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In the New Year, we still face climate change, energy pricing crisis, supply challenges, and lacking ambition, but in challenges there are always opportunities. In this edition, we focus on those who are taking the hurdles and overcoming with innovation and originality.
In the UK, a supply issue has driven energy pricing to unprecedented highs, and most are worried about the future. But Centrica Storage has reopened the sizeable Rough gas storage facility. Hardly innovative as a single project, but while balancing the grid in the short term there is a longer term vision in mind. Eventually, the plan is to use the site as a hydrogen storage centre, with hydrogen production close by, exporting this fuel of the future around the world. alongside the product will be skills and expertise as the UK aims for hydrogen industry leadership, globally. Martin Scargill, MD at Centrica Storage gives us the fill.
As many now look for small steps that they can take as individuals in the battle for emission reductions, electric vehicles are a hot topic. The Electric Car Scheme offers employers the chance to give their teams access to the market quickly, easily, and affordably. Taking petrol and diesel off the road and replacing with all electric will be a major contributor in the UK’s journey to net zero. CEO Thom Groot tells us more about the spark that led him into the industry.
In Denmark and Sweden, Nordic Storage is looking at the potential for using its vast resources for modern fuels. Understanding legislation and pricing like few others, this historic business is vital in the Scandinavian market and has one eye on the future as liquid fossil fuels are replaced with more eco-friendly alternatives. CEO Daiva Angeldorff tells us about the safe transition and how clients are making changes.
Icelandic engineering firm EFLA Consulting Engineers is busy bringing world-leading solutions for overhead power lines and substations – tried and tested in Iceland’s harsh conditions – to clients around the world. embedding sustainability at the heart of everything it does, this is a thriving business with projects all over the map. Director of the company’s energy division Steinþór Gíslason tells us more about EFLA’s ambition.
Get in touch with us today and tell us what you are doing, and how you are actively rolling out. We’re on LinkedIn.
Joe Forshaw EDITOR
6
CENTRICA ENERGY STORAGE
Unlocking Economic Opportunity Stored in Energy Transition
NORDIC STORAGE
Reliability When it is Needed Most
EFLA CONSULTING ENGINEERS
Icelandic Strength Ensuring European Sustainability
32 40 48
THE ELECTRIC CAR SCHEME Easy, Affordable, Accessible, Alternative for EV Switch
CENEX - WICET
Sparking a Wireless Charging Revolution on UK Roads
RAWWATER
Sour pointers: Understanding the impact of microbiological oilfield reservoir souring – and why oil majors and service companies need to remain alert
40
Project rollout is required if the energy transition is to accelerate and tackle the problems around significant carbon emissions in the UK’s industrial heartlands. Centrica Energy Storage is reopening the Rough gas storage facility and experimenting with new technologies, bringing innovation and development to Yorkshire and the Humber with the hope that energy transition investment will follow for the benefit of the whole country. Managing Director, Martin Scargill talks to Energy Focus about speedy progress.
PRODUCTION: Tommy Atkinson
Martin Scargill, Managing Director
In October 22, Centrica announced that it would reopen the Rough gas storage facility following a period of engineering work and upgrades to existing infrastructure. Closed for storage in 2017 and converted for gas production, Rough was said to be uneconomical, requiring significant investment to extend its useful life. But following significant investment, and the emergence of an energy crisis and pricing disaster, Rough returns as the largest UK gas storage facility, bolstering the UK’s capacity by over 50%.
Currently, the facility is operating at 20% of its capacity, storing around 30 billion bcf of gas for use by UK homes and businesses. 19 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire, in the UK North Sea, Rough’s current mission is to provide stabilisation
and security as energy markets reel from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Importantly, Centrica is looking at the long-term. It’s subsidiary Centrica Energy Storage has bold plans for Rough to become a hydrogen storage site and clean energy hub – the largest long-duration energy storage facility in Europe – as it works towards a net zero goal.
Martin Scargill, Managing Director at CSL, tells Energy Focus more about the challenges and opportunities that are quickly materialising – especially in the UK’s north east – as projects including the reopening of Rough are ramping up to solve the energy crisis and deliver on net zero.
“Centrica’s People and Planet Plan looks to achieve a net zero operation by 2045 and help our customers to get to net zero by 2050,” he says. “We are looking at hydrogen predominantly,
in the Humber initially, and then broadening out what we’ve been doing in the energy transition space to other hubs in the UK, potentially exporting what we do further afield.
“We will be net zero by 2045 at the latest and we are supporting, promoting and delivering energy transition projects right now. We are the biggest energy retailer in the UK and we want to help everyone get to net zero as quickly as possible while aligning with our customers and our purpose of helping everyone to live simply, sustainably, and affordably – that is what we’re all about.”
In the short-term, reopening Rough will allow the UK to increase its gas storage levels dramatically. Previously, the country was storing around six days of gas compared to 103 days in France and 123 in the Netherlands.
Today, at Exolum we are building on 95 years of expertise to deliver innovative and viable solutions to the bulk liquid storage and logistics industry that meet the challenges of tomorrow, and meeting the varied needs of our many clients.
Storing cheap gas for use during peak demand (especially in the winter) is an essential part of tackling the energy crisis. Now, Rough holds enough gas for around 100 days of heating for one million average UK homes.
Long-duration energy storage (LDES) has been highlighted by a number of sources as key in the longer-term transition, and Rough will play a role in this space. The desire to decarbonise the energy system has been put in place with a 2035 goal, and the National Grid Future Energy System Scenarios report suggests
that a range of hydrogen storage solutions could offer between 12 and 56TWhs by 2050 – Rough could provide at least 10TWhs of this.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy report on the benefits of LDES from July 2022 concluded: “Longer duration storage solutions reduce net zero system costs by between £13bn and £24bn”, and “the largest savings arise when flexibility is delivered through a combination of hydrogen storage and hydrogen CCGTs”.
Eventually, when the market is stable and the industry is comfortable,
progressing Rough towards hydrogen storage will begin. The process and technology, while complicated, is proven. There are different methods including injecting hydrogen into salt caverns, pushing into porous rock in depleted oil and gas fields, mixing with a liquid carrier such as ammonia and storing deep in a lined rock cavern, or injecting directly into a lined rock cavern in the form of gaseous or liquid hydrogen. Innovative engineering is required, and Centrica can deliver. The crucial element is developing a market, creating a financially viable system, and connecting important players.
Scargill is buoyant about the opportunities and the potential for hydrogen rollout in the UK, and he is keen to see this start onshore, close to Rough, in Yorkshire and the Humber region – the UK’s largest cluster by industrial emissions.
// WE HAVE HUGE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES IN THE UK IN TERMS OF OUR OFFSHORE OPERATION AND OUR GEOGRAPHY, WITH ABILITY TO STORE HYDROGEN AND ROLLOUT CCUS //
“The potential is massive,” he highlights. “We have taken energy security for granted in the UK for too long. Things have worked in a time while there has been relative geopolitical stability. We have been able to freely import and export, and everyone was friendly. The UK has benefited from that in running a JustIn-Time energy system. Bills have been cheaper because less infrastructure has gone on to the consumer bill. In times where things are less friendly and the supply of gas is less available, and you have to pay a premium as you are competing, that’s when things like
Rough storage become so important. It has been a jewel in the crown of the UK’s energy industry, balancing the grid for 30 years. Shutting it down was a decision that was not taken lightly, and we need to learn the lessons from this crisis and start thinking 50 years ahead, not 50 weeks ahead.”
In the past two years, policy makers have been forced into thinking about more of a Just-In-Case system, not only because of the RussiaUkraine situation, but also because of the importing nature of the UK’s structure, contending in an open market with other nations and dealing
with the increased variability of a supply and demand as we move to a more renewables-based system.
For Scargill, returning the UK to energy exporter status would have major macroeconomic benefits and that is why reopening Rough, and planning for a hydrogen future are essential.
“We have huge competitive advantages in the UK in terms of our offshore industry and our geography, with ability to store green electricity as hydrogen and rollout carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS). Other
Continues on page 8
We provide specialist project management, design, fabrication, installation, and decommissioning services to a range of blue-chip clients in the oil, gas, power generation, nuclear, renewables, and petrochemical industries.
We are based in Hull at a purpose-built, three-acre site ideally located on the UK East Coast. Our state-of-the-art workshops give us the capability to carry out a full range of pipework fabrication and erection, and mechanical services with procedures in place covering all grades of carbon steel, stainless steel, duplex, super duplex, nickel and copper nickel alloys. Our investment in modern facilities also gives us the capacity to offer a full range of project management, design, procurement, and support services, allowing us to offer the complete industry-ready solution.
Our 60,000 square foot fabrication facility and office space are close to the UK rail and road network, and our proximity to the deep-water berths at the port of Hull gives us superb access to the North Sea. Humberside International Airport and heliport are only 30 minutes from our site.
OUR FACILITIES
• 4 no. fabrication workshops (general and controlled exotics)
• 40,000 square foot total workshop space
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We offer a complete solution, with a hands-on approach from concept to completion to ensure that the service we deliver is tailored to each of our client’s needs. Our highly experienced team provides a professional service at each stage of the project, from the procurement and manufacturing stages to the final handover.
• Pipework Fabrication & Installation, Structural Steel, Pipe Support Fabrication & Installation
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• Supply of Labour: Welders, Pipefitters, Platers, Riggers, AP, Instrument & Mechanical Fitters
• Material and Equipment Procurement
• Pressure Testing
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countries don’t have this,” he states. “We should be thinking seriously about becoming an energy exporter and using assets like Rough which nature has given us in the UK. When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing hard on a holiday weekend in August, instead of wasting that precious renewable energy, we can store it as hydrogen when it is being produced at its absolute cheapest, we should be putting it away somewhere and exporting it around the world. We have the vision, we need to turn ambition into reality and get on with these projects with a view to become energy-independent and energy-exporting, changing the fuel type from natural gas to hydrogen.”
In the recent Skidmore review, Scargill was delighted that the importance of re-opening Rough got a mention on page 68, and that the longer term conversion to hydrogen was also called out on page 107, specifically highlighting as a key recommendation: “Deliver transport
and storage business models as soon as feasibly possible and take a pragmatic approach to support key ‘no regrets’ transport and storage projects.
Scargill says Rough is one such project and the UK cannot take the risk of getting left behind given the recent Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the US, and the EU’s fit for 55 programme. “Investment in hydrogen will go to the country most committed to it,” he says.
In 2021, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) published a paper confirming results of modern research highlighting hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels (in some cases) as the EU looks to achieve the goals set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Today, most hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels and generation levels would need to shift significantly. With most major economies researching hydrogen production capability in some form, the potential to use the element for decarbonising becomes clearer. In the UK, Centrica
is taking an optimistic stance.
“Hydrogen is a nascent market – there is no demand,” says Scargill. “How do you get businesses to invest switching their fuel to hydrogen? Currently, there is only hydrogen production in refineries and there is limited ambition to deploy hydrogen as people worry about how much it costs. It has to become cost competitive with other fuels.”
In November 22, Centrica penned an agreement with Equinor to explore large scale, low-carbon hydrogen production at the Easington Gas Terminal – the connection site for Rough and right in the middle of the UK biggest industrial cluster. The area has the ability to receive up to one third of the country’s total gas supply with much coming from Norway and Equinor. The site is also close to a number of the world’s largest offshore wind farms which have the potential to generate large amounts of green hydrogen. Eventually, the vision is to produce up over 1GW of low-carbon hydrogen at Easington, a mix of blue and green.
“There are a number of challenges,
but we look at it as an opportunity,” smiles Scargill. “We want to move fast and there is a lot of positive talk about the energy transition but not a lot of projects getting off the ground yet. One of the challenges is how to break the dependency on fossil fuels because they are very efficient. Anything you compare fossil fuels to – hydrogen or anything else – there is a cost. The cost of burning and discharging carbon into the atmosphere is not fully priced into the supply of energy. That is the biggest challenge as you have to get people to want to commit to spending money on moving to a net zero future – particularly during an energy crisis, this is really tough. Some people have retrenched and moved back into fossil fuels as they think about energy security and sovereignty at this point in time. The biggest challenge we see are the barriers to wide scale uptake and desire to move to cleaner energy,” he says, adding that this responsibility must be shared with the wider industry as well as government as a driver of change.
Most scientists and researchers have suggested that the future of hydrogen as an energy source is limitless. “It is only limited by political ambition,” states Scargill.
Within Centrica, and across the UK energy space, there is deep knowledge and experience – itself a proven exportable product. And despite negative sentiment around the oil and gas industry because of its association with carbon intensive nature, the skills in the industry are where solutions will come from, says Scargill – a Centrica and energy industry veteran of more than three decades.
“There are transferable skills, there are companies doing great things, and we have the supply chain to deliver a world leading hydrogen economy of the size that is only limited by ambition,” he beams. “We need to be leading in hydrogen as a country, and we need to become cost competitive through scale. Decarbonising the country’s industrial heartlands starting
with a cluster strategy works, but that shouldn’t be the limit of hydrogen’s reach. We have had many high-profile politicians visit our assets – opposition leader, Sir Kier Starmer just a year ago – and our message there was think big on hydrogen. Look at oil and gas – go anywhere around the world and you will find Aberdeen or Newcastle grown skills on every single project. We want to ensure we become an exporter of skills, knowledge, technology, and everything that goes along with it when it comes to hydrogen. The opportunity is huge.”
Centrica Energy Storage (CES) is responsible for the Rough offshore storage facility comprising of five offshore platforms. The Easington Terminal is also part of the CES portfolio, receiving gas from Rough, York and Tolmount fields in the UK North Sea. Other net zero focus areas include zero carbon electricity generation through a stake in the UK’s existing nuclear fleet; 15GW of low carbon generation under management; de-carbonising commercial and industrial clusters (Centrica’s Business Solutions team) with solar, battery and small-scale hydrogen generation for combined heat and power units (CHPs); conversion of residential homes to hydrogen through our participation in hydrogen village
trials. Centrica’s family of businesses are working across all value chains to decarbonise its customers.
Always guided by its vision and purpose of helping customers to achieve a net zero future, the group and company will continue to explore exciting opportunities that have the potential to bring change.
“We are looking at taking more positions in low carbon hydrogen and zero carbon electricity generation. We are not wind asset owners but we have a huge trading operation with over 15 GW of low carbon electricity under management and growing. We are a big player and everything we do is designed to help our customers get to a net zero future,” details Scargill.
“We have a lot of projects in the pipeline,” he continues. “Everywhere you look there are opportunities in the energy transition, right from big infrastructure stuff to support the Humber and other industrial clusters in decarbonising, things like gigawatt hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and export to Europe, right through to transportation, trading, commercial and domestic usage. We have a huge array of projects and if we can make a success of them then we could have the ambition to move them overseas as well.”
Already strong in Ireland, and with solid partnerships in Europe,
Centrica forms part of a wider industry that is pushing boundaries.
“We are very integrated as a family of businesses and we see Centrica as a number of different business units that work individually, but when you bring them together you have real power to make a difference,” highlights Scargill. “We don’t advocate just hydrogen or just electrification – we think there will be a requirement for a blend. We think we need to electrify as much as possible but in hydrogen we will have to fill the gap that is left in the hard to abate sectors such as
energy intensive industry, joining the dots between electrification, weather patterns, storage, transportation, smoothing out intermittency with renewables, and more.”
But even with the power of big business in play, there are always hurdles to overcome. For CES and its net zero vision, the challenges are macro and require investment, vision, and action. In a UK economy battling through recession and coming out of an unprecedented period after the pandemic, against a backdrop of war involving a major energy nation, generating the required will is the difficulty.
“In the UK, the intent is good and world leading in terms of the targets. However, the projects are not getting off the ground and investors are not seeing bankable opportunity. There is a real risk of being left behind as others around the world race to de-carbonise,” says Scargill.
“Do we have the supply chain strength, do we have the skills, do we have everything else we need to deliver projects?” he questions. “The spend on energy infrastructure projects in the UK sits at around £10 billion on average, and it needs to ramp up to £50 billion a year and stay there for 20 years so that we can achieve net zero by 2050. How
do you ramp up an economy to deliver that when you have just gone through a pandemic and are in recession and an energy crisis – it is a big challenge.”
More can be done in the acceleration of an energy transition, according to a recent report on the Humber region specifically. The net zero review from former Energy Minister, Chris Skidmore found that businesses and industry are open to change and ready to embrace new technology and processes, with steps available right now. Onshore wind and solar installations, using infrastructure alongside financial incentives and tax benefits, as well as a plethora of other support schemes must be adopted quickly so that the area can become an exemplar in the energy transition.
“We are starting to invest. We think it’s just a matter of time,” says Scargill.
“To meet our customer’s needs, we need clean energy; reliable, affordable, and secure energy sources. In getting there, there is benefit for the economy - jobs, growth, skills etc. The socio-economic benefits for delivering the energy transition does need to be highlighted, particularly when looking at the industrial heartlands of the north east and north west, and other areas that have suffered from under investment in infrastructure.
// IN THE UK, THE INTENT IS GOOD AND WORLD LEADING IN TERMS OF THE TARGETS. HOWEVER, THE PROJECTS ARE NOT GETTING OFF THE GROUND AND INVESTORS ARE NOT SEEING BANKABLE OPPORTUNITY //
“We are working with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and many partners to understand what impact decarbonising the entire Humber region would have,” he adds. “We think that with our projects alone we could generate 2,000 jobs during construction and then hundreds of highly skilled jobs and well paid in the decades to come, just for our projects. If you scale that across the Humber – as the UKs biggest energy estuary and biggest single polluting industrial hub in the UK – there is a major opportunity for future greening and future investment.”
Currently, the UK is pursuing a strategy to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels while promoting a sustainable economy with new green investment and jobs.
Specifically in the east and north east of the UK, CES is busy with multiple projects – including reopening Rough and researching hydrogen production at Easington – and the company is continuing to invest to support its local community. From here, as the transition gathers pace, there will be a base of expertise that can power decisions in regions searching for decarbonisation around the world.
“We have a very deep knowledge base in our operational, technical
and engineering teams. We also have strong reach into a supply chain for skills and certain activities. At CES, we run a model that works in partnership with our supply chain partners, and we invest in skills around STEM to ensure the strength in our team. Our operations support thousands more jobs and billions of dollars of investment,” says Scargill.
The Managing Director believes that if you build it, they will come, and he is certain that investment in the Humber region will have a circular benefit.
“Whether that is CCUS, hydrogen generation, or similar, businesses move to areas where critical infrastructure is deployed and there is a reliable supply of clean energy. There is massive societal benefit during the transitional phase as new companies are grown, and existing industries are bolstered and kept in the UK rather than being moved offshore (green steel is a good example),” he adds. Clearly, those active in the industry are sure. Those operating in the region are certain. And those demanding a cleaner and greener future continue to offer their
support. Now is the time for the transition to be utilised for economic gain and not only environmental responsibility. Whether hydrogen rollout, ongoing electrification, balancing an unstable supply environment, or ensuring security and affordability of supply, Centrica and CES are contributing in a big way.
“We are looking at what we’re doing here in the Humber as an energy transition hub and seeing if we can replicate that in other places, like Ireland. We have a number of cross-business-unit collaboration opportunities on hydrogen, electrification, and on other energy fronts,” underlines Scargill.
“We are now in 2023 and we are supposed to have 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production on the system by 2030 – just seven years to deliver,” he concludes, highlighting the need for progress in the short term while Centrica and the rest of the industry builds sustainability in the longer term.
// WE ARE NOW IN 2023 AND WE ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE 10GW OF LOW CARBON HYDROGEN PRODUCTION ON THE SYSTEM BY 2030 – JUST SEVEN YEARS TO DELIVER //
PRODUCTION: Tommy Atkinson
Nordic Storage, a member of the HG Storage International (HGSI) Group, is one of the largest storage companies for liquid bulk in Scandinavia. CEO Daiva Angeldorff tells Energy Focus that the business remains nimble and innovative as it adapts to meet the constantly changing needs of clients in a volatile market.
Aalborg, Helsingborg, and Malmö.
Industry, transport routes and well-developed infrastructure at these locations open up great business opportunities which can be well served by reliable storage terminals.
“We believe we are one of the largest companies in our field in Scandinavia,” CEO Daiva Angeldorff tells Energy Focus. “We own and operate seven terminals located across Sweden and Denmark that are strategically located along the Baltic Sea and the Danish Straits. This geographical positioning in combination with our terminal capacity enables us to manage large volumes of product, building bulk for further transhipment and mixing products to meet market demand. We also offer strategic reserves storage close to major markets and serve the local downstream markets as well.”
The company’s experience and know-how in combination with the team’s technical ability allows for smooth operations that ultimately benefit the client.
//The energy crisis and pricing challenges on the European market are negatively impacting world economies like never before. Nordic Storage operates in Sweden and Denmark, two nations that are committed to a sustainable energy transition - both have pledged to achieve the goals set out in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement. The sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine have spurred the search for alternatives to Russian energy, resulting in a volatile energy market.
While petroleum-based products remain a key commodity, and this is expected to be the case in the immediate future, the energy transition
is underway. Many of the oil majors are starting to focus on renewables and new biofuels. The result is that effective, efficient, and safe storage of oil products, as well as adapting storage to future biofuels, are likely to be in high demand across Europe. In Sweden and Denmark, Nordic Storage is an industry leader and has been providing clients with storage services since its establishment in 2000.
With more than one million cbm capacity, and the backing of HGSI, Nordic Storage terminals handle a wide range of oil products. Middle distillates, aviation fuel, fuel oils, chemicals and bio-oils are all managed safely and securely at a number of sites including Gävle, Norrköping, Oskarshamn, Gothenburg,
“Products can be delivered to and from vessels; we offer bunkering operations and automatic tank truck loading at multiple sites. Our dedicated team have both the experience and training needed to ensure safe, reliable and responsible storage services,” states Angeldorff. “Should external expertise be required to assist with the provision of services outside the scope of our immediate offering, we have a well-established network of service providers to assist our clients.”
The balance of supply and demand in the energy sector has been challenged over the past few years as world markets faced the Covid-19 pandemic, an economic shut-down, supply chain turmoil, and in the past year, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Critical raw material pricing has been disrupted and reliability has become an increasingly rare commodity. Angeldorff says that she believes Nordic Storage
has done everything possible to adapt to the new environment and meet clients’ needs. Utilising the in-depth expertise of the team, solutions have been put in place, and the company has tackled the challenges head-on.
“The Covid-19 pandemic caused severe economic and social disruption globally, and our industry witnessed various impacts,” she says.
“We swiftly adapted our routines and procedures to find safe ways to continue to handle our customers’ products. All non-operational personnel worked from home and terminal operators were divided into different ‘bubbles’ to avoid the spread of infection. We also implemented measures at the terminals to ensure a safe working environment for colleagues, contractors, and other partners. We believe that as a result of all the measures we implemented,
we were able to curb the spread of Covid-19 across our terminals with minimal disruption to our business. We continued to offer the full suite of services throughout the pandemic while protecting our people’s health and mitigating the impact of Covid-19 on the local communities.”
“Our ability to keep product moving and keep clients happy, while protecting the health and safety of our employees, was essential as Covid-19 was just the first in a series of challenges.”
“At that time, we also experienced a Contango period with increased demand for storage capacity,” admits Angeldorff. “We are very pleased and proud of our team’s effort in providing excellent service and handling the increased volume of operations while upholding the Covid-19 safety measures,” she says of her team’s success through trying times.
But as Covid-related pressures eased, the resultant economic trough hampered businesses – especially those in the energy space – subjecting them to significant fluctuations in demand and pricing. A long operating history, and a strong geographic footprint allowed Nordic Storage to overcome this hurdle successfully.
“The global energy crisis has caused major uncertainty and turmoil, mainly in the markets for natural gas, coal, and electricity. The consequences have affected the oil markets triggering reserve oil stock releases by IEA member countries to avoid even more severe disruptions,” says Angeldorff.
“Nordic Storage have several customers within the Compulsory Stockholding Obligation segment and offer safe and secure storage services,” she adds. “We believe our terminals in Scandinavia are well-
suited for compulsory or strategic storage purposes and can deliver product immediately upon request due to our strategic position within a close sailing distance to most of the major ports in Europe.”
The economic challenges and the uncertainty that gripped the world post-2020 has seen many industries and countries accelerate their progress in the energy transition sphere. While this remains a long-term journey, it is one that Nordic Storage is well positioned for. Traditionally active in the fossil fuel space, the company is adapting to fuel storage diversification
and embracing modern technologies.
“The storage industry has been impacted by the current state of world political and economic affairs, and Nordic Storage is no exception,” says Angeldorff. “The energy crisis may propel the energy transition towards more sustainable fuels and as a storage partner we are adapting our business to meet our customers’ needs and changing demands. We believe Nordic Storage and HGSI have come a long way in preparing for the shift from storing more traditional petroleum products towards more sustainable biofuels and feed stocks.”
With extensive experience in handling various liquid bulk
products, the company believes it is in a position to obtain new permits and certificates required to expand the business for storage of new commodities. The company’s infrastructure is also well suited to products that are already in demand.
“We are developing the requisite understanding of the components of sustainability and look forward to working with our customers towards energy transition,” states Angeldorff.
“The shift towards energy transition is clear, but the pace, targets and outcomes will be determined by regulators, consumers and producers as
Continues on page 22
// THE SHIFT TOWARDS ENERGY TRANSITION IS CLEAR, BUT THE PACE, TARGETS AND OUTCOMES WILL BE DETERMINED BY REGULATORS, CONSUMERS AND PRODUCERS AS THEY FURTHER CRAFT, AND COMMIT TO, GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY GOALS AND INITIATIVES //
Nordic Storage AB is an energy storage company. Our terminals are strategically located in Scandinavia, with a total storage capacity of more than 1 million cubic meters. With comprehensive knowledge and experience we provide the safe, reliable, and responsible handling and storage of various petroleum-based products, renewables and biofuels. Our aim is to offer a sustainable storage solution for our customers. We are dedicated to contributing to the energy transition and to adapt our business to the fuels and feedstocks of the future.
Contact us to discuss the best possible storage solution for your specific needs.
www.nordicstorage.se
info@nordicstorage.se
+46 31 53 45 00
Continued from page 20
they further craft, and commit to, global sustainability goals and initiatives.”
Key in the supply chain, the involvement of energy storage companies is essential in future strategic planning as part of any transition.
“We believe that our flexibility and competence will enable our customers to handle the fuels of the future, whether those are biofuels, methanol, ammonia, hydrogen, e-fuels or others in the CCS segment. We are keen to participate in the dialogue on energy transition and hope to move forward with our customers and new partners towards a greener future,” says Angeldorff.
Innovating and transforming in order to pioneer a sustainable forward-looking pathway in the industry, Nordic Storage,
alongside its group partners, is looking at new solutions to improve its capacity. Angeldorff explains that the company is actively seeking partners to expand its business in various areas.
“We are looking at possibilities for growth in terms of new projects and collaborations where our expertise is needed. An area we will explore in 2023 is sustainable usage alternatives for our rock caverns. Almost half of Nordic Storage’s capacity is in the form of underground rock caverns. We are building internal expertise and researching projects which could utilise our caverns for hydrogen or sustainable biofuels in the future.
“We are currently implementing HGSI’s new and improved operating management system (OMS). Nordic Storage was the first of the HGSI terminal operators to implement OMS and the aim is to achieve a higher level of safety and effectiveness throughout the business. The main advantage of
OMS is to enable the safe, reliable, and responsible operations for the storage and distribution of products throughout the company and HGSI.
“Through ongoing training and education our staff have acquired the experience and confidence required to ensure the safety of both the product in storage and the surrounding environment,” details Angeldorff.
According to Accenture, “Over the longer term, the industry needs to strengthen its resilience and relevance in a fast-changing energy world”. One of the key strategic plays highlighted as part of this change is accelerating investment into greenfield projects and spending on upstream projects including storage.
If the global energy market is to grow, safe storage facilities will be essential. But they must also be flexible, adaptable to new types of fuel and keen
on constant modernisation of health, safety, and environmental practice.
“The ambition of Nordic Storage is to be leading the way in both safety and environmental matters. State-ofthe-art technology, in combination with qualified and experienced personnel, ensures the proper handling and storage,” confirms Angeldorff.
“We are intensifying our efforts towards more sustainable business practices and are looking to develop the company further with a clear sustainability ambition,” she adds. “We are positioning ourselves to offer sustainable and green solutions through all stages, contributing to the ongoing energy transition from fossil-based fuels to a net-zero carbon world. We are proud to be pioneering the sustainability effort within the storage industry and to have used primarily green electricity for almost 20 years. Essentially all of our electricity now comes from green sources such as sun, wind, and water.
“Over the past year HGSI has also increased its focus on sustainability and started analysing emissions across all assets in the group. Understanding our CO2 emissions provides us with network and good relationships with authorities and other stakeholders
// OUR LARGE NETWORK AND GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH AUTHORITIES AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS ENABLE US TO FIND THE BEST POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS REGARDING STORAGE LOCATIONS, FACILITIES, AND SERVICES
PRODUCTION: David Hill
Iceland’s EFLA Consulting Engineers is taking its skillset, developed in its cruel home climate, and growing around Scandinavia and Europe. By focusing on quality and sustainability above everything else, this expert in renewable energy, transmission lines and substations is becoming ever popular as the energy transition challenges continue to mount.
//Iceland is a world leader in renewable energy and its challenging, isolated environment makes for an innovative approach to problem solving. The country’s 375,000 people utilise geothermal and hydropower to power homes, business and industry but there remains much to be done in eliminating fossil fuel in ground transportation, aviation and the shipping fleet as Iceland embraces the energy transition. The government has targeted a reduction
of greenhouse gas emissions by 55% against 1990 levels by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2040.
To succeed in this ambitious mission, the private sector has been engaged, and expert businesses continue to provide pioneering services in the generation and distribution of power.
EFLA Consulting Engineers is Iceland´s leading engineering organisation with four main divisions covering Society, Buildings, Industry, and Energy, and the growth achieved
by the business in a relatively short period is testament to its focus on ingenuity and quality. Aside from a broad coverage of engineering services in Iceland, EFLA also exports knowledge primarily in the field of energy transmission and distribution, but also in geothermal energy and automation and controls in industry. EFLA AS in Norway is the biggest of six subsidiaries outside of Iceland, gradually widening its service offering.
Director of EFLA’s Energy division is Steinþór Gíslason. He tells Energy
Focus that the company is preparing for an influx of project work as the energy transition gathers pace and as EFLA expands its reach across Scandinavia and further into international markets.
“The core in our international reach is projects on power grids –transmission lines and substations. We are in a leading position in and outside of Iceland. We strongly believe we are one of the three companies which are leading in Scandinavia in that field, and we have a very good market position in Europe. We have 70 people working full time on transmission lines and substations. I
think there are very few companies in Europe with such a large team in this field of expertise. We have decades of experience enabling us to provide excellent consulting service,” he says.
“We also have significant experience in hydro- and geothermal energy generation, and are currently supporting the development of the first wind energy projects in Iceland. We also specialise in power grid analysis, energy forecasts and economic studies, with main customers including Landsnet and Icelandic energy authorities.
“After 12 years of continuous growth, we experienced a minor slowdown due to Covid in 2020 before picking up again,” he adds. “We foresee that growth will continue and the business is doing well. In the field of energy there is a lot of potential for future growth, as this sector is very much in focus in Europe and worldwide. The discussion around energy security has never been as strong in Iceland. Too little has been done in new generation of energy in Iceland in the last decade or so to meet demand. We therefore have a clear need for new initiatives, and a lot of energy projects are expected to be realised in the coming years.”
With a total of 400 people, and a 50 year history, EFLA Consulting Engineers is a strong driving force in Iceland and the Nordic region. The name EFLA has a meaning of ‘strength’ or ‘reinforcement’, reflecting the company’s mission to strengthen its clients ability to achieve their own goals. In the energy space, completion of design and installation in some of the world’s most physically challenging
landscapes has bolstered EFLA’s reputation and the intention going forward is to continue delivering quality while embedding sustainability and the environment within each project.
“The energy transition needed worldwide, including in every market that we operate in, will be the main focus of our customers and ourselves,” says EFLA CEO, Sæmundur Sæmundsson. “We need to make changes in the coming two decades, at a pace that we are still trying to achieve. It will require a lot of change in processes, a lot of change in government decision making, and it will require all of us to come up with new ways of working faster, and more agile. The energy transition will impact every aspect of our work in the coming two decades.
“No matter which projects we participate in in the future – power, buildings, transportation, industry etc – the environmental factor will become more important and we push that view to our customers. We recommend that they should consider the environmental factor from the beginning of each project and throughout the lifecycle of the projects,” he adds.
Sæmundsson joined EFLA in March 2021, tasked with further expanding the company’s reach outside of Iceland. With its energy business already strong in Norway and Sweden, the company is keen to underpin its position while growing in new markets. However, any growth will not come at the expense of values. Achieving success in terms of expansion will be measured through the company’s ability to fuel the energy transition, wherever it operates.
“Generally speaking, the Nordic countries – Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland – have used hydroelectric power which is not as common
Steinþór Gíslason Head of Energy Dvision
in other Northern European countries. We are strong in this space and it is another thing that separates us,” says Sæmundsson.
Recent projects highlight the strength of the company in Scandinavia and its ambition for furthering the switch to efficiency in a renewable energy future.
“In the Nordic countries, most of our energy related work has been in the design of overhead transmission lines. It differs from the rest of the world mainly due to the weather and terrain conditions, especially here in Iceland. That is the main reason we are strong in this field as we have Icelandic experience from the beginning with heavy wind, ice, and snow,” highlights Gíslason.
“There is a lot of cooperation in the Nordic countries and we have a long history working together. Our first international projects were implemented in 1993 where we worked
// THE ENERGY TRANSITION WILL IMPACT EVERY ASPECT OF OUR WORK IN THE COMING TWO DECADES //
in Sweden on the design of a new overhead transmission line alongside Statnett, Norway. From there, we have developed strong expertise working with the TSOs of these countries.”
In October 2022, EFLA inked a contract with Statnett in Norway to supply engineering design for a 90 km 420 kV power line which supports the country’s second-largest aluminium smelter. Crossing two fjords – each 3km long – the job is not easy and requires specialist expertise. EFLA secured the contract based on a top score relating to quality after evaluation by Statnett’s team.
In the recent months, the company has been working in Croatia, consulting on geothermal energy projects. East of Zagreb, in the city of Bjelovar, plans are underway to use geothermal energy as a renewable source for heating of homes and commercial property. EFLA will produce technical documents and lead research with the expectation that 25,920 MWh could be produced annually from a
geothermal well – Korenovo GT-1. Early reports suggest that 3500 tonnes of CO2 could be saved annually.
In June 2022, EFLA completed a deal to acquire a majority stake in the French engineering firm HECLA SAS. HECLA works closely with the French national power grid, RTE. The company has great experience in the design of energy transmission facilities and matches the ambitious, quality-focussed culture in EFLA.
For each relationship that is built, there is a single underlying factor that EFLA delivers unconditionally – quality. The company’s reputation is based on quality, and embedding excellence as part of any project is non-negotiable, resulting in EFLA becoming the biggest engineering firm in Iceland.
“EFLA is a small company internationally but the key element around why we do very well is that we have had such a strong focus on quality. We are very driven around
having the best quality and operating at the highest level. We are determined to exceed client expectations in every single project that we have – that has been our key focus and the reason behind our growth,” reveals Gíslason.
“EFLA also has decades of experience in the design of geothermal projects,” he adds.
Operating to ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001, the company is certified for its quality management system, and when combined with an emphasis on environmental best practice and long-term sustainability, EFLA’s position as a European leader is solidified.
“Our strength on power grids and transmission lines is compelling and we have a very good reputation,” smiles Gíslason. “Due to our focus on quality we put a strong emphasis on increasing the number of resources gradually. We try to add only a few people to a team each year to secure a high level of quality. We strongly believe in growing slowly but surely. There are many project opportunities
in our markets and we could easily hire 10 people and gain projects for them immediately, but we are of the view that it would not uphold our reputation in the long-term. We are not for short-term gain by risking quality to our clients and longer-term damage to our reputation.”
Sæmundsson agrees, saying: “EFLA is a very vibrant and dynamic company and it has been the forerunner in
Iceland for the past decade. We have led in the space of sustainability and environmental issues, and our services and delivery have been growing fast. We do not take risks around quality.
“Sustainability, environmental issues, lowering CO2 emissions are the issues I see as important for companies to be focussing on now and in the near future. It is perfectly in line with the drive of EFLA and my own goals. In order to go forward and continue developing as a company, this has to be at the centre of what we do,” he says. Locally, EFLA remains committed to its home market and continues to gain new contracts with prominent Icelandic organisations as the reputation of quality and sustainability goes before it.
At the Sundahöfn harbour in Reykjavik, EFLA has been busy
supporting a drive to electrify and connect power from the shore to berthing container vessels. EFLA had a supervisory role in the partnership which was made up of Eimskip, the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate, the City of Reykjavík, Faxaflóhafnir and Veitur. Instead of burning oil, Eimskip ships can now sit in the harbour safely connected to electricity. 750 tons of CO2 is saved each year.
In Straumsvík, west of Reykjavik, EFLA expertise was called on for a predesign project for the Coda Terminal at Carbfix’s CO2 mineral storage hub. Set to receive and store three million tons of CO2 annually in underground rock using Carbfix technology, the plan is to demonstrate what is possible, taking CO2 from industry around
Pure Knowledge Expert consulting and design of powerlines for a sustainable future
// OUR STRENGTH ON POWER GRIDS AND TRANSMISSION LINES IS COMPELLING AND WE HAVE A VERY GOOD REPUTATION //
northern Europe and embedding it safely into rock. With positivity around the environment once again in focus, EFLA is actively tackling problems with a proactive approach. CO2 will also be captured from the Rio Tinto aluminium smelter on site before being fed into basalt bedrock. Rolled out at scale, this type of technology could become one of the biggest contributors in the fight for emission reductions and EFLA continues to lead the way.
“Over the last 10 years, we have had to push the sustainability agenda, but now it is something which comes more from the customer and is a requirement from the start,” says Sæmundsson.
“This is very important for our bigger customers,” Gíslason states. “They are very focused on environmental issues and they show initiative in securing environmentally sound solutions for a sustainable future. The focus on the environment and social responsibility is very important for EFLA as well as to our key customers and therefore it is our joint responsibility and effort to ensure that the projects are solved with the best results for the environment and communities.
“This is one of the main strengths and a pillar of our success,” he adds. “We have been very focussed on the environmental issues in our approach and leading the way in Iceland. In our energy projects worldwide, we always embed an environmental focus and evaluate where we can have the most impact. That has been vital. Sustainability is a strong ambition of ours inside EFLA and it flows in our veins, through all of the different division and different projects that we have.”
EFLA has undertaken a reorganisation programme in the business over the past three years, and has changed structure to better organise workflow and project progress. The idea behind this restructuring is to allow every single employee a chance to thrive and contribute, while better serving clients.
Sæmundsson, who comes from a background in IT and finance, says that the pandemic accelerated the change and now, EFLA is better positioned than ever to help customers around the world to thrive.
“In 2019, we changed the structure of the company and flattened the hierarchy. We wanted to give each and every employee the possibility of working in an environment where their views are valued,” he says. “Today, we have a very flat structure within EFLA in Iceland and we plan to apply this to subsidiaries in other countries. We have seen that this helps make each and every team more dynamic and it is also helpful to bring together teams from different parts of the company as that is happening more. New projects tend to need specialisation from more than one or two divisions. We want our teams to be more dynamic and made up of people from more than one background – this flat structure has helped us in this evolution.”
He adds that the innovative nature of the business and its people allowed EFLA to overcome challenges set out in 2020 at lightning speed, gaining competitive advantage.
“We changed to entirely remote working in weeks, something we would have thought would have taken years pre pandemic. It affected the operations of the company much less than we expected. We adapted to remote working, but we also continued our projects and continued working for our customers.
“Taking remote working to a completely new level in just a few weeks is helping us today and it means that everything is much easier for everybody. We are bringing together skilled individuals and forming dynamic teams, working on projects in different countries, and that is helping us to move towards our vision in the future of being able to work on any type of project, for any type of client, in any location. ”
In the energy division, Gíslason says that teams are now very comfortable working across borders and new technology and software has allowed the business to thrive.
“The steps taken recently have been enormous. Our clients are much more open for working between
countries and this gives us a lot of possibilities. We now have operations in seven countries and we have much more possibilities of cooperation with our companies in Poland and France for example, compared to three years ago.”
Potential avenues for growth have been identified in the wind sector where EFLA has experience but where Iceland is not yet advanced. Currently, research is underway to understand more about the potential of wind in Iceland, but most agree there is vast possibility.
“The big change towards wind power will continue in Iceland and we are involved in the early stages of many projects. We are convinced that this will be a significant development in the coming years. Our aim is to become a leading engineering company in this field,” says Gíslason.
“In all of the countries we work in, we see enormous opportunities ahead. The Nordic grid development report shows a huge investment in the power grids in the next decades – it’s not just an increase, it’s a complete shift. We see tremendous change and
that brings a big opportunity for a company like ours, working in many countries with a valuable expertise.”
As EFLA grows more in international markets, it will call on decades of experience built up internally. Founded as a group in 2008 when four engineering firms came together (Línuhönnun, AFL, RTS, Verkfræðistofa Suðurlands), the history here dates back to 1973.
“The idea in 2008 was to create a company that could cover all aspects of engineering. Since that time, EFLA has doubled in size through organic growth and mergers, and developed a strong presence all over Iceland. We now have eleven offices around the country and our original goals have been successfully reached. Now we are aiming for new targets,” explains Gíslason.
The strength of the company was recognised in July 2022 when EFLA was given the Presidential Award for Export Achievement by Iceland’s President, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson.
The award emboldens the company to do more and extend
its reach, delivering sustainably and efficiently where ingenuity is required.
“Efforts will be made to increase co-operation, co-ordination and synergy within EFLA’s international operations to strengthen the foundation for growth. We intend to seize the great opportunities that already exist with existing products and markets and examine opportunities with existing products in new markets,” concludes Sæmundsson.
Clearly, taking learnings from the harsh and tough landscape in Iceland is helping EFLA to provide robust, sustainable, multi-disciplinary solutions that benefit the environment, and go someway to achieving critical targets as the world embraces a transition the likes of which has never been realised before.
Moving away from petrol and diesel towards electric vehicles is a key element in the UK government net zero strategy. But it has been expensive and complicated, even with attractive subsidies. The Electric Car Scheme is here to change that and is helping employers and employees to make the transition through a unique salary sacrifice scheme that beats others in the market in almost every way. CEO and Founder Thom Groot talks to Energy Focus about the journey so far.
PRODUCTION: David Hill
Tom Elion, Founder and Thom Groot, CEO and Founder
//The road towards net zero is long and difficult, but it is powered by the desire for change from an ambitious and hungry general public. Shifting from hefty emission fossil fuels to renewable power and low carbon alternatives is the challenge of the time, and the transition hinges on the ability of businesses to keep up with trends and rollout new concepts so that economies – especially sub-sectors, like transportation and similar energy intensive areas – can achieve net zero.
In the UK, net zero is high on the government agenda but figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility calculated in July 2021 found that it cost around £321 billion to hit net zero by 2050. These big numbers are numbing and - although much has been done with the country leading
in offshore wind, hydrogen research, and electrification – as individuals, the journey can seem overwhelming.
This is why businesses have to make technology and modern ideas accessible and affordable, allowing the public to participate in the transition. In transportation, some reports suggest that if the majority of passenger cars in the UK switched to electric, 12% of total carbon emissions would be cut.
But electric cars are expensive. The cheapest today is around £22,000. The used market is nascent, and few have the disposable cash to walk into a dealer and leave with the keys to a new EV during an energy pricing crisis and cost of living emergency. However, the appetite remains.
According to SMMT data, battery EVs and hybrid EVs performed strongly in the past year. Fleet and businesses
buyers were responsible for two thirds of new battery EV registrations. Often, the answer for individuals is spreading the cost. Instead of parting with a large sum, there are proven finance models that allow those looking to make the change to access the EV market. But even with a more manageable cost model, the market is still expensive and barriers to entry remain – hardly an environment to drive transformation.
This was the case for Thom Groot and Tom Eilon, Founders of The Electric Car Scheme. The pair wanted to get their company on a green road but, even with government subsidies, the market was unappealing.
“We found that it was really only available for people with company car schemes – usually larger businesses with more than 1,000 employees,” Groot
tells Energy Focus. “When it is available through a company car scheme, it will come from one lease provider and you only have the pricing from that lease provider. Typically, that results in the package being more expensive.”
So, The Electric Car Scheme created a model where smaller companies could benefit. The UK private sector is made up of mostly non-employing businesses (those where owners are the only employees) and small employers. SMEs account for the vast majority of the business population, with 99.9% is active in SMEs (0-249 employees).
The company utilises the UK government tax incentive to operate a salary sacrifice scheme through which employees pay for the vehicle on a lease or subscription basis but save on taxes, while the employer benefits by reduced cost and offering a fantastic benefit at no cost.
“We set up to help people in small and medium sized businesses to get into electric cars even if their company did not traditionally have
a company car scheme. We also wanted to be independent from specific lease companies so that we can get the best that the market has to offer,” explains Groot.
“We are UK-focused and we look at small and medium businesses, anywhere between 10 and 1,000 employees. We have a few bigger clients, but most are SMEs. We focus more on companies that wouldn’t normally have a company care scheme.
“We want to make sure employees get all of the tax savings and there is no hidden cost in the car or inflation in the lease price. For the business, we sort everything and remove all hassle and paperwork with HMRC. This reduces risk and is provided at no cost to a business. When an employer takes the offering, they reduce their tax and national insurance outgoing, and we take that as a fee so that we can deliver the service,” he says, adding that the company does not try to be car specialists but rather focusses on the salary sacrifice model, understanding the tax element, and therefore making entry to the market as cheap as possible.
The ambition of The Electric Car Scheme to deliver EVs for the masses is a great example of a company actively pushing the energy transition to a large part of the market. The success does not come from inventing new technology but from providing a simple, clear, and affordable entry route to a lower carbon (or no carbon) transportation industry.
Established in 2021 following a delay as the pandemic halted a lot of car travel, the company is already 50 people strong and performing well.
“We picked up our first customers at the start of 2021, and first employees in September 2021. We have grown quickly and we are signing up more and more businesses every day. We are still in the growth phase, and just at the start of our journey. There is so much potential!” details Groot.
“We are a digital service provider – that is our background,” he adds, noting a history in a number of prominent digital organisations as well as experience in strategy consulting and leading data teams at The AA.
Beyond the obvious themes arising from the ongoing energy transition
and decarbonisation process, there are more reasons that The Electric Car Scheme makes sense, especially in today’s tough economic conditions.
“Sustainability through electric cars is a key theme in our market, obviously,” highlights Groot. “Secondly, labour dynamics in the UK has been a key theme. Over the past 18 months, it has been hard for companies to attract people and retain good people. Our product really helps with that as you can give a new starter or an existing employee a benefit that is worth on average around £10k at no cost to your business. Right now, when pay rises are hard to achieve for many small businesses, but where inflation is driving requests, this can be a very valuable perk – especially for those who want an electric car.”
Currently, the UK government provides incentives for the uptake of electric cars through the Plugin Car Grant (PiCG) and various other programmes. “We had a big
announcement from the Treasury that the scheme would be extended until at least 2028, and that is great news. Electric cars will be taxed but that was inevitable and we don’t feel too negative about that,” says Groot.
The model operated by The Electric Car Scheme is where the spark is for this innovative business. Independent, not limited to a single brand or structure, and nimble by design, the company can meet the needs of clients quickly.
Through The Electric Car Scheme, drivers can choose either a lease or subscription contract and can choose from any automotive brands thanks to the company’s relationships with multiple providers.
“I’m very proud of our model as it gives employees the very best the market has to offer, at the best price, while making sure everything is taken care of for the business,” states Groot.
“Finding the right balance between
price and product has been a big driver for us and I am proud of what we have achieved – it’s exciting and we believe we have found a solution that is the best in the UK. When I speak to our clients, they tell me they value that.
“Most want an electric car, but they cannot afford it or it is not the right time. They put off the decision and that is not
// I’M VERY PROUD OF OUR MODEL AS IT GIVES EMPLOYEES THE VERY BEST THE MARKET HAS TO OFFER, AT THE BEST PRICE, WHILE MAKING SURE EVERYTHING IS TAKEN CARE OF FOR THE BUSINESS //
good for the environment. When you are a small business and you think about other small businesses, and you can implement in a fast way, that is exciting.”
Typically, says Groot, dealing with smaller companies allows you to talk to decision makers, themselves keen on contributing to the energy transition where possible. They drive
the cars that are sent out, and they participate in the activities that will realise emission reductions.
The other end of the system is partnerships within the industry, and The Electric Car Scheme is highly collaborative.
“We work with all major lease companies around the country. Through
this, we benefit from volume deals with manufacturers that we would not be able to access without their help. They will buy tens of thousands of cars each year, accessing discounts which our customers can then take advantage of.
“We partner with car subscriptions provider Onto, which is a more flexible, monthly, all-inclusive agreement. You
// MOST WANT AN ELECTRIC CAR BUT THEY CANNOT AFFORD IT OR IT IS NEVER THE RIGHT TIME. THEY PUT OFF THE DECISION AND THAT IS NOT GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT //
can sign up for an all-encompassing package, including insurance, servicing, and everything else, and it is typically a minimum of 12 months rather than three years,” Groot highlights.
This hybrid model also allows clients to overcome, to a certain extent, the supply chain issues which have resulted in long waiting lists for new EVs. Because of global supply challenges around raw materials (including critical battery metals lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper) manufacturers have been forced to delay deliveries. But The Electric Car Scheme is not exclusive to any provider, and can provide flexibility.
“The subscription car model alongside the lease model has been a game changer - firstly as it is much more flexible, but secondly because of issues in the supply chain,” smiles Groot. “If you order a new car, you
might wait six months. On subscription, cars become available every week and every month. That is attractive for people as many are still used to a car industry where if you want a car, you go to the dealer and drive one away there and then. This is a difference for us compared to anyone else in the UK. Our customers love it and we have seen good uptake.”
The result is more people pumping out zero emissions on UK roads and more people saving money on their fuel bills. “This time last year, driving an electric car was around four times cheaper per mile in terms of fuel costs. It then went to almost directly comparable with petrol or diesel, and now it is around half the price of driving a petrol or diesel (depending on car make and model),” explains Groot.
“You save money on the energy and you save money on maintenance
and servicing. Electric cars have fewer moving parts and are, in general, cheaper and easier to maintain.”
In the future, The Electric Car Scheme has a wide-open playing field. As the company continues to build its brand and grow its influence, new sectors will open and net zero opportunities will continue to present themselves.
“More and more, we are helping our clients with how they charge the cars that their employees are using. We can look at putting chargers in place and we are helping them installations at home as well as at work. There are tax savings to be had on the chargers as well, so it makes sense to include it in the offering,” says Groot, adding that the company is keen to assist people in their wider net zero journey.
“Starting with cars and then
looking at home heating, storage, and energy provision – could we assist there? We would love to play a part in that but we will wait until the market is more ready. Right now, heat pumps and electric boilers are so expensive and there are only small subsidies.”
Currently, the business continues to recruit, trying to attract more brave and ambitious people to add to a
thriving culture. As numbers grow, the chance to further net zero goals will develop, and the company will be able to deliver its ‘no brainer’ approach to more people on the energy transition.
“The net zero transition is going to take time and effort and as The Electric Car Scheme, we believe that we can play a part but we want to do more and get more people involved.”
For now, the blend of lease and subscription models, and relationships across the market, all combined with a comprehensive understanding of the subsidies available will keep The Electric Car Scheme affordable, available, and appealing.
“The salary sacrifice concept is starting to become more common, but how we differ from others is what is interesting. We are not a lease company and that means we are cheaper. We can offer the best of the whole market which means we can offer a
subscription service – no one else is doing what we are,” he concludes.
Without easy access to new routes in the energy transition, the masses will remain on the fringe and change will be slow. It is vital from an emission reduction perspective that energy intensive sectors are decarbonised and the general public is a part of the process. By opening up opportunities to a larger market than ever before, The Electric Car Scheme is doing its bit. As more chances for change open, this is an ambitious company that will support people as they continue on a greening journey.
// THE NET ZERO TRANSITION IS GOING TO TAKE TIME AND EFFORT AND AS THE ELECTRIC CAR SCHEME, WE BELIEVE THAT WE CAN PLAY A PART //
Cenex is the lead partner in a consortium of innovators looking to demonstrate that it is possible to charge vehicles wirelessly, and bill successfully, helping to further deploy electrification and reduce emissions from transport. The WiCET project is nearing completion and is on track to achieve positive outcomes. Technical Consultant and Project Manager, Richard Sander tells Energy Focus more about the originality of a fantastic system.
PRODUCTION: David Hill
The past decade has seen a big spark in the global electric vehicle market. The number of EVs on the roads, the amount of research and development underway, the technological advances, and the demand from the market has accelerated with electric pace. But the idea of electrical transport is not new. Using rechargeable batteries to power cars is not novel. The jumps forward are down to climate change and emission reduction demand from the global public, and the coming together of ambitious organisations into ecosystems that generate concepts for change.
During one single week in 2021, more electric vehicles were sold than in the entire of 2012. In 2022, it is expected that further increases in the number of sales will boost the global electric car fleet beyond 20 million.
As organisations of all kinds come together to develop ideas in this space – how to charge quicker, how to reduce emissions further, how to reduce costs, how to create more capacity, how to finance the market etc – powerful progress occurs. Nowhere is this environment demonstrated better than at the WiCET demonstrator project in Nottingham, UK. WiCET (Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis) is advancing knowledge, experience, and understanding of how vehicles can be charged without a plug in cable system to provide flexibility and reliability. Funded by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) and Innovate UK, WiCET is managed by Cenex, an independent not-for-profit company involved in the research and development of lower emission transport and energy infrastructure. Seven organisations are part of a
consortium that makes up WiCET: Cenex, Nottingham City Council, Shell, Coventry University, Hangar-19, Sprint Power, and Transport for London.
Technical Consultant and Project Manager at Cenex, Richard Sander tells Energy Focus that through the WiCET project, a clear demonstration of what is possible has been achieved following a successful trial which saw specially modified taxis charge in the rank as they waited for the next fare – no plugging in, no wires, no challenge with payment.
“I tell people this is like grazing,” he says. “The idea is not that people turn up and get a full charge. It’s more that they go for regular, smaller top ups. They top up at each visit to the rank as needed and keep the level at a usable mid-range point.”
The trial sees taxis park over
an inductive charging pad allowing transfer of power as they wait in the queue for their next fare. Power is supplied to the ground pads through a dedicated cable under the road, and then transferred wirelessly to a receiving pad on the vehicle. The system can detect each car and differentiate from the rest of the fleet. Drivers are then billed through a web-based app, seeing how much power they have used, not even needing to step out of the car. Taxis have formed the basis of the trial, but the potential for future application is significant.
“We have five charging pads in the ground, nine vehicles (five LEVC TXs and four Nissan Dynamo eNV200 taxi conversions) which are fitted with the prototype system,” explains Sander.
“We have had conversations in other areas and there is interest from organisations looking at accessibility needs. There has been discussion around emergency vehicles like ambulances that don’t want to be
plugged in. There are trials in other countries with buses, it could be used for on-street parking where people don’t have a driveway or garage and you don’t want cables running across the pavement. There are many potential applications for it and our conversations are not solely focussed on taxis, but there is a way to go
before we move to a new trial.” Critics highlight efficiency as a flaw in the wireless charging concept, but the WiCET project has delivered admirable results. “It is something that we have measured during testing, and we have data that shows it is around 90% efficient and that is comparable to some conductive
methods,” details Sander, a mechanical engineer by training, with experience across emissions reduction project management with global businesses including Jaguar Land Rover.
Of course, safety has been top of the priority list and Cenex and project partners have ensured optimum performance within a strict set of standards. The charging system uses a resonant induction method and the charging pad is protected by a light curtain which, if broken, stops the charging. When any obstruction is
cleared, charging can safely restart.
“Within the trial we have backup systems that can detect foreign metal objects on the pad. This is important as they can heat up quite quickly. We also have the living object protection system around the car as there is a small residual EM emission field that is generated from the ground pad. In terms of the evolution of the system and the technology this is very important and there are standards to meet. We are very aware of emissions and safety as crucial components in the trial and we have embedded systems into the project to ensure successful deployment,” confirms Sander.
The charging pad - on Trent Street in Nottingham city centre, outside the main council building – is limited to 11 kW by SAE (Society for Automotive Engineers) standards. Globally, trials have been run at 22 kW and 50 kW
but these sit outside of SAE standards at the time of the project . Sander is hopeful that the WiCET trial will also be useful when it comes to informing bodies on the correct standards to be uniformly applied as the industry grows and as the concept is taken forward.
“We really want it to go somewhere and there is lots of interest from other cities, other local authorities, and other regions - we’ve had enquiries from around the world,” he says. “There are a few WPT system suppliers in various countries, and there is interest in performing further trials in places like London which could obviously be a hot spot for an idea like this.”
The trial will complete at the end of January and will be followed by a reporting period before closedown in March. The hope is that WiCET will have proved the concept and the next stage can be a big step forward, speeding up
Continues on page 46
// WE HAVE DATA THAT SHOWS IT IS AROUND 90% EFFICIENT AND THAT IS COMPARABLE TO SOME CONDUCTIVE METHODS //
Shell UK has set five ambitions for 2030. Each reflects our strategic UK business priorities, growth ambitions and societal expectations. They are:
1 2 3 4 5
KEEPING OUR ENERGY FLOWING THE POWER TO GO GREEN LEADING THE CHARGE ELECTRIFY MY LIFE GENERATION NET ZERO
15% 75% >100K 5M 15,000
of the UK’s oil and gas production supplied with half the operational emissions.
of our £20-£25bn investment intent* in low and zero-carbon – including offshore wind, hydrogen and CCS.
public charge points, plus 500K charge points installed at homes and businesses across the UK.
customers choose Shell for a more connected, convenient and cleaner life.
people to be helped into jobs and pathways into jobs to ensure that the transition is an opportunity for everyone.
Continued from page 44
the electrification of urban highways.
“Projects and trials should be progressive. The next one needs to move the technology forward towards commercialisation addressing barriers that have been identified during this trial,” Sander suggests.
Most of the world’s major automakers have invested heavily in vehicle electrification, and most are now targeting industry-leading status as they research and develop both efficient electric drivetrains and effective charging systems. Renault, Volvo, Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Tesla, BMW, Hyundai, and more have all been part of trials
and tests around passenger vehicles. There will be more engineering and re-engineering before wireless charging is ready for universal delivery, but the likes of Cenex and the WiCET consortium are all vital on the journey. If taxis and some commercial vehicles can be converted to charge wirelessly, significant emission reductions could be achieved in a relatively short period of time. 2021 CO2 emissions from transport sat at 107.5 million tonnes, 14% lower than 1990 showing the need for continued focus on making it easy to switch to electric where possible.
“We have retrofitted the system to existing vehicles and that involved piggybacking on the native onboard
CHAdeMO system that controls the vehicle’s charging. Doing that as a retrofit has a lot more challenges than it would if you were integrating it into a vehicle at the engineering concept design phase,” says Sander, adding that current issues with component shortages have provided challenges in the WiCET project.
“When the project was given the go ahead, pre-covid and pre-supply chain issues, the environment was different. Right now, the landscape is very different and much more planning is required to get even the smallest things to run the way they should. However, the enthusiasm and belief in the project has overcome the challenges.”
The relationships with partners have been strong, and Cenex has been keen to develop interest and appetite around the project wherever possible. This is the first public trial of wireless charging of this scale in the UK, “and so everyone
// THERE IS LOTS OF INTEREST FROM OTHER CITIES, OTHER LOCAL AUTHORITIES, AND OTHER REGIONS - WE’VE HAD ENQUIRIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD //
has been learning and evolving, and that is exciting,” highlights Sander.
Cenex has global pedigree in projects that have provided significant change, and WiCET has been fuelled by its unrelenting ambition. Nottingham City Council as the host has been vital from an infrastructure perspective; Sprint Power has undertaken vehicle integration and prototyping; Hangar 19 has been responsible for backoffice billing systems and the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) interface; Coventry University delivered human
factor elements and usability; Shell – a non-grant funded partner - provided a data analysis team; Transport for London was involved as a case study partner; and Lumen Freedom delivered charging hardware.
Conversations about a trial began back in 2018 and when Sander joined Cenex in 2021, he took on the WiCET project, driving it through prototyping and testing, through operation and to completion.
“Vehicles have been with drivers since early October and there have been a few teething problems as you would imagine with a tech project like this but overall it has been a success,” he highlights.
Not only is it clear that the hardware works, it is now obvious that billing and collection is achievable, and drivers are excited about the opportunities to transition to electric vehicles without needing to completely change how they operate. The UK government’s Road to Zero Strategy requires emission reduction in transport,
and this comes through innovation but also cooperation and collaboration.
“Future applications will involve OEMs, authorities on the ground, and we will also need charge point operators, distribution network operators (DNOs), and others to come together as a package to make things happen,” Sander insists.
“We need to make people aware of what we have done and what we are doing. Within the EV transition, we must take all opportunities and create complementary alternatives to plug-in charging. There are so many applications where plug in charging is not going to be an ideal solution. Spreading awareness and knowledge about other ideas is crucial,” he concludes.
// WITHIN THE EV TRANSITION, WE MUST TAKE ALL OPPORTUNITIES AND CREATE ALTERNATIVES TO PLUG-IN CHARGING //
PRODUCTION: Matt Streets
Head of Division and Senior Research Scientist at Rawwater – the UK-based specialists in problematic microbiology.Since the earliest days of oil extraction, sour crude has been the bane of production companies. Unlike sweet crude oil, which typically contains less than 0.5% sulfur, oil classed as ‘sour’ has a much greater proportion of this highly corrosive element.
//Compared to sweet crude, sour crude oil is more expensive to refine, presents a significant corrosion risk to topsides and refinery equipment, incurs higher chemical treatment costs – and is often associated with foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S).
Whereas crude oil from some producing regions of the world is naturally sour, the process of secondary recovery - introducing water, under pressure, into oil reservoirs through injection wells, to ensure a steady flow of crude oil at the producer - can frequently result in previously sweet oilfield reservoirs turning sour.
The phenomenon is known as microbiological oilfield reservoir souring. Unchecked it can lead to many millions of dollars being spent annually on souring control, especially where topsides facilities were originally set up for sweet - non-corrosive - oil service. That said, when forecasted early, microbially induced souring can be dealt with far more cost effectively
and efficiently. In some circumstances, forecasting can even indicate that downhole conditions will not enable souring to reach problematic levels.
As the global leader in microbiological oilfield reservoir souring forecasting and simulation services, Rawwater helps oil majors and service companies globally to plan ahead and, as a result, save vast sums on the cost of souring control. However, before we look into the technologies used by Rawwater to forecast and simulate microbiological reservoir souring, let’s learn a little more about its causes.
As already mentioned, additional downhole pressure is needed to extract oil from a reservoir during secondary recovery. This is normally achieved by ‘water-flooding’ – introducing water (typically sulfate-rich seawater, or sulfate-containing produced water) into the reservoir under pressure. The injected water will, however, introduce sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM) – also called sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) ¬– into the reservoir environment. It can also encourage the growth of any microbial lifeforms that are already present in the subsurface. Put simply,
the naturally occurring microbial life that causes crude oil to sour, consumes the sulfate that is present in both the injection water and the oilfield reservoir.
To flourish, sulfate-reducing microorganisms require water, sulfate (that can be chemically reduced by them and converted to sulfide), an oxygen-free environment, and a carbon source for energy. This is normally the volatile fatty acids and dissolved components of the native crude oil. If the reservoir environment has a pH of between 4 to 9, a temperature range of 10°C to 80°C and a pressure range from 1 psig to 8,000 psig, sulfate-reducing microorganisms will invariably thrive. Left unchecked, microbiological oilfield reservoir souring can remain unnoticed until higher levels of H2S are detected in crude oil production. This is because it may take several years of secondary recovery operations before H2S levels are significant enough to be observed. Inevitably, treatment at this stage is costly and involves substantial chemical dosing and even vastly expensive sulfate removal facilities.
To assist operators in understanding whether or not their oilfields will sour - and to ensure any risk of souring is identified early enough to allow for economical treatmentRawwater uses a range of industry leading technologies. These include DynamicTVS© (TVS = Thermal Viability Shell) – its advanced predictive desktop modelling tool, and its purpose-built pressurised bioreactor facilities.
Using operational, planning and survey data from all stages of oil production, DynamicTVS© offers a highly costeffective means of forecasting future levels of H2S within an oilfield reservoir. The software can indicate if reservoir conditions will support microbiological souring and resultant H2S production – and to what extent. A recent upgrade
to the modelling tool now means that Rawwater is also able to provide a good indication of future souring in new discoveries, at the earliest stages of field planning and development, and long before production commences.
To confirm any risk of souring sufficiently early for cost-effective treatment, Rawwater carries out extreme environment simulation testing in high-pressure bioreactor studies. The company has built and operates what is widely considered to be the world’s largest, most advanced laboratory facility to study and evaluate microbiological souring in simulated reservoir conditions. As many as 85 pressurised bioreactor columns, ranging from 25 cm to 4 metres in length are in operation at any one time at Rawwater’s UK-based laboratories. Specially designed corrosion-resistant columns that are filled with sand, seawater and native crude oil, and inoculated with oilfield bacteria, Rawwater’s pressurised bioreactors are used to simulate the pressure and temperature (P/T) conditions that are found in water-flooded oil reservoirs, in order to establish whether or not the microbial life that causes souring can thrive or even survive in such conditions.
Testing pressures range from atmospheric pressure to 12,000 psig, with testing temperatures ranging from 5°C to just below the boiling point of water. To date, Rawwater has accumulated the equivalent of almost 600 bioreactor years’ worth of oilfield souring data. A priceless dataset that is updated on an almost daily basis, it provides oil majors and service companies globally with an
unrivalled insight into the microbiology of their onshore, offshore and subsea assets – and the opportunity to act in a timely manner should a risk of future, problematic souring be highlighted.
Of course problematic microbiology isn’t exclusive to oil production in the energy sector. The scientists at Rawwater are acutely aware that the same microbiological lifeforms that can cause crude oil to sour could also impact the successful long-term underground storage of powerful greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2). With that in
mind, and in collaboration with the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology at The University of Manchester, Rawwater is establishing a pioneering Carbon Capture Storage R&D Hub at its UK HQ. The project will benefit from Rawwater’s extensive understanding of oilfield reservoir souring and use a specially developed suite of pressurised bioreactors to model CO2 injection and storage into depleted oil & gas reservoirs and saline aquifers. Knowledge gained from the Hub’s activities will assist the UK in becoming a global leader in understanding the microbiology of carbon capture storage environments and help expedite the UK government’s Net Zero 2050 strategy.
Rawwater offers cutting-edge expertise in the study of problematic microbiology across a range of industries, in addition to the forecasting and simulation of microbiological oilfield reservoir souring.
To find out more about Rawwater’s services and capabilities, email info@rawwater.com or call + 44 (0) 1925 768 910.
Important events and exhibitions taking place across the energy sector, giving brands a platform to tell their story.
FEB 23
POWER & ENERGY AFRICA
FEB 23-25 | TANZANIA
Power & Energy Africa is an international exhibition on power generation and renewable energies. It takes place on three consecutive days at Miami City Conference Centre, Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. At this important industry gathering, decision makers as well as technicians of influential companies present the latest products, services and developments in the areas of power generation, power transmission and distribution, and take the opportunity to exploit the potential of Africa by making new, sustainable business contacts, in particular with the African neighbouring countries. A special emphasis is on energy efficiency and renewable energies, such as geothermal energy and hydropower.
MAR 14
WATER MARKET EUROPE
MARCH 14-15 | BELGIUM
Water Market Europe is the event cycle that Water Europe (WE) has set up to create a unique innovation and business environment, where state of the art water knowledge and research results can meet with market actors within and outside the water sector to create value and new business opportunities. With a new theme every year, Water Market Europe’s main edition is hosted in spring, but smaller editions of WME called Water Market Europe Roadshow are being organized during the whole year, back-toback to water-related conferences, trade fairs and conventions.
APR 25
WINDEUROPE
APRIL 25-27 | DENMARK
WindEurope’s Annual Event is returning to Denmark – the home of wind energy. The entire industry – every link in the value chain, and from every part of Europe – will be in Copenhagen from 25-27 April 2023. You can expect 10,000+ visitors to walk through the doors of the Bella Center over the course of the three days. And over 400 companies on the exhibition floor will be ready to reach out, do business and showcase their latest products to the entire sector.
MAR
ELEKTROTECHNIK GERMANY | FEB 08-10
INTERSOLAR NORTH AMERICA & ENERGY STORAGE NORTH AMERICA
USA | FEB 14-16
POWER & ENERGY AFRICA | TANZANIA
FEB 23-25
WORLD SUSTAINABLE ENERGY DAYS
AUSTRIA | MARCH 1-3
MAR
SOLARPOWER SUMMIT 2023: GET READY FOR SOLAR
BELGIUM | MARCH 8-9
WATER MARKET EUROPE BELGIUM | MARCH 14-15
MAR 29
APR 25
WORLD BIOGAS SUMMIT AND EXPO UK | MARCH 29–30
WINDEUROPE ANNUAL EVENT DENMARK | APRIL 25-27
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