Non-motoring > Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Focusless Replies: 17
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 13:58 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Focusless
...and the size of 3 tennis courts :o
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-30476591

I guess it's cheaper than hollowing out a mountain in Wales :)
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 15:48 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Old Navy
Compared to a decent (preferably nuclear) power station it is about as much use as a battery powered car.
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 16:00 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Focusless
Different purpose though - as I understand it it just provides additional capacity at peak times, then recharges off-peak. It's not generating anything.
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 16:02 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - rtj70
As Focusless says, it's probably cheaper than the hydro plant they built in Wales at Dinorwig. But 10MW isn't much is it. Dinorwig is more like two orders of magnitude greater in how much it can put back into the national grid.
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 16:03 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Focusless
It's just a 2 year trial - I guess bigger ones (or more smaller ones) will follow if it works.
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 21:31 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - MD
More smaller ones!
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 16:03 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - rtj70
But Dinorwig isn't intended for peak demand - that can be predicted and other sources turned up/on to deal with that. Dinorwig is for unexpected demand. So I wonder what this small 10MW setup is really for? A local Dinorwig maybe?
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 16:09 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Bromptonaut

>> A local Dinorwig maybe?

Pretty much exactly. Provides a boost when the kettles go on at half time, that sort of thing.
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 16:11 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - rtj70
Dinorwig is the equivalent of about 170 of these. Apparently. I wonder how build costs compare? Adding up the figures in the article and multiplying by 170 gives about £3.2bn. If Dinorwig was £425m then this is probably cheaper.

I also wonder how safe having so many batteries in one building is? At least Dinorwig stores it's energy safely.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 16 Dec 14 at 16:14
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 16:35 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Bromptonaut
>> Dinorwig is the equivalent of about 170 of these. A

AIUI Dinorwig and the earlier pumped storage facility, Festinniog are wholly or primarily about coping with surges. Perhaps less of an issue now as gas power stations an go on/off line far more quickly than coal or nuclear.

The quoted cost of Dinorwig £425m is surely in pounds at time it opened. Building on that scale today would be billions.

Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 16 Dec 14 at 16:36
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 16:58 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - rtj70
I agree the quoted figure I used was probably for when it was built. Although it was over a 10 year period so was that the total cost or adjusted? So I guess 170 of the battery based facilities in the article might be cheaper. But how long will the batteries last compared to Dinorwig?

From what I understood, the purpose of Dinorwig was originally to store electricity that would be produced by the planned nuclear plants but they weren't all built. So they didn't build anymore facilities like Dinorwig either.

It is now used as you say to cope with surges in demand. Something other facilities like gas powered stations also do.
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 17:38 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Old Navy
I think diesels make a better back up than batteries for hospitals, etc. Indefinite run time as they are easily refuelled, just like proper cars. Half time kettles are not worth a battery ups on a national scale.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 16 Dec 14 at 17:41
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 17:48 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Bromptonaut
>> I think diesels make a better back up than batteries for hospitals, etc. Indefinite run
>> time as they are easily refuelled, just like proper cars. Half time kettles are not
>> worth a battery ups on a national scale.

I'd agree with that statement in so far as it relates to hospitals, airports et where power continuity is life/death.

The nations kettles going on at half time or when credits roll on big TV drama are a fact of life. If the system doesn't plan for them we're in brown out/blackout territory. Coping with that needs action on a national sale whether batteries, more PS schemes or fast start gas plant.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 16 Dec 14 at 17:51
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 18:37 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Alastairw
Is this one of the potential uses for retired electric car batteries?
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 19:21 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - rtj70
>> Is this one of the potential uses for retired electric car batteries?

Most people get new car batteries when the current one stops holding a charge... So not much use for other purposes surely?
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 21:26 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - Alastairw
I though electric cars (certainly in the Renault model) use a leased battery, and that when it was not capable of holding, say 75% charge they could be allocated to this type of use instead rather than being scrapped.
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 21:35 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - MD
To relieve the Ad' break surge just adjust the programme times by Postcode. Only saying like. (:0/0:)
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New Tue 16 Dec 14 22:10 
 Nice little UPS, 6MW/10MWh - rtj70
>> I though electric cars (certainly in the Renault model) use a leased battery

You can buy them outright now. Don't know what happens if your battery needs replacing as they might with the lease ones.

I see I misread Alastair's post. I read car battery and not electric car battery.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 16 Dec 14 at 22:11
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