did.

So much change happening, and it's a lot of fun to watch.

[Bugtownboy]

Recent article on Hinkley C -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-58724732

This years low RE output is going to do one of two things - encourage more RE deployment or encourage regression to the comfort of burning stuff.

[dan_b]

Interesting thing about HinkleyC is that with gas prices the way they are now, their strike price/MWh of electricity now doesn't look all that bad!

I've been reading that the UK Government is lobbying VERY hard at the moment to get EDF interested in the currently mothballed idea to do a new nuclear build at Wylfa as part of the ongoing wranglings over a new funding model for the proposed Sizewell C site which look like they are about to be confirmed - keep an eye out for announcements...

[Mr Gus]

Wonder what we could achieve in offshore govt invested Wind turbines for that Nuclear site build cash the taxpayer is expected to fork over in perpetuity.

I know which i'd prefer that is not also deemed a terrorism target site & all the additional funding / associated disposal costs that lot requires.