INTRODUCTION
12Dec22
“We can’t take climate change and put it on the back burner. If we don’t address climate change, we won’t be around as humans.”
Conrad Anker
Mountaineer and Author
“There’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other and that is the urgent threat of a changing climate.”
Barack Obama
A simple media search, “climate change”, returns countless stirring calls to action on the highly emotive topic of sustainability and protection of the environment. Such powerful statements are commonly articulated and reiterated until the message trips off the tongue, but what does the solution actually look like and how are we going to get there? In a three part feature, we at Monui define the scale of the task ahead within the UK, offering insight into the key challenges for the industry to become confluent as we search for a solution.
Part one of Constructing a Network for a Renewable Future, released today, demonstrates the change in geographic location of industrial scale electricity generation in recent years. To really understand the extent of the challenge ahead, we invite you to visualise how the UK generation model is evolving. Click into the interactive map below and filter on time, plant operational status and technology type to understand how the past twenty years has led to a vastly different look and feel for UK electricity generation.
The next instalment will focus on the reality of constructing a network to support this emerging generation model and the challenges we face in building a robust system to connect new, remote plant to the areas of high population and growing demand.
Finally we shall discuss the future of the network. Are we planning for sustainable operation? Is the industry doing enough to understand imminent requirements and electricity usage trends well into the future? Without foresight at this stage, are we investing heavily in a solution to a current problem which is susceptible to obsolescence? Over the coming weeks, as we explore these ideas, feel free to get in touch. Your thoughts are welcome as we look to promote the topic for discussion.
CONSTRUCTING A NETWORK FOR A RENEWABLE FUTURE
by Chris Wellard / 12Dec22
Part 1 of 3
The Change
Since the turn of the century, electricity generation in the United Kingdom has seen a remarkable transition. Between 2000 and 2019, coal as a fuel for the production of electricity has reduced from supplying over 40% of the UK’s power to just 8% with further plans expressed to eliminate coal fired generation by 2025 [1]. Solar photovoltaic together with onshore and more recently constructed offshore wind now account, on average, for around one third of the UK’s electricity requirements. At Monui we have produced an interactive visualisation based on generation planning data taken from BEIS [2] and additional information from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics [3] to present some of the changes in UK generation over the past twenty years; we will continue to develop the model but, with such an expansive topic, the focus starts here.
The Challenge
With the change in fuel type and closure of high capacity coal and gas fire power stations, a vast evolution in the geographic location and spread of the new generation model is clear. To reduce logistics costs, coal fired power stations were generally constructed in close proximity to the coal seams within distinct regions of Central and Northern England, South Wales and Central Scotland. As renewable sources of electricity are developed, the change and spread in location is evident. Photovoltaic panels benefit from the higher intensity sun in the southern half of England while Scotland hosts a large proportion of onshore wind generation. Since 2016, large scale offshore wind farms have become operational to the east and west of England with additional capacity under construction and more in the pipeline; Round 4 leasing [4] is progressing through the legal process to grant seabed rights before planned wind farm development can commence. While many of these new generation plants have been strategically positioned to benefit from the transmission and distribution network capacity left by the closure of decommissioned plant, these historic grid access points are becoming saturated and with the geographic change in location of new, high capacity wind farms, the network will need building out and reinforcing to ensure security of supply to the areas of higher population density and demand around the North West of England, the West Midlands and London.
In short, while recent years have shown an effective drive for a more sustainable and responsibly fuelled UK electricity market, the challenges are rife as we embark on one of the greatest industrial changes of our time.
The Planning
The potential for an uncoordinated approach is a great risk to the success and effectiveness of the emerging new model. A patchwork system built without clear and informed guidance from a single coordinating party could be hugely detrimental to the efficiency with which we replace the large capacity coal burning sites. There is then the question raised about future sustainability. Could rushing head first into a solution with a disjointed plan bring to light additional environmental impacts, detrimental to the very problem we’re trying to solve? More on this later.
The Construction
As the new, cleaner generation starts to saturate the existing available connection capacity, the network must be built out in a timely yet robust manner. We can’t now ignore the future energy landscape and the need for foresight during development of large scale infrastructure. Vast lengths of new overhead line and cables from 11kV to 400kV (and potentially beyond) will be required to connect new substations to the existing network and reach out to the currently islanded sites of new, large capacity renewable generation and the decentralised, smaller plant. The scale of these construction efforts bring a serious planning and delivery challenge. From resource limitations to world commodity markets and plant manufacturing slots, we shall introduce our view of the imminent challenges for electricity construction in part two of this feature.
Get in Touch
Monui is proud to exercise understanding in strategic level planning. We know how important the challenge ahead is and we have the experience to support your efforts from the outset. From understanding of the Grid with the vision to know what change might bring to the use of analytics for industry insight moulded for your foresight, we can help to build the picture for electrical construction projects from inception.
Chris Wellard – Senior Consultant – Monui.
[1] – Government response to unabated coal closure consultation
[2] – BEIS Renewable Energy Planning Database
[3] – Digest of UK Energy Statistic (DUKES) 2022
[4] – Round 4 Wind