Morocco-UK HVDC solar PV interconnection

[dan_b]

Blimey that's insane!

"From the Powell Creek site, an 800 km 6.4 GW overhead transmission line will carry the solar energy to the Darwin Converter Site at Murrumujuk, where approximately 800 MW of it will be supplied to Darwin and for private industry offtake. The rest will push on to Cable Transition Facilities at Gunn Point Beach where up to six 4,200 km subsea cable system laid parallel will transmit the energy to Singapore."

4,200 km subsea HVDC cable link. 6 of them! Holy moly.

[Oliver90owner]

I wonder how they allow for eventualities in comparing the costs of cable vs. shipping ammonia? It will cost a hell of a lot for copper (or aluminium?) it is inflexible and subject to agressive attack (hostilities: apparently the US and the USSR both had subs designed to disrupt deep-sea cables of all sorts) and it is all along the "ring of fire" where the pacific floor is going down under east Asia.

Also that article has an interesting picture of a solar array:

Presumably close to the equator you might as well angle panels east and west to maximise morning and evening generation. (Also it has just occurred to me that between the two tropic lines the sun is both N and S of you at different times of year. Maybe they are aligned N & S, rather than E & W!

No shading problems with those arrays and close to 100% ground coverage. I expect they have done the maths to find the optimum for generation over installation costs, etc, etc.

[nowty]

No shading problems with those arrays and close to 100% ground coverage. I expect they have done the maths to find the optimum for generation over installation costs, etc, etc.

There was a very similar article circa 5+ years back about similar configurations facing N / E for for large UK flat roofs. I think the main advantage was being able to fit more panels on a flat roof without shading and also outperformed south facing ones (with spacing in rows) on cloudy days.

Which is pretty much what you are saying but I'm making the point that its not just for tropical / equator type locations.

[Ken]

I would have thought thats a worse investment plan when compared to green H2/NH4. Electricity can only be sold where the cable leads but H2/NH4 can be sold anywhere in the world to the highest bidder and void of any political costs as we seeing at the moment.

[AE-NMidlands]

I would have thought thats a worse investment plan when compared to green H2/NH4. Electricity can only be sold where the cable leads but H2/NH4 can be sold anywhere in the world to the highest bidder and void of any political costs as we seeing at the moment.

Depends who is making the investment... I suppose it puts the receiving country in a stronger bargaining position. If it's somewhere really in need of electricity, but with access to finance, then it locks the supplier into sending it to you at the price you want to pay.

[Paul_F]

I would have thought that's a worse investment plan when compared to green H2/NH4. Electricity can only be sold where the cable leads but H2/NH4 can be sold anywhere in the world to the highest bidder and void of any political costs as we seeing at the moment.

That's a feature, not a bug. The people financing the system are based in the UK, not Morocco - and are using the inherent security of supply to get a long-term CfD for the power generated.

[dan_b]

Well well well, Octopus is part of the investment mix for the Morocco-UK solar project

https://www.cityam.com/octopus-backs-pl ... nks_launch

[nowty]

Well well well, Octopus is part of the investment mix for the Morocco-UK solar project

https://www.cityam.com/octopus-backs-pl ... nks_launch

If I'm reading that right, a max investment of £10m out of the required £16b and so far Octopus is the only financial backer that's come to light.

[Mart]

If £48/MWh is do-able*, let's say £60/MWh (as it's probably using the 2012 baseline), and they get a CfD, then investors will be falling over themselves to put the money in. I'm off to check the back of the sofa.

*Their CfD bid would have to include costs, financing costs (estimated) and profit.

[Adokforme]

Well well well, Octopus is part of the investment mix for the Morocco-UK solar project

https://www.cityam.com/octopus-backs-pl ... nks_launch

Thanks for Posting Dan, that's brilliant news making the likelyhood of the project going ahead that much more realistic.
To deliver energy at £48/MWh seems amazing considering all the build out and permissions required. The other amazing thing is that it is at zero capital cost to the UK public, unlike some other proposals.
Obviously lots of hurdles to negotiate but my what a tonic in these depressed times.