@transparent

You could define them as NGT, NGE and NGD.

@transparent thanks for that.

Do you think it might be better if the xlinks cable landed somewhere else in the UK from what you have read?

Can you envisage dozens of xlink like cable solutions from Northern Africa to Europe? Perhaps there are already some in development or deployed? 

Fascinating to think that Africa could export a sizeable amount of electricity to Europe in general. It has been talked about for a long time. 

Interesting xlinks thinks they don't need any government funding, but as you say there is a cost in terms of handling the electricity once it hits the south west. A better costing mechanism where the unit price took into account the local upgrades might be better? Or xlinks having to contribute to the costs of more of the upgrades directly, hence potentially speeding at least some of them up? 

I do wonder what the current government will think of the scheme behind closed doors. How the feel about being dependent on electricity from Northern Africa even on a small scale.

Seems good to me overall. 

Replying directly to @jeff 's points:

Personally I'd like to have seen Xlinks make its connection to National Grid at Avonmouth. That is the next point at which the 400kV transmission grid extends to the coast, but is east of Hinckley.

From an engineering perspective that would allow the massive power input to connect to the grid in a location where it can more easily be sent onwards to London and the Midlands.

It would also cost a lot less because the GSP transformers on the SW Region loop would only require upgrading to accommodate the increase in locally-generated renewable electricity.

The problem is that Ofgem have issued a country-wide decision (May'22) that the generating companies no longer have to contribute anything to infrastructure upgrades. The only charge is for the physical connection gear where their piece of copper arrives!

So there's no benefit to Xlinks by relocating their input to a different point. It's us end-users who will have to pay for new super-grid transformers and re-cabling the transmission lines between Cornwall and Bristol.

I lay the 'blame' for such biassed planning at the doors of Ofgem.

• They're meant to be an independent energy regulator.
• They are there to protect us consumers from the greed and short-sighted technical proposals being made by the very large companies in the UK energy sector.

But there's no easy mechanism for us consumers to lobby Ofgem, whilst the energy-companies have open-access to them. Thus they predominantly get to hear only one side of the argument.

We rely on BEIS to give direction to Ofgem. So any 'complaint' must be sent via our MPs. There are too few members of the public who understand enough of the issues to adequately write a 'briefing' which their MP can lay before Secretary of State for BEIS.

I have secured a place at a 'workshop' being run by Western Power (aka NG-Distribution!) on Thurs 13th Oct in Wadebridge, Cornwall.

It's not really a workshop, but more of an event for regional organisations and members of the public to hear their RIIO-ED2 plans for the next 5 years. So it's well suited to me raising these points with NG-Distribution management.

Any chance that you could also be there @jeff ?

That is interesting @transparent

So is there no easy mechanism for telling xlinks they can only land their cable in Avonmouth? What organisation is / could be doing that sort of decision making for individual schemes? Is that ofgem? 

We risk strange behaviours if the total cost of a new interconnector, storage or generation asset isn't at least considered. I can see why the government want to remove any perceived barriers to encourage new generation etc. as long as we don't end up with poorly positioned and expensive solutions.

I am not a big fan generally of apportioning infrastructure costs based on where you live. I would rather they were averaged across the UK when they hit consumer bills either as standing charges or scrapping the standing charge and increasing the unit rates. 

I'm in the same Parliamentary constituency as the proposed landfall for the Xlinks' cable at Yelland. So I will obviously be feeding relevant information back to my MP!

Posted by: @jeff

I can see why the government want to remove any perceived barriers to encourage new generation etc

Where renewable sources are concerned, the strategy needs to be sufficiently flexible that it takes regional conditions into account. A country-wide directive from Ofgem really isn't useful.

Reducing the cost of infrastructure upgrades to zilch is only relevant if prospective generation companies are reticent about requesting a connection.

That certainly doesn't apply over the great majority of SW Region where the quantity of MW already exceeds available grid capacity by 200% !

All the larger renewable connections are subject to Active Network Management (ANM) which curtails output whenever capacity is constrained. Here, for example is an annual ANM forecast for one possible combination of battery-size at this (GB) end of the Xlinks cable:

The y-axis shows the days of the year, and the x-axis is the hours of each day.

So this ANM plot allows Xlinks and National Grid transmission to agree on a storage battery size which allows an acceptable return on investment. It basically gives Xlinks confidence to rely on income from battery export for four months of winter, but very little outside of that.

I've deliberately chosen an extreme case here so that the concept can be better understood.

Xlinks are still free to connect whatever size of storage capacity they want. But I would object if I found BEIS/Ofgem counting all of this within the national figure for renewable generation. It's just not that simple!

If, on the other hand, the availability of large quantities of green electricity attracted lots of energy-hungry data-hubs to base themselves in the West Country, then far less of the generation capacity would need to be exported elsewhere in the UK. Using renewable energy in the locations where it is abundant makes much more sense.

I don't disagree with anything you have said there.

All makes sense, particularly locating energy intensive businesses near potential excess renewable energy generation and interconnectors. 

Are there any Freeports or the recently announced Investment Zones likely in the vicinity? 

Any local news about potential energy intensive companies thinking about the area? 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-growth-plan-2022-factsheet-on-investment-zones/the-growth-plan-2022-investment-zones-factsheet

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maps-of-uk-freeports

I do wonder even more now what the government will think of a connector from Africa. What looks like potential sabotage to the Russian gas links in the Baltic i am sure will definitely impact the risk modelling that already exists. 

Local West Country BBC news has stated Newquay airport area will be one of the new Investment Zones.

That makes sense as it's already our designated Space-Port.

It's ideally-suited to take advantage of the wind-turbines on the Cornish north coast and the solar-arrays along the central A30 spine. Using electricity there would alleviate the capacity constraints at Fraddon and the adjacent Grid Supply Point (Indian Queens).

But unless Steve Double MP, representing Newquay (and covering Indian Queens) is made aware of the opportunities to attract more energy-hungry businesses, then he's not going to be able to push the right buttons. I don't suppose you're based anywhere near there, are you?

Not nearby.... 

Hertfordshire... 

Just too far to come to the meeting unfortunately....

Posted by: @transparent

Where renewable sources are concerned, the strategy needs to be sufficiently flexible that it takes regional conditions into account. A country-wide directive from Ofgem really isn't useful.

Are we in the unfortunate position in being between regulatory schemes? Looking at this article (and the linked-to report) National Grid ESO and Ofgem appear to be moving towards 'nodal pricing', which would then incentivise the Xlinks cable to be positioned closer to load.

What are the odds of the Xlinks project coming to pass, and can the National Grid Transmission be expected to upgrade infrastructure on such a possibility?

That's an interesting article @chickenbig

A: I can see evidence of the proposal from NG-ESO for nodal pricing. But I haven't found any corresponding enthusiasm for that from Ofgem themselves. Have I missed it?

B: The viability of nodal pricing will depend on how the node is defined. Although I have access to data from NG-Distribution for all transformers at 11kV and above, there is a richer set of data for Bulk Supply Points than there is for Primary substations. BSPs have the advantage that they invariably cover both rural areas, where there is more 3-phase renewable generation, and the towns which would like to use it!

C: I'm still unsure what the ESO means by 'central dispatch'. I hope it's referring to a financial administrative operation rather than trying to control the supply of electricity itself from a centrally-run algorithm owned by ESO.

I don't think we're "between regulatory schemes". Ofgem have now released the draft RIIO-ED2 agreements which DNOs must implement for 5-years, commencing April'23.

ESO's proposals would still require extensive negotiation and public consultation. Their Executive Summary suggests a 5-year timeframe.

However, RIIO-ED2 agreements from Ofgem show that they want to see significant progress being made by DNOs to help set up area-based energy Aggregators and cooperatives. These could follow a number of different models including not-for-profit Community-based schemes, and those run as a service to clients by Housing Associations.

If that route is successfully implemented, then Aggregators will be removing customers from the large nationally-based Energy Suppliers like British Gas, EDF, OVO and Octopus. In five years time there may no longer be a need to implement nodal pricing as ESO currently imagine it because it has effectively come about by evolution within the growing renewable-energy market.

I don't think Xlinks fits into these discussions. Although they clearly offer 100% renewable electricity, it's on a scale which is so massive that it can only be regarded as a national resource. As such the existing large Energy Suppliers will be buying into it, rather than it attracting Community Groups operating where it just happens to come ashore in NW Devon.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/locational-pricing-assessment