I can see why it would be more expensive than floating wind. Its got all the same tasks of building something you have to tow out and tie down, but then it also has to work underwater too.
It'd be interesting to see the reliability of both. Tidal is obviously predictable for the next few millenia, but also has an upper limit. You never get more tides! Wind on the other hand sometimes doesn't blow, but in some places it blows nearly all the time. Down in the trades for example it blows and blows and blows.
I know Orbital Marine quite well. They won a couple of the CfD bids for tidal power at £178.54 per MWh.
The floating offshore wind projects, if they go ahead, are reckoned to produce at around 53% utilisation.
I think the last time I looked the wind turbine at Green Park (is it still called Green Park?) in Reading was around 18%.
So thats 3 or 4 times higher than average wind prices?
What's the utilisation on a tidal project I wonder? It's tempting to think it can't ever exceed about 50%, but in reality slack water doesn't actually last very long and the tide is always flowing "a bit".
It can exceed 50% if the rated power output is achieved below peak tidal speed.
Not sure about current Orbital design but Marine Current Turbine proposal at Kylerhea had rated power output at 2.4m/s.
I do know peak tidal speed (well, velocity probably) is well over 2.4m/s
Just read the article, fook me that place sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. The magnox pond may contain a tonne of plutonium!! (it's a few kilos to make a bomb) and we're to scared to look in Reactor 1 after the core fire in 1957 (thank Cockcroft for his folly's that stopped the fire spreading contamination all over the North).
"Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
MingtheMerciless wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:06 pm
Just read the article, fook me that place sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. The magnox pond may contain a tonne of plutonium!! (it's a few kilos to make a bomb) and we're to scared to look in Reactor 1 after the core fire in 1957 (thank Cockcroft for his folly's that stopped the fire spreading contamination all over the North).
Well, it hasn't happened in the nearly 8 years since the article.
Seems some good progress has been made since then.
I'm not sure how relevant the clearing up of the UK's nuclear (and much of its nuclear weapons) programme since the late 1940s is relevant to the future nuclear power generation industry though?
The biggest issue seems to be removing the nuclear waste from the wet storage that was implemented decades ago to the dry storage that is now the norm.
Last edited by Kneerly Down on Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Just read the article, fook me that place sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. The magnox pond may contain a tonne of plutonium!! (it's a few kilos to make a bomb) and we're to scared to look in Reactor 1 after the core fire in 1957 (thank Cockcroft for his folly's that stopped the fire spreading contamination all over the North).
Kneerly Down wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:22 pm
The biggest issue seems to be removing the nuclear waste from the wet storage that was implemented decades ago to the dry storage that is now the norm.
I think the biggest issue was that they didn't have a plan and they didn't write down what they'd done.
Two things which make modern nuclear so expensive!
MingtheMerciless wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:06 pm
Just read the article, fook me that place sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. The magnox pond may contain a tonne of plutonium!! (it's a few kilos to make a bomb) and we're to scared to look in Reactor 1 after the core fire in 1957 (thank Cockcroft for his folly's that stopped the fire spreading contamination all over the North).
Well, it hasn't happened in the nearly 8 years since the article.
Seems some good progress has been made since then.
I'm not sure how relevant the clearing up of the UK's nuclear (and much of its nuclear weapons) programme since the late 1940s is relevant to the future nuclear power generation industry though?
The biggest issue seems to be removing the nuclear waste from the wet storage that was implemented decades ago to the dry storage that is now the norm.
According to Sky news it looks like they only started fairground grabber style retrieval from the Magnox swarf storage ponds this year.
As for modern reactor clean up and decommissioning which is supposed to be self funded over the reactors life................hmmmmm.......that'll be another taxpayer bailout when they discover enough wasn't set aside/paid out as dividends and I suspect all the lessons learnt at Sellafield may well have retired by the time it comes to strip the current new builds, so all the skills will have to be re learnt again at great expense.
"Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
Kneerly Down wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:22 pm
I'm not sure how relevant the clearing up of the UK's nuclear (and much of its nuclear weapons) programme since the late 1940s is relevant to the future nuclear power generation industry though?
The biggest issue seems to be removing the nuclear waste from the wet storage that was implemented decades ago to the dry storage that is now the norm.
Does the UK have the deep, long-term, waste storage facility that has been talked about for years as being necessary?
IIRC from an exhibition in Whitehaven museum a few years ago, the plan was to encase waste in glass, put that into barrels, then store them deep underground.
Horse wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 9:25 pmDoes the UK have the deep, long-term, waste storage facility that has been talked about for years as being necessary?
It plans to create them, but the councils refused planning.
Looks like I'll have to upgrade the solar system. This week there was a few days with sunny spells, wet on Friday, sunny spells yesterday and today. The output from the panels drops dramtically on cloudy days. Today for example output can be 2.5kw one minute, 0.5kw the next, this is from 3.6kw of panels. Add the shorter days into the mix and I'm not making enough electricity to fully recharge the batteries. I've removed wifey's access to the hot water heater settings which has helped, but not enough.
I'll have a chat with the solar bloke tomorrow, I think extra panels will help, I might even go for a petrol generator. They're fairly cheap and will be needed if we get two or three wet days in a row. Today is over 10 hours of daylight, mid winter drops to 9.5 hours, so it's not going to get any better.
Pirahna wrote: ↑Sun Nov 13, 2022 3:53 pm
Looks like I'll have to upgrade the solar system. This week there was a few days with sunny spells, wet on Friday, sunny spells yesterday and today. The output from the panels drops dramtically on cloudy days. Today for example output can be 2.5kw one minute, 0.5kw the next, this is from 3.6kw of panels. Add the shorter days into the mix and I'm not making enough electricity to fully recharge the batteries. I've removed wifey's access to the hot water heater settings which has helped, but not enough.
I'll have a chat with the solar bloke tomorrow, I think extra panels will help, I might even go for a petrol generator. They're fairly cheap and will be needed if we get two or three wet days in a row. Today is over 10 hours of daylight, mid winter drops to 9.5 hours, so it's not going to get any better.
Get a spilt charge relay. Let the engine power up the leisure batteries.
Easier than a genny
Pirahna wrote: ↑Sun Nov 13, 2022 3:53 pm
Looks like I'll have to upgrade the solar system. This week there was a few days with sunny spells, wet on Friday, sunny spells yesterday and today. The output from the panels drops dramtically on cloudy days. Today for example output can be 2.5kw one minute, 0.5kw the next, this is from 3.6kw of panels. Add the shorter days into the mix and I'm not making enough electricity to fully recharge the batteries. I've removed wifey's access to the hot water heater settings which has helped, but not enough.
I'll have a chat with the solar bloke tomorrow, I think extra panels will help, I might even go for a petrol generator. They're fairly cheap and will be needed if we get two or three wet days in a row. Today is over 10 hours of daylight, mid winter drops to 9.5 hours, so it's not going to get any better.
I find details like this very helpful when planning my future power plans. Websites suggest a 4kw system for UK residential houses but never say what I should expect from it throughout the year. I'm thinking an 8kw system will be more appropriate with spare juice to run Aircon on hot days.
It will be a while yet so for now I'll carry on reading how other people find it works for them.
For you an alternative is probably a good idea rather than doubling down on solar.
