Something funny with Gridwatch?

[David]

Only the grid frequency is on the stops low, and wind power is almost zero
despite a decent breeze, at least on the East Coast.

Problem with the readings, or wind power?

Cheers



Dave R

[mm0fmf]

Post by David
or wind power?

There's not a breath of wind up here about 15m West of Edinburgh. I was
amazed to see so many of the hundreds of wind turbines stationary as I
walked the dog in the hills this lunchtime.

I'm surprised nobody commented about Ed 'fuckwitt' Milliband and his
huge new offshore wind power station in The English Channel off Dover
and how it will power "one million homes" (see Saturday's Times
5-4-2025). Not today it wont.

[David]

Post by mm0fmf

Post by David
or wind power?

There's not a breath of wind up here about 15m West of Edinburgh. I was
amazed to see so many of the hundreds of wind turbines stationary as I
walked the dog in the hills this lunchtime.
I'm surprised nobody commented about Ed 'fuckwitt' Milliband and his
huge new offshore wind power station in The English Channel off Dover
and how it will power "one million homes" (see Saturday's Times
5-4-2025). Not today it wont.

Dover wind speed around 10 mph gusting to 20 mph.
Should be enough to turn a turbine or two.

So a wind farm off Dover could be a reasonable proposition.
The ones off Clacton and around should still be turning nicely today.

Which is why I was wondering at the display showing 0.73 GW for the whole
of the country.

Something is not right on the data Gridwatch is reporting.

Cheers


Dave R

[Jeff Layman]

Post by David
Dover wind speed around 10 mph gusting to 20 mph.
Should be enough to turn a turbine or two.
So a wind farm off Dover could be a reasonable proposition.

From the wiki on the English Channel:
"The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the
Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It
links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at
its northeastern end. It is the busiest shipping area in the world."

Somehow I can't see wind turbines being placed in "the busiest shipping
area in the world."

[mm0fmf]

Post by Jeff Layman
Somehow I can't see wind turbines being placed in "the busiest shipping
area in the world."

The already are. However, I mixed up Dover with Brighton. Well the area
is bland and populated with soft, Southern shandy drinkers so any one
town blends into the next.

https://www.4coffshore.com/news/uk-government-gives-the-go-ahead-to-rampion-2-offshore-wind-farm-project-off-the-sussex-coast.-nid30980.html

So there you go, more wind turbines being placed in the busiest shipping
area in the world.

You're welcome.

[Jeff Layman]

Post by mm0fmf

Post by Jeff Layman
Somehow I can't see wind turbines being placed in "the busiest shipping
area in the world."

The already are. However, I mixed up Dover with Brighton. Well the area
is bland and populated with soft, Southern shandy drinkers so any one
town blends into the next.
https://www.4coffshore.com/news/uk-government-gives-the-go-ahead-to-rampion-2-offshore-wind-farm-project-off-the-sussex-coast.-nid30980.html
So there you go, more wind turbines being placed in the busiest shipping
area in the world.
You're welcome.

Rampion is off the coast of West Sussex, almost 100 miles from the
Strait of Dover. The channel at Rampion is over 80 miles wide, compared
to 22 miles at Dover. From the ref you provided, Rampion will be take up
less than 5 miles of the 80+miles of the channel width there.

[Jeff Layman]

Post by Jeff Layman
Rampion is off the coast of West Sussex, almost 100 miles from the
Strait of Dover.

Apologies - that should be almost 100 miles from Dover.

[David]

Post by Jeff Layman

Post by David
Dover wind speed around 10 mph gusting to 20 mph.
Should be enough to turn a turbine or two.
So a wind farm off Dover could be a reasonable proposition.

"The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the
Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It
links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at
its northeastern end. It is the busiest shipping area in the world."
Somehow I can't see wind turbines being placed in "the busiest shipping
area in the world."

Probably won't put them in the deepest part of the shipping lanes.
There might be a convenient mud/sand bank just off the main thoroughfare
with nice shallow water, of course.

Cheers



Dave R

[Jeff Layman]

Post by David

Post by Jeff Layman

Post by David
Dover wind speed around 10 mph gusting to 20 mph.
Should be enough to turn a turbine or two.
So a wind farm off Dover could be a reasonable proposition.

"The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the
Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It
links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at
its northeastern end. It is the busiest shipping area in the world."
Somehow I can't see wind turbines being placed in "the busiest shipping
area in the world."

Probably won't put them in the deepest part of the shipping lanes.
There might be a convenient mud/sand bank just off the main thoroughfare
with nice shallow water, of course.
Cheers

There are some offshore Kent wind farms, but well away from Dover
(<https://lindyenergy.com/wind-farms-in-kent/>). Generating capacity
total seems to be just over 1GW.

[Chris Hogg]

Post by mm0fmf

Post by David
or wind power?

There's not a breath of wind up here about 15m West of Edinburgh. I was
amazed to see so many of the hundreds of wind turbines stationary as I
walked the dog in the hills this lunchtime.
I'm surprised nobody commented about Ed 'fuckwitt' Milliband and his
huge new offshore wind power station in The English Channel off Dover
and how it will power "one million homes" (see Saturday's Times
5-4-2025). Not today it wont.

I often wonder about these claims by millibrain and the like, that
such-and-such a scheme will power x-squillion homes, whether that
figure has taken into account the capacity factor, or whether that's
the measure when all the generators, wind and/or solar, are going full
belt.

[Roland Perry]

Post by Chris Hogg

Post by mm0fmf
There's not a breath of wind up here about 15m West of Edinburgh. I was
amazed to see so many of the hundreds of wind turbines stationary as I
walked the dog in the hills this lunchtime.
I'm surprised nobody commented about Ed 'fuckwitt' Milliband and his
huge new offshore wind power station in The English Channel off Dover
and how it will power "one million homes" (see Saturday's Times
5-4-2025). Not today it wont.

I often wonder about these claims by millibrain and the like, that
such-and-such a scheme will power x-squillion homes, whether that
figure has taken into account the capacity factor, or whether that's
the measure when all the generators, wind and/or solar, are going full
belt.

There's a rule of thumb where they divide the full-power output by some
surprisingly small kWh, which is apparently the long term average power
consumption of households.

[Andy Burns]

Post by Roland Perry
There's a rule of thumb where they divide the full-power output by some
surprisingly small kWh, which is apparently the long term average power
consumption of households.

I used 721 kWh during Jan to Mar, so 1/3 kW sounds right, for a
one-person household.

[The Nomad]

Post by Andy Burns

Post by Roland Perry
There's a rule of thumb where they divide the full-power output by some
surprisingly small kWh, which is apparently the long term average power
consumption of households.

I used 721 kWh during Jan to Mar, so 1/3 kW sounds right, for a
one-person household.

Here, base load is about 550W one person, but a bit of tech on 24/7/52

Suspect when I eventually get round to moving to the mini-PC rather than
this full tower jobby it'll drop a bit.

Avpx

[nib]

Post by The Nomad

Post by Andy Burns

Post by Roland Perry
There's a rule of thumb where they divide the full-power output by some
surprisingly small kWh, which is apparently the long term average power
consumption of households.

I used 721 kWh during Jan to Mar, so 1/3 kW sounds right, for a
one-person household.

Here, base load is about 550W one person, but a bit of tech on 24/7/52
Suspect when I eventually get round to moving to the mini-PC rather than
this full tower jobby it'll drop a bit.
Avpx

I was just thinking I was extravagant at average 400W for 1 person! Plus
about another 160W for the car, depending on use.

nib

[SteveW]

Post by nib

Post by The Nomad

Post by Andy Burns

Post by Roland Perry
There's a rule of thumb where they divide the full-power output by some
surprisingly small kWh, which is apparently the long term average power
consumption of households.

I used 721 kWh during Jan to Mar, so 1/3 kW sounds right, for a
one-person household.

Here, base load is about 550W one person, but a bit of tech on 24/7/52
Suspect when I eventually get round to moving to the mini-PC rather than
this full tower jobby it'll drop a bit.
Avpx

I was just thinking I was extravagant at average 400W for 1 person! Plus
about another 160W for the car, depending on use.

While our average is higher (not surprising with 3 to 5 of us here at
different times of the year, one disabled and here almost all the time
and an EV), at night, consumption drops down as low as 130W ... not bad
for a home server, router, network switch, plus three satellite boxes on
standby and a few other odds and ends.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Post by Andy Burns

Post by Roland Perry
There's a rule of thumb where they divide the full-power output by
some surprisingly small kWh, which is apparently the long term average
power consumption of households.

I used 721 kWh during Jan to Mar, so 1/3 kW sounds right, for a
one-person household.

Its around 700W per household

[Andy Burns]

Post by The Natural Philosopher

I used 721 kWh during Jan to Mar, so 1/3 kW sounds right, for a one-
person household.

Its around 700W per household

One Dobbin per family?

[Nick Finnigan]

Post by Roland Perry
There's a rule of thumb where they divide the full-power output by some
surprisingly small kWh, which is apparently the long term average power
consumption of households.

https://rampion2.com/benefits/

With a maximum planned capacity of 1200 MW of electricity, Rampion 2 could
power the equivalent of over one million homes¹ and reduce carbon emissions
by around 1.8 million tonnes² per year. Put another way, Rampion 2 could
generate around three-quarters of all the electricity demands for the whole
of Sussex³ and combined with the operating Rampion Wind Farm, could power
the entire electricity demand for Sussex.


References:

¹Based on total electricity consumption (GWh) in East Sussex, West Sussex
and Brighton & Hove 2022 (DESNZ, 2024)

²Based on an average annual domestic household electricity consumption of
3,509 kWh (Dept Energy Security & Net Zero, 2024).

³The calculation made using a static figure of 446g/kWh representing the
energy mix in the UK (BEIS, July 2020)

[Spike]

Post by Nick Finnigan

Post by Roland Perry
There's a rule of thumb where they divide the full-power output by some
surprisingly small kWh, which is apparently the long term average power
consumption of households.

https://rampion2.com/benefits/
With a maximum planned capacity of 1200 MW of electricity, Rampion 2 could
power the equivalent of over one million homes¹ and reduce carbon emissions
by around 1.8 million tonnes² per year. Put another way, Rampion 2 could
generate around three-quarters of all the electricity demands for the whole
of Sussex³ and combined with the operating Rampion Wind Farm, could power
the entire electricity demand for Sussex.
¹Based on total electricity consumption (GWh) in East Sussex, West Sussex
and Brighton & Hove 2022 (DESNZ, 2024)
²Based on an average annual domestic household electricity consumption of
3,509 kWh (Dept Energy Security & Net Zero, 2024).
³The calculation made using a static figure of 446g/kWh representing the
energy mix in the UK (BEIS, July 2020)

There was a short piece on the local TV news last night about
decommissioning Hinckley B. I’m reasonably sure someone there said it
powered all the homes from Lands End to Gloucester for (many years).

Now that’s what you call a reliable electricity supply…

If the governments of the day had got off their fat *rses Hinckley C would
have been online to replace B, but no…

[Andy Burns]

Rampion 2 could generate around three-quarters of all the
electricity demands for the whole of Sussex

Until half of Sussex buys an EV and/or heatpump, and tries to use them
at once ...

[Vir Campestris]

Post by Nick Finnigan
https://rampion2.com/benefits/
With a maximum planned capacity of 1200 MW of electricity, Rampion 2
could power the equivalent of over one million homes¹ and reduce carbon
emissions by around 1.8 million tonnes² per year. Put another way,
Rampion 2 could generate around three-quarters of all the electricity
demands for the whole of Sussex³ and combined with the operating Rampion
Wind Farm, could power the entire electricity demand for Sussex.
¹Based on total electricity consumption (GWh) in East Sussex, West
Sussex and Brighton & Hove 2022 (DESNZ, 2024)
²Based on an average annual domestic household electricity consumption
of 3,509 kWh (Dept Energy Security & Net Zero, 2024).
³The calculation made using a static figure of 446g/kWh representing the
energy mix in the UK (BEIS, July 2020)

Go look at the data for 22nd January.

SFA from wind or solar. Apparently we nearly ran out of gas too.

Andy

[Tim Streater]

On 15 Apr 2025 at 11:22:32 BST, "Vir Campestris"

Post by Vir Campestris

Post by Nick Finnigan
https://rampion2.com/benefits/
With a maximum planned capacity of 1200 MW of electricity, Rampion 2
could power the equivalent of over one million homes¹ and reduce carbon
emissions by around 1.8 million tonnes² per year. Put another way,
Rampion 2 could generate around three-quarters of all the electricity
demands for the whole of Sussex³ and combined with the operating Rampion
Wind Farm, could power the entire electricity demand for Sussex.
¹Based on total electricity consumption (GWh) in East Sussex, West
Sussex and Brighton & Hove 2022 (DESNZ, 2024)
²Based on an average annual domestic household electricity consumption
of 3,509 kWh (Dept Energy Security & Net Zero, 2024).
³The calculation made using a static figure of 446g/kWh representing the
energy mix in the UK (BEIS, July 2020)

Go look at the data for 22nd January.
SFA from wind or solar. Apparently we nearly ran out of gas too.

You can't rely on wind/solar for baseload. Doesn't Our Nick get this yet?

[Spike]

Post by Tim Streater
On 15 Apr 2025 at 11:22:32 BST, "Vir Campestris"

Post by Vir Campestris

Post by Nick Finnigan
https://rampion2.com/benefits/
With a maximum planned capacity of 1200 MW of electricity, Rampion 2
could power the equivalent of over one million homes¹ and reduce carbon
emissions by around 1.8 million tonnes² per year. Put another way,
Rampion 2 could generate around three-quarters of all the electricity
demands for the whole of Sussex³ and combined with the operating Rampion
Wind Farm, could power the entire electricity demand for Sussex.
¹Based on total electricity consumption (GWh) in East Sussex, West
Sussex and Brighton & Hove 2022 (DESNZ, 2024)
²Based on an average annual domestic household electricity consumption
of 3,509 kWh (Dept Energy Security & Net Zero, 2024).
³The calculation made using a static figure of 446g/kWh representing the
energy mix in the UK (BEIS, July 2020)

Go look at the data for 22nd January.
SFA from wind or solar. Apparently we nearly ran out of gas too.

You can't rely on wind/solar for baseload. Doesn't Our Nick get this yet?

When Nick quoted “Rampion 2 could generate around three-quarters of all the
electricity demands for the whole of Sussex³ and combined with the
operating Rampion Wind Farm, could power the entire electricity demand for
Sussex” he forgot to note the absence of the qualifier of ‘reliably’.

Something else is needed to provide Sussex with reliable electricity, and
at the moment it’s gas.

Anyone who thinks of battery storage as an answer would seem unable to do
sums, such as those needed to calculate the energy required and also what
would be needed to recharge such storage.

The link given is full of claptrap, such as

“The UK Government has formally declared a Climate Emergency.”

LOL.

“Coal plant is being phased out by 2025”

So the article is out of date.

“meanwhile electric vehicles, hydrogen heating and heat pumps are all
taking off across the UK”

No they aren’t. Few people are buying EVs now the incentives have ended,
hydrogen has gone up in smoke as an energy source, and heat pumps have
their drawbacks, such as becoming inefficient in winter.

“To ensure society’s growing thirst for electricity is sustainable –
generation from renewables is key”

Nope. Nuclear is the key.

“Offshore wind can meet this demand at scale”

Not 24/7 it can’t.

[Nick Finnigan]

Post by Spike

Post by Tim Streater
On 15 Apr 2025 at 11:22:32 BST, "Vir Campestris"

Post by Vir Campestris

Post by Nick Finnigan
https://rampion2.com/benefits/
With a maximum planned capacity of 1200 MW of electricity, Rampion 2
could power the equivalent of over one million homes¹ and reduce carbon
emissions by around 1.8 million tonnes² per year. Put another way,
Rampion 2 could generate around three-quarters of all the electricity
demands for the whole of Sussex³ and combined with the operating Rampion
Wind Farm, could power the entire electricity demand for Sussex.
¹Based on total electricity consumption (GWh) in East Sussex, West
Sussex and Brighton & Hove 2022 (DESNZ, 2024)
²Based on an average annual domestic household electricity consumption
of 3,509 kWh (Dept Energy Security & Net Zero, 2024).
³The calculation made using a static figure of 446g/kWh representing the
energy mix in the UK (BEIS, July 2020)

Go look at the data for 22nd January.
SFA from wind or solar. Apparently we nearly ran out of gas too.

You can't rely on wind/solar for baseload. Doesn't Our Nick get this yet?

When Nick quoted “Rampion 2 could generate around three-quarters of all the
electricity demands for the whole of Sussex³ and combined with the
operating Rampion Wind Farm, could power the entire electricity demand for
Sussex” he forgot to note the absence of the qualifier of ‘reliably’.

I was intentionally quoting, without commenting, nor even calculating.
And I am well aware that we can't rely on wind nor solar. And that nuclear
can be used for load following where appropriate.

Post by Spike
Something else is needed to provide Sussex with reliable electricity, and
at the moment it’s gas.
Anyone who thinks of battery storage as an answer would seem unable to do
sums, such as those needed to calculate the energy required and also what
would be needed to recharge such storage.

I read 'without the hot air' when it came out.

Post by Spike
The link given is full of claptrap,

and people were wondering what the basis of the claim was.

[Tim Streater]

Post by Spike
“Offshore wind can meet this demand at scale”
Not 24/7 it can’t.

And in winter, solar *really* produces fuck-all, even on a sunny winter's day
you only get a few hours. Out of 24.

[David]

Post by David
Only the grid frequency is on the stops low, and wind power is almost
zero despite a decent breeze, at least on the East Coast.
Problem with the readings, or wind power?

Frequency picked up again, but now showing at 0 Hz.

[David]

Post by David
Only the grid frequency is on the stops low, and wind power is almost
zero despite a decent breeze, at least on the East Coast.
Problem with the readings, or wind power?

Frequency still showing 0, so definitely something amiss in the works.

[Andy Burns]

Post by David

Post by David
Only the grid frequency is on the stops low, and wind power is almost
zero despite a decent breeze, at least on the East Coast.
Problem with the readings, or wind power?

Wind being low isn't too surprising, don't think many were spinning on
my way home.

Post by David
Frequency still showing 0, so definitely something amiss in the works.

This site is pretty good at measuring grid frequency, it shows normal,

<https://www.mainsfrequency.com>

[Andy Burns]

Post by Andy Burns
This site is pretty good at measuring grid frequency, it shows normal,
<https://www.mainsfrequency.com>

Sorry that's for Europe, I meant this one for UK

<http://mainsfrequency.uk>

[The Natural Philosopher]

Post by David
Only the grid frequency is on the stops low, and wind power is almost zero
despite a decent breeze, at least on the East Coast.

No wind here inland.
The frequency is anomalous.
Uptsream issue

Post by David
Problem with the readings, or wind power?
Cheers
Dave R