Ocean Electricity Grid. How do they do that?

Pylons are ugly and nobody likes them! Filling up our countryside with thousands more of them to facilitate a massive electricity grid expansion is proving to be a very tricky challenge with lots of local opposition. But what if you could build your electricity grid out at sea and just bring cables to shore where they’re needed?
Help support this channels independence at
/ justhaveathink
Or with a donation via Paypal by clicking here
www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...
You can also help keep my brain ticking over during the long hours of research and editing via the nice folks at BuyMeACoffee.com
www.buymeacoffee.com/justhave...
Video Transcripts available at our website
www.justhaveathink.com
Reference links
China’s MILLION VOLT Energy Superhighway
• China's MILLION VOLT E...
UK Holistic Network Design
www.nationalgrideso.com/docum...
www.nationalgrideso.com/docum...
UK Offshore Transmission Network Review
www.gov.uk/government/publica...
The Great UK Grid Upgrade
www.nationalgrid.com/the-grea...
UK Emission reduction
www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-...
Hornsea Wind Farms
interestingengineering.com/in...
Michael Barnard on the Future of HVDC transmission
/ future-of-electricity-...
Check out other KZbin Climate Communicators
zentouro: / zentouro
Climate Adam: / climateadam
Kurtis Baute: / scopeofscience
Levi Hildebrand: / the100lh
Simon Clark: / simonoxfphys
Sarah Karvner: / @sarahkarver
Rollie Williams / ClimateTown: / @climatetown
Jack Harries: / jacksgap
Beckisphere: / @beckisphere
Our Changing Climate : / @ourchangingclimate
Engineering With Rosie / engineeringwithrosie
Ella Gilbert / drgilbz
Planet Proof / @planetproofofficial
Our Eden / @ouredencheck out Agora Energy Technology
agoraenergy.ca/agora-growing-...

[@petterbirgersson4489]

I love your sarcasms.

[@theotherandrew5540]

Very well placed!

[@SimonLongKrogh]

I think Dave spent his entire weekly quota of snark on this video :D

[@guapochino140]

He's like an ASMR Jasper Carrott

[@john-frankscott]

What's worth mentioning is the excessive differences between Scotland providing large sums of the UK's generation and England containing the majority of demand centres. All offshore cables to be built East of Scotland down to England are to alleviate the issues with the constrained and near-bust B6 boundary overhead lines. I'm currently involved in proposing and designing new overhead line routes between Scotland and England, the amount of infrastructure to be established in the next few years will be some of the largest projects the UK has seen in years!

[@stephengreen8986]

Sounds like an exciting project. Good luck.

[@petewright4640]

Are people such as yourself and the industry in general in the UK aware of new cable technologies that typically use a carbon fiber central core to give strength rather than steel. This reduces weight and increases the amount of conducting material. The idea is not to simply reduce cost of new transmission lines but to restring exising overhead lines potentially doubling or even tripling their capacity. So much easier and cheaper than new lines?

[@john-frankscott]

@@petewright4640 I believe that steel/aluminium core still remains the standard due to supply chains etc but you're right that reconductoring is definitely the preferred way to go. Hopefully carbon fibre cores will appear soon and the saving in weight will allow for an increased conductor diameter.

[@englishpassport6590]

Britain is composed of one represented Country - Scotland two represented Principalities Wales and N.Ireland and one confused mishmash of unrepresented regions districts and areas some of us still call England!

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks John

[@mikeharrison1868]

The grid needs to be constructed, owned and operated by the government on behalf of all the people of the UK. Asking competitors to sort it out is like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.

[@ricos1497]

Not really. I work in the UK oil industry, and pipelines and infrastructure back to shore has routinely been shared for some time. Even in places where metering was terrible, agreements were made in proportional sharing. In industries like these, there are so many crossovers between staff, service companies, companies themselves engaging in joint ventures for capital etc that it's easy to come to agreement. I'd have thought wind would be even easier, as a turbine's output to its connection point would be fairly easily to calculate with a degree of accuracy. There's usually a cut to the pipeline (cable in this case) owner, but energy provision has - generally speaking - such a predicatable return on investment, that cooperation is much easier than non-cooperation.

[@mikeharrison1868]

@@ricos1497 Fair enough. Good to know. ;o)

[@howtoappearincompletely9739]

I enjoy your sarcastic humour. I also like the nice, darker, soothing living-room-wall colour.

[@christopherwilkinson326]

Tidal power on the Menai Strait would be a useful strawman test on the greater implementation of inner tidal lagoons solutions. We really do need to start using our collective consciousness when it comes to simple solutions for seemingly complex problems with green electricity provisions. Like the gravitional system used in the Highlands of Scotland. Actual intelligence is always preferable to algorithmic design. As it includes the foulibles of the human spirit, IMHO. #classaseverdave🎉

[@jamespierce523]

You are getting really good at keeping a straight face when you let out a real zinger.

[@erictheblue7256]

I really enjoy listening to Dave talk on whatever green topic is on. With his smooth, sophisticated voice he could call me a complete idiot and I would reply "thank you" and ask for more! 😁

[@lawrencegaceta4839]

I like the newly painted room. Great content!

[@President_NotSure]

oh yeah the environment loves that

[@codysergeant1486]

@@President_NotSure lmfao

[@pixelrancher]

@@President_NotSure I'm sure it's No-VOC, so yeah, the environment DOES love that. Not quite the burn you two kids thought you were doing.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Lawrence. Much appreciated :-)

[@jorgevieiro5774]

Another possibility, not sure if it was explored in the UK, is to upgrade the existing transmission cables (you did a video on re-conducting). There is GETs (Grid Enhancing Technologies) which can add 20-30% capacity. Re-conducting that can give 2-3x capacity. Moving to HVDC that can give 4x. The good part of these technologies is that it does not require new right-of-way.

[@keacoq]

Often rights of way are limited to existing capacity. either by physical constraints (tower strength) or permission limitations (like max voltage).

[@johnrdoe108]

Love the humour in the teeth of this oncoming situation.

[@robertdavidson3090]

I didn't notice the paint as I was mesmerized by your sparkling oratory!!! Keep up the great content as I tune into you each Sunday.

[@MrTwistoff]

Great sarcastic wit! Perfect finish...what could go wrong 😂

[@guanxi99]

My really favorite quote „If you don’t like lt I am fine too. I won’t paint it again!“. That’s the principled Dave who we love! And for the records: I like your new painting! :-)

[@DSAK55]

I like Pylons! I'm an electric engineer

[@JustHaveaThink]

Well, there's always one isn't there! ;-)

[@What1zTyme]

New paint job much mo' betta! Well done you

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks 👍

[@glenisold79]

I don't like it. Paint it again!

[@TheSimChannel]

The new color is a very good choice. Blue/orange contrast looks good, and you stand out better from the background. Good one!

[@ricos1497]

You're right, he does appear to be much more shiney.

[@danrooke7372]

On the topic of 'collective action', it doesn't always feel like a positive when it comes to renewable energy infrastructure projects. My news feed is full of solar farm proposals and grid level battery storage facilities having campaigns against them. There is a wind farm proposal in a local area which also has a campaign against it. Some of the campaign arguments have already been disproved by local university lecturers specialised in the relevant field, yet the campaign against it continues. Reducing transmission distances from generation to demand seems like a strong argument. In theory the easing of planning for onshore wind will help with this but will collective action throw a spanner in the works? How can we achieve the scale of change needed through these projects and more if every project gets bogged down in misinformation and campaigns against them? Maybe there is a video to be made around these issues!

[@davidmenasco5743]

In at least some cases in the US, the opposing campaigns seem to be coordinated across large geographic areas. I wonder how much vested interest funding is behind them.

[@JustHaveaThink]

I talk to Ripple Energy in next week's video. They actually build windfarms and their experience of opposition is very different. A very small and very vocal minority make a bloody nuisance of themselves but the 'silent' majority are very much in favour of climate action and have no problem with wind turbines.

[@danrooke7372]

@@JustHaveaThink it'll be interesting to hear Ripple's take on the opposition campaigns 👍 I wonder how powerful the silent majority are.

[@alanhat5252]

​@@danrooke7372not very powerful at all while they stay silent 😢 When someone bothers to go round & rouse them up the situation changes but it's a lot of expensive effort to go banging on millions of doors, often several times each.

[@charlespaynter8987]

@@JustHaveaThink This was the experience here with the nearby Chelveston wind & solar farm. In the end a lot of ill educated prejudiced fuss about nothing. I find that generally younger generations get it. The older grumpy old git generation tend to be most exercised by a perceived loss of housing equity. It just isn't born out in reality and all the campaigns do is waste money & valuable time serving no reasonable purpose.

[@johnsamsungs7570]

It helps a lot of the power grid is owned by the people, your government! If your politicians say they are going to sell your hardware tell them NO! I still own my power and water infrastructure through my state government. That is why we only loose power if a tree falls through the wires in a storm. We did loose the water once for about a hour as when they were working on the pipes in our street a stopcock broke. It was very old and they didn't have a spare in the truck because they don't usually break. Got to love being able to vote out a government that wants to sell the people's stuff to their mates.

[@alanhat5252]

i grew up near Tilbury & the sky is full of wires, both the ones from the (now flattened) power station & the ones crossing the Thames & fanning out in all directions from the shore. The 330KV lines are fun though, humming & crackling in damp weather.

[@jabezcrisp7899]

I worked for a county council in support of the boreas and vanguard windfarms. The government collapsed the projects pretty roundly, killing off a further 2 and 3 GW of installation. I don't think the offshore ringmain is likely to work, not least because a lot of the issues they purport to avoid don't get avoided forever . Sooner or later, they have to come onto the land via primarily rural and conservative constituencies who also have the power to collapse projects by objecting to the installations. Sizewell is a good example of this - if the new nuclear powerplant is putting up a 3m high sea wall, its time to read between the lines as to what that means for your flat, coastal village.

[@JHawkins-jf6bs]

From the referred report : The recommended Holistic Network Design The result of the HND process is a design that: • Connects all 18 in scope offshore wind farms (with a total capacity of 23 GW) to the onshore network. • Includes regions of strong coordination, and regions where radial connections are favourable. • Has 15 landing points to shore. This seems to indicate there will be a limited number of entrances for the offshore electrons. No doubt these will become nexus points for conflict around the world in the future with laser air defence batteries given the daft nature of some humans?

[@jimhood1202]

Thanks Dave. Positive actions are what we like to see. Onward and upward!

[@mikemellor759]

Great introduction to the proposed new connections for future wind farms.

[@matthewbrown6096]

I love this channel but I’ve ‘JUST HAD A THINK’ and remembered that the generators in wind turbines do not transfer electrons through the wires as Dave described but rather it’s electrical ENERGY that is transferred - NOT electrons - indeed for AC generation the electrons don’t actually flow anywhere, they just vibrate. Maybe I’m splitting hairs and not the key point of this excellent video but I’ve heard Dave say this several times before.

[@CitiesForTheFuture2030]

Tx for another great energy video topic. It seems getting electrons from point A to point Z is very complicated & complex indeed... It would be helpful if we could convert existing power stations to renewable energy sources to take advantage of existing infrastructure. I have seen another suggestion that any new transmission & distribution infrastructure should be located along existing transport routes to avoid having to lease land from private owners etc. I'm more of a fan of interconnected distributed mini grids - especially in cities - so that energy is generated as close to consumers as possible. The great advantage of offshore wind though, is that it is less intermittent and is less obtrusive than onshore wind... it's complicated

[@anders21karlsson]

Happy everytime a new of "Just have a think" episode is released. And there he is. Thank you.

[@stephengreen8986]

Really well paced and witty delivery. If I hadn't already subscribed, I would be subscribing. Thanks for informing us about Norfolk and Lincolnshire getting the disruption but not the electricity.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Cheers Stephen. Much appreciated :-)

[@petewright4640]

What's amazing is that National Grid and the government didn't see the need for massive expansion coming. Gaining a grid connection is now a major delay for maney renewable energy projects.

[@JeffBilkins]

In the Netherlands also terrible: the whole grid is congested and it''ll take forever and all the money to upgrade. Companies can't get new grid connections or expand capacity, green energy is stalling and housing projects are in trouble. It is all staff shortage, nitrogen crisis, supply crisis etc. No idea how this was a surprise or we even managed before.

[@SheepShearerMike]

Thanks for letting us know about the talks on your Patrion, they were very informative. Let's hope Everything Electric release all the others.

[@peterlewis4199]

Thanks for the excellent content...as usual.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Peter. Glad you enjoyed it :-)

[@sahar1213]

The sarcasm goes well with the british accent lmao great stuff 👍

[@punditgi]

Splendid work! 😊

[@christophersanders5747]

Loving the paint job and the content 👍🏻

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Christopher :-)

[@wilmorin3421]

Paint job looks great!

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thank you :-)

[@andyduport2806]

The wall looks great!!!

[@creativecatalyst777]

Your dry comedic timing and delivery is flawless. That alone is worth a sub and a few likes 😂😂❤

[@TheTonycima]

Love the sarcasm! 👍

[@user-xx4yl1hy7f]

Thank you for your very informative video, Dave. I hope you and your family are having an enjoyable weekend. Sheila Mink in New Mexico

[@carlbrenninkmeijer8925]

All we need is a stiff breeze ! Thanks , I hope things keep moving !!

[@alanhat5252]

Actually just a gentle breeze & that 200 metres above what you notice. Many designs start up in 2mph winds & if you've got a weather vane in your garden & a windmill in view it's perhaps surprising how often the strength & direction of the 2 are different.

[@arpinchock]

Break wind…? 😂

[@carlbrenninkmeijer8925]

@@alanhat5252 Thanks, I understand. I met a snail in the grass, and said, "quite windy today". The snail : "what are you talking about"

[@benlamprecht6414]

Thanks for yet another informative video

[@thebigerns]

Thumbs up on new paint 👍😉

[@nicholaswestbury7689]

Learnt lots, thanks.

[@yfarrell]

You care awesome Dave and I love the new color!

[@barrycarter8276]

Just love how optimistic you’re Dave, I’m guessing when you quote WT Wind Farm GW’s that’s that’s the combined output of rating plates not what they actually produce. If in the fullness of time we managed to produce enough alternative energy to power just current needs, that would still only represent 20% of the energy we use, which seems to be ignored. Jevon’s paradox will be playing out nicely, for just when you think electricity savings like replacing LED’s with Laser Diodes, along will come data centres wiping any savings, and plus some. As I travel around be it on land or sea I see great swathes of PVP’s and WT’s. If my great grandchildren coming up to 2 yrs old live to 80 they’ll see at lest 3 renewals of PVP’s and WT’s that’s if there’s enough energy to recycle them (and that’s another story, pollution), let alone manufacture replacements.They’ll also see 2050/60 and the oxymoron of Net Zero, and if it hadn’t already happened before 2050, then between 2050 and 2100 they’ll have seen, if not involved in fighting to maintain access to, well then the depletion of Oil and Natural, Gas, but also the rise of Coal to fill the energy gap, and be practising “The Great Simplification” but still well on the way to way to extinction. I really fear for what my great grandchildren, or a baby born today, will have to face in the future. And of course all of this rests on our not extinguishing ourselves in a Nuclear winter🤔

[@GlynBartlett]

Love the Pythonesque references

[@nicksimmons7234]

Love the paint job.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thank you :-)

[@Cormacc]

Enjoy all your videos.

[@thebionicwoman1762]

Ur DIY decorating looks gr8. ThanQ 4 Ur entertaining & interesting videos. ❤👍🏾

[@willlehrfeld457]

The room looks great Dave, and the video was very interesting.

[@gordybishop2375]

Ships are hitting cables with their anchors s much more often then anything hitting the high tension power lines and when they are hit…much easier to fix on land and faster. Then harder for terrorists too. Easy to mess up a line in the ocean with few around to see a ship or boat or submarine let alone what’s going on underwater. Think that gas line from Russia to Germany

[@CTCTraining1]

Indeed, just burying a cable a few meters down would be no protection from malicious actors. Better to keep the infrastructure onshore unless we can monitor a total exclusion zone.

[@lancerudy9934]

Great video thanks 😊

[@zotter2542]

Well said

[@cg986]

Another great episode!

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thank you :-)

[@Techmagus76]

Did i missed something or did you have sarcastic week in the UK at the moment?

[@JustHaveaThink]

Every week is sarcastic week here in Blighty mate ;-)

[@adrianthoroughgood1191]

Sarcasm turned up to 11 this week, I reckon!

[@reidcushman3562]

Excellent content as always. This is one of my favorite channels. But you did seem a tad feistier than usual, Dave (e.g., "And I can't think of a single thing that would possibly go wrong with that"). Not that I'm attributing this to the new paint per se -- could have been the time hosting seminars in London -- but I do hope those blue areas are well ventilated.

[@DeathsGarden-oz9gg]

Solar farms need to update lift em up 20 to 30 feet space em out more and grow naturally small trees that produces fruits and plants native flowers and grasses. Why well to produces food reduce the heat dome a bit the solar farm makes and cool the solar panels making them more efficient and reducing co2 footprint even more. If they dont use chemicals or pesticides and let natural predators of pests and native pollinators go at it this can help heal the damaged wild life. Im talking bugs not big animals we dont need them digging up the solar bases.

[@whereismycrewyo]

Solar panels are harmful to the environment exactly due to this. Putting acres and miles of solar panel farms are not only eyesores but also harmful to the plants and overall ecosystem in the area

[@happymusicschool-it1qc]

Time for a nice light blue Jumper..❤

[@dermotdonnelly5495]

Great video as usual 👌

[@JustHaveaThink]

Glad you enjoyed

[@RohitKumarM]

Thanks

[@paul1979uk2000]

The problem I keep seeing with big solar and wind farms is that consumers don't seem to benefit in lower prices, and I know they say it's because of the cost of upfront investment, but something has to give at some point if they really want the public to be onboard with all this. Personally, I'm more of a fan of generating our own energy, on-site as needed, and as the tech gets better and cheaper, it's becoming a lot more viable, and at least this way, you cut out the middle men and start to save on lower energy cost, and probably longer term, almost free energy. The key to that is that a buffer is needed with energy storage, and that is where the problem is for now, battery tech is too expensive and the amount you can get is still too small, but eventually as tech keeps improving, I suspect a lot more of us will generate our own energy because it will work out cheaper, whiles giving us full control in lowering our bill, which I get a sense that it doesn't seem to matter how much big renewable projects that go online, our bills never go down and you can't help but feel they are profiting on that. There's another factor, maintaining the grid network is really expensive, I heard somewhere that it accounts for around 40% of the entire energy cost, if so, then there are some major advantages in renewable on-site or gridless in the long run, cut out the middle men, no need to maintain a grid and so on. Clearly, this isn't going to happen any time soon, but with the advancement of tech, it's likely going to be more viable for a lot of us. It's just a shame that we can't have a mix of solar and win at a small scale, because that would complement each other really well, but every time I see wing turbines in urban areas, they don't work that well, but a lot of new ideas are coming around, so who knows, that might change, if it does and we can have both, that would reduce the need for as many batteries, as the energy generating will be more consistent, it will also allow us to generate a lot more energy at all hours and all year round. So anyway, I'm hopeful about the renewable future, but personally, I think as tech advances, more of us will want to produce as much if not all our own energy needs on sites to cut out the middle men and actually get real savings and not just the promise of savings they keep telling us about.

[@johndododoe1411]

Another way to get grid operators onboard is to suggest allowing them to expand their operations of on shore lines to also operate off shore on a similar business model. Same business, just more of it .

[@ariadgaia5932]

😂 Omgoodness!! I love your humor and snarkiness!~ ❤

[@leesmith9299]

thanks rodney

[@JustHaveaThink]

I see what you did there. Very good. :-)

[@JossWaddy]

7:33 The trick is to have the right selection of biscuits alongside the cup of tea. Don't just rely on custard cream and bourbon to get you through. to have a successful commercial hob nob you need, well.. you don't need me to continue. Thanks for another great video.

[@georgeshapiro301]

It does sound expensive, but it also sounds vulnerable. Russians have a demonstrated penchant for severing or threatening to severe undersea infrastructure, and they've developed the merchant marine fleet to do it. Bit hard to monitor and protect thousands of kilometers of stuff underwater away from the coast.

[@helenmiles3866]

I love your brains x liked and shared x

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Helen :-)

[@ericmaclaurin8525]

It's all about synergies. Combining the offshore grid with a large scale build out of ocean habitat would restore the oceans and convert unlimited amounts if CO2 into food. (And to the floor via detrius) It's very expensive but done right can pay for itself. Done right you can even combine it with offshore desalination and pipes to bring the water to shore. Offshore desal can use deep water pressure that runs for the cost of an extraction pump because you don't have to pressurize water and then release half of it as brine. Put the filter on a tank. Sink it and pump out fresh water. Cold enough for AC if you want to go crazy.

[@charleswillcock3235]

In the UK concept of cost benefit analysis seems to have been unlearned. Good example HS2 never needed to be the fastest train track in the Europe if the line had been designed to run at say 90mph I am sure it would have saved literally tens of billions off the price tag. Instead installing very fast broadband on the train would have cheered up anyone who would have been disappointed to be going so slow. Putting high voltage electric cables in the sea which then bumps up the cost massively instead of pylons going across East Anglia. I cannot honestly say that would offend me. There are no national parks in East Anglia which I am aware off apart from the Norfolk Broads, which is pretty small and surely that could be skirted around. I am 100% in favour of more onshore wind turbines and offshore wind but as a nation we should be aware of the cost of going to extreme lengths to avoid infrastructure which we can see.

[@Sandra-hc4vo]

Off shore wind sounds really interesting. Hopefully we can find ways to fund them.

[@hariseldon3786]

The Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the UK has a total nameplate capacity of 3.2 gigawatts (GW). It occupies approximately 430 acres (about two-thirds of a square mile) and generates electricity for 6 million homes. To generate the same amount of electricity as Hinkley Point C, a wind farm of 3.2 GW nameplate capacity would need to occupy around 840 square miles. A footprint of this size has massive environmental implications.

[@jonlaban4272]

Collective Action Makes a Difference

[@davidcool479]

I love the Monty Python style riffing bit. 🤣

[@TheKlink]

regarding those offshore wind turbines: now add tidal and wave energy harvesters to those. and solar on the pylons. As for pylons; we are loads of road and rail crisscrossing the country, periodically this is dug up and resurfaced, why not add service tunnels using the cut and shut method? have this service tunnel installation done as standard to all new infrastructure? no need for above surface pylons.

[@frasercrone3838]

Herein OZ the same thing is happening where our inter- state grid system needs a massive upgrade to connect the solar farms to where the people live. The solar farms are scattered of course unlike the central coal fired generation it is to replace. A transmission spine is to be constructed from Queensland to Victoria and those property owners along the way are shouting out loud "NIMBY". It is not able to go underground due to the exorbitant cost of such a plan. When you look at the complexity created by having multiple owners of solar or wind generators using other private companies poles and wires to transport their product to your house where another party bills you for it you have to ask is the private sector the best way to supply such an important product. When utilities were public owned all the players were under the same roof and the motive was not chasing profit it was delivering an essential utility. It was not perfect by any means, but it could have been a lot better than what we have at present using many different private entities all chasing their own slice of the pie from us the consumer.

[@royharkins7066]

It’s blue Dave !!

[@margaretgodwyn1292]

The US West coast, from the very northern part of California all the way to Canada, is on the Cascadia fault line. We hear that a significant earthquake and tsunami is expected in the next several decades. Can off shore wind platforms, eve the floating ones, withstand the predicted damage? Also, in the Gulf Coast, hurricanes have destroyed underwater structures in the past. Can anyone comment?

[@davitdavid7165]

I like this idea a lot. Wish my cointry's geography could allow for such infrastructure

[@Scubadooper]

You're not missing anything, it will be bloody expensive. The other problems are coordinating it, choosing where to build, getting the green light for anticipatory investment, choosing who will be the organisation who builds it (the offshore system operator), etc. On top of that the risk of stranded assets is huge because of the problems with the CfD. The UK hasn't even got close to getting it right first time, and the £5bn saving is based on amazingly optimistic forecasts. The simpler, more efficient and cost effective, way for it to be dealt with would be to specify the additional equipment required on the offshore substations to connect them at a later date. Low frequency AC is thought to be most efficient by a German professor after they'd already gone down the difficult HVDC route.

[@ardyjay]

How about windmills that are basically enormous bicycle pumps, with high pressure air hoses on the ocean bottom, which could be buried onshore to a station where an air motor (like a quiet triple expansion steam engine?) would spin a generator. No electrical dangers, and any leaks would be easy to find. Multiple mills could be ganged together for increased power. Im sure air hose would be orders of magnitude cheaper than the underwater wire currently used. Electrical generating windmills have hugely expensive and complicated systems that require mechanisms to keep them spinning electrically in phase as wind speeds change. That wouldn't be an issue for an air pump, as the faster it spins the more air is pumped. Excess air could be stored under pressure in bladders on the ocean bottom. As an added incentive, design a system to chemically collect carbon dioxide, from the compressed air supply for accurately measured carbon credits, and possibly, some rare gases could be collected as well.

[@zyxwvut4740]

The only problem with the new paint is that your shirt matched it so well! Think contrasting colors or bright lighting on you _or_ the wall (not both).

[@JustHaveaThink]

Yeah, the top this week was a mistake. All part of the learning curve I guess :-)

[@timjarrett8777]

As always, insightful and interesting video. Maybe a topic for the future could be about why we don't build grid scale battery farms (plus other storage like radox flow?) where wind energy comes on shore which would be able to balance grid and pretty much pay for itself as we wouldn't need to pay wind farms to stop producing. Added to having a more local/decentralised system via home solar and battery storage, wouldn't this be best for our future and reduce prices?

[@richardbarnes7427]

Pylons are cheaper than buried or under water because they ignore the costs to the people and areas thy affect. I live in Lincolnshire and at the moment am threatened with a cable passing if not over my home very close to it. This will cost me at least 1/2 the value of my house and leave me with all the consequences of living so near to the cables. I am quite happy that if this is a project of "National Importance" then it should go ahead but all those affected by this should be fully compensated by those that benefit from the scheme. When you take this figure into account you find that under sea direct to London is the best option. My house is off grid so gains no benefit from the grid.

[@justsayen2024]

Who knows maybe with the new government some of these things may be realized. Unfortunately being cooperative and group hugs have to be incentivized. From across the pond good luck

[@grindupBaker]

The British PM eagerly anticipates hugging Donald Trump (they'll wear chastity protection).

[@StarrDust0]

Love your channel and you always talk about topics that interest me like the energy grid. The green color is nice...but you can always change the bkgd color with the filters they use today...just saying. :)

[@yggdrasil9039]

Australia's 4,000km southern coastline borders the circum polar winds that blow clockwise 24/7 around the Antarctic and across the southern ocean. Australia has an offshore wind potential of several PW (>1,000,000,000,000 kW), about 100x the national demand. Australia currently has installed OSW capacity of 0W.

[@laurac3679]

Not to mention 80% of the population live in the coastal zone. We're a joke.

[@TimRoach-hh7nf]

I really enjoy your videos, thank you for your quality content. Could you please turn the volume up a little bit on your videos, I work in a data center and I have a hard time listening to some of your videos with computer fans whirling in the background

[@rthomp03]

Sea transmission lines are not only more expensive to install, they are also much more expensive to maintain. All for the aesthetic reason of not having to look at on shore power transmission cables (most of which exist away from population centers). I understand the NIMBY mindset, but I certainly wouldn't say this is a "future proofing" option because we know those in charge will eventually get tired of fully funding the expensive maintenance of underwater cables, and the infrastructure reliability will suffer as a result.

[@thomasgeorgecastleberry6918]

Your video's are always terrific, thanks for sharing! If the mass production of Graphene is ever perfected, our existing electrical grid will become obsolete overnight! Graphene's characteristics is very similar to a true "superconductor!" These Graphene cables could be buried, who needs those ugly and dangerous existing high voltage systems? Another bonus no AC-DC conversion as needed with a true super conductor.

[@user-or4hs7xq9u]

Offshore windmills have a relatively short service life due brutal conditions. The decommissioning costs will be horrendous

[@BreakingBarriers2DIY]

We are crying laughing over hear. The witty sarcasm is the best we’ve seen. Lol

[@flutieflambert]

I suspect many, although certainly not all, who watch this channel realized long ago that socialized energy would be far cheaper and far more efficient than privatized energy. If energy were socialized, there’s no way the private market could compete.

[@grindupBaker]

Winds. I took a quick look for an hour but it needs a well-paid professional because the Sun keeps forcing the wind to happen due to it heats Earth unevenly (Tropics face the Sun more directly than Polar regions and that's what causes steering winds). I did calculate in my head that wind kinetic energy matches 7 days of all human energy use (if my memory from 3 years back is correct) but since the Sun will fight any attempt to stop the steering winds simply by blocking them (as opposed to heating at 60-90N which I hypothesize might be slowing the Ferrell Cell) and since the Sun is massive powerful I can't see any feasible mechanical effort to slow the steering winds being able to slow them much due to it's directly fighting the source of ~all energy on Earth. Geothermal & nuclear fission are 0.035% and 0.015% of all energy on Earth, not much of a portion.

[@ronkirk5099]

I wonder if wind turbine operators have had much experience yet with wind farms located in hurricane prone areas like the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico in the southern U.S.? There is a lot of shallow water and great wind turbine potential there if systems can be designed to withstand the current hurricanes and even stronger and more frequent ones forecast in the near future.

[@GhostOnTheHalfShell]

I love satire… you excel at it.

[@georgewaters6424]

Happy humpday!

[@TheDanEdwards]

0:33 "But transmitting those electrons" - so let me be that guy (again) and remind us that the electrons don't travel far. In an alternating current the electrons only move a tiny bit, and in direct current the net motion is small (especially for the heavy gauge wires used in power distribution.) Ok, so that's pedantic, but in this case it is important to realize that the _energy_ is transferred by the electric field that exists outside the conductor. This is normally a case of problems in any electric grid, but in sea water the electric cables have to be armored which then adds to the cost. And of course protected from being corrupted in the salt water, another additional cost. So while an electric grid online is expensive, there are special costs for underwater grids.

[@TheDanEdwards]

It's worth noting that there are now more discussions over the effects that undersea power cables have on the organisms down on the seabed. Though the power cables are shielded, that does not keep (part) of the magnetic field from being outside of the shield, and that induces electric currents outside the cable. All of this is how energy is loss in transmission, but also living organisms may have evolved to exploit Earth's own magnetic field (for direction finding, for example).

[@grindupBaker]

@@TheDanEdwards "induces electric currents outside the cable" with A.C. but not with D.C. Well, only to the extent that the D.C. current varies.

[@knowone33]

i dont understand why the underwater tidal farms arent a critical portion of the grid esp since such power sources are not subject to intermittency except in the case of maintenance

[@jonm7272]

I wonder how much energy we can take out of global coastal wind systems before we start affecting local weather patterns? Would our maximum potential demand just be a drop in an ocean of available energy, or would we need to limit how much we would take out? Are there some unintended consequences we should be wary of?

[@dakrushel]

I have to assume that some other bright spark out there has already asked the question and been told why it wouldn't work but would the incorporation of rechargeable saltwater batteries in oceanic wind farms help to alleviate the curtailment problem? Especially while they're surrounded by salt water?

[@jmr]

I wonder what the losses on AC cables are under the ocean? I bet they really push them too since they can use the ocean to cool them.

[@MarcoNierop]

I like the paint job, Dave! But a nice neon tube "JHT" logo on that big grey surface behind your head would be awesome!.. But to be honest, I think you already have something less flashy in mind to hang there. Btw, how is that HVDC line going between Morocco and the UK? After its announcement it has gone pretty quiet. This whole distrubution network of renewable energy gets more and more important with more and more renewable energy coming online, it squashes the argument of "dunkelflaute" because if the wind does not blow here and the sun does not shine here, it probably does a lot more somewhere else, so we need to be able to transport that energy to areas where it is needed the most. Good to see the UK is working on this, I am sure other EU countries are working on similar projects as well... Good idea about the coastlines of the USA, but your cynism is justified, as the energy sector is still fragmented between several companies that all want to make a profit the next quarter and thinking ahead and invest and build for the future are not their strongest points.. Hence they have still low voltage overhead powerlines everywhere causing major problems with power outages with every storm that blows over, and years behind in adopting renewable energy and they just get started building off shore wind farms.

[@JustHaveaThink]

When you guys are not watching me there is a nice big pine-framed mirror hanging there. X-Links are going great guns. I will be posting an update video on their progress late this year :-)

[@Kevin_Street]

Thanks for another great video! Britain seems to be in an unusual position when it comes to global warming and the energy transition. On one hand your Conservative politicians sometimes say rather disturbing things, and support silly ideas like converting everyone's water heaters to hydrogen. But on the other hand Britain is actually doing a lot to transition to renewable energy. You're building real renewable infrastructure with all those wind farms, it's not just talk at climate conferences. So keep on doing what you're doing, I guess. You really are a wind power pioneer, no matter what the politicians say.

[@mrpugster]

Yet in the UK we pay massively more than the rest of Europe for there electricity. Greed. I lost my job last year and my electric bills are crippling. Saving the world, reducing the emissions, being smug sounds great but I'll be living in the streets, crippled by the high costs.

[@Kevin_Street]

I'm sorry to hear that, mrpugster. Hopefully things will turn around soon for you.