REALISING TOTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN EUROPE’S ENERGY SUPPLY Dr. Eddie O’Connor, Founder and Chief Executive, Mainstream Renewable Power 20th January 2011
Complete Decarbonisation of Electricity Sector by 2050 Implies in the most likely scenario: • • • •
50% Wind; 30% Solar; 10% New Renewables; 10% Nuclear;
So no thermal plant built after 2030.
Wind Extent of the Resource: • Limited only by the size of grid. 2050: • 50% wind generated electricity; • @2% growth in demand 1.24m MW wind plant; • @3% growth in demand 1.86m MW wind plant; Only 0.250mMW can be built on land.
The Supergrid • 1m – 1.6mMWs to be built offshore; • Needs the Supergrid to connect this vastly dispersed generation to where customers are at. Definition: “An electricity transmission system, mainly based on direct current, designed to facilitate large-scale sustainable power generation in remote areas for transmission to centres of consumption one of whose fundamental attributes will be the enhancement of the European market in electricity. It mirrors existing AC grids in its reliability and standards of customer service.”
Phase 1 of Supergrid
Size: 23,000 MW Length: 2,700 km. Cost: €28,000 Million Cost per Customer €0.23 Euro Cents
Supernode The Great Enabler:
Function:
Like a router in I.T. Collects wind power from offshore wind farms, blends it with traded power from countries and dispatches it to where the price is highest.