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Energy Prices Drop Below Zero in UK Thanks to Record Wind-Generated Electricity

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20 Dec, 2024

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

Record wind-generated electricity across Northern Ireland and Scotland Tuesday night pushed Britain’s power prices below zero.

Wind output peaked at a record high 22.4 gigawatts (GW), breaking the previous high set Sunday evening, the national system operator said, as Bloomberg reported. The record output provided more than 68 percent of the country’s power.

From 5:30 to 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the half-hourly price fell to 6.57 pounds per megawatt-hour, according to data from European power exchange Epex Spot.

“Setting another clean electricity generation record just four days after the previous high shows the pivotal role wind is playing in keeping the country powered up during the festive season,” said Dan McGrail, chief executive of RenewableUK, as reported by Yahoo Finance. “This is also demonstrated by today’s official figures which reveal that renewables have generated more than half our electricity for four quarters in a row.”

The record was a major reversal from last week’s low wind output when electricity was mostly supplied by gas.

The enormous fluctuations in Europe’s weather have demonstrated the challenge to governments in supplying power as the transition to renewable energy speeds up, Bloomberg reported.

When weather in the United Kingdom is cloudy or winds are calm, gas will still be used to generate electricity.

Wind turbines in the hills of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Alan Currie / iStock / Getty Images Plus

“Indeed, toward the end of last week, windless days saw UK gas-fired plants churn out the most electricity on record. And despite the return of gusty weather since then — with wind output still above 22,000 megawatts on Wednesday morning — robust demand has kept gas-fueled plants online,” reported Bloomberg.

The unpredictable conditions and refueling outages at some nuclear power plants led to gas-fired plants generating roughly 70 percent of the country’s power at times, The Times reported.

Energy prices in the negative numbers have been recorded for 131 hours in the UK this year, an increase of 45 hours over 2023.

NESO, Britain’s energy system manager, has said the country would need approximately 22GW of battery storage — an increase of 17GW — to assist with managing system volatility as intermittent renewable power supplies more of the UK’s electricity.

Wind power was the largest source of energy in the UK from January to September of 2024.

The UK’s Labour government has a goal of quadrupling offshore wind power, doubling onshore wind and tripling solar by 2030, with an overall target of 95 percent green energy.

“This is a historic shift which shows that Britain’s successful transition to clean power is taking place at amazing speed, as we celebrate a landmark year for the UK’s world-class renewable energy sector,” McGrail said, as reported by Yahoo Finance.

Wind turbines in Aberdeen Bay, Scotland. Gannet77 / E+ / Getty Images

The post Energy Prices Drop Below Zero in UK Thanks to Record Wind-Generated Electricity appeared first on EcoWatch.

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ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB has gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) status for its Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) ring motor — technology used to drive large grinding mills in the mining industry.

An EPD is a standardised document that provides detailed information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, Sustainability Specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasise our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao, Spain, and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor. It optimises grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to energy and cost savings.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

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