Moorside clean energy hub

Moorside clean energy hub was a proposal put forward on 30 June 2020 by two consortia, one led by EDF and the other by Rolls-Royce, to create an energy hub that would produce electricity and hydrogen through the use of nuclear power and renewable energy. The hub would have been constructed on the cancelled Moorside nuclear power station site, which was abandoned by Toshiba in 2018.

1. History

In 2020, EDF Energy put forward plans to build two EPR units, replicating Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C, for a total capacity of 3.2 GWe. In parallel, a Rolls-Royce-led UK SMR consortium announced plans for a low-carbon power station around a small, light-water reactor Rolls-Royce SMR linked with renewable energy generation, hydrogen production and battery storage technologies. The Nuclear Industry Association welcomed the proposal for the Moorside site, with the CEO adding, "These are exactly the attributes the country needs to bounce back from COVID-19, deliver jobs, and get us on track to hit Net Zero. Large scale and smaller, next generation technologies have a huge amount to offer working as part of the clean energy hub concept. They can deliver clean electricity and achieve deeper decarbonisation through the creation of hydrogen, clean fuels and district and industrial heating." On 11 November 2020, the BBC reported that Rolls-Royce has plans to construct up to 16 SMR's in the UK, with a capacity of 440 MW each. In 2019, the company received £18 million to begin designing the modular system, and the BBC claims that the government will provide an additional £200 million for the project as a part of its green plan for economic recovery. Rolls-Royce claims that the project will create 6000 jobs in the midlands and the north over the next 5 years and that the technology will also provide export technologies. In July 2023, leader of Cumberland Council, Mark Fryer, urged the Minister for Nuclear and Networks Andrew Bowie and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to progress the project. In February 2024, Fryer expressed his disappointment that an alternative to the failed EPR reactor proposal, a development to build small modular reactors, would be progressed in Teesside rather than in Cumberland.

1. Proposals


1. = Low Carbon Electricity Generation =

The consortium proposes the construction of 2 EPR reactors with an electrical output of 3200MW and a thermal output of 8000MW, as well as a number of small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors which would be able to generate low carbon electricity for the national grid, as well as thermal energy for use in the surrounding communities and other parts of the clean energy hub.

1. = Green Hydrogen =

The consortium has proposed that the hub uses High-temperature electrolysis, which uses heat to improve the efficiency of electrolysis to generate hydrogen. The consortium would utilise low cost energy during periods of high production or low demand to generate hydrogen, as well as waste heat from the power station. The consortium argues that the hydrogen would be able to be injected into the national gas grid to help lower the carbon intensity of it, and in future replace all of the natural gas in the grid. The hydrogen generated would also be able to be utilised in transportation as the consortium would be able to supply hydrogen for use in Heavy Goods Vehicles, Trains, Buses and Shipping.

1. = Energy Storage =

As a part of the consortiums proposals, electricity would be able to be stored on site. Electricity would be able to be stored using cryogenic energy storage systems where a 4 stage process would be used, which would allow for rapid responses to changes in electricity demand.

Charge Stage The input air is refrigerated until it becomes liquid by a series of compression and cooling stages (powered by electricity). This stage produces waste heat. This heat can be used in other clean energy hub processes including to enhance the efficiency of hydrogen production.
Storage Stage The liquified air is stored in low pressure tanks.
Discharge Stage When electricity is needed, the liquified air is heated (by waste heat from Moorside) and expanded. The resultant high pressure gas is used to turn turbines producing electricity.
Cold Store

The discharge stage produces waste cold (from the liquified air). This is captured and stored to be used in the cooling of the charge stage. This improves the efficiency of the process. This cold store could also be used to assist other processes in the clean energy hub such as providing emergency cooling for the data centre. Another method that has been proposed is the use of electricity to create hot and cold temperature stores. The temperature difference is used to then rotate a generator and produce power when required. Additional electricity storage can be added at low cost by increasing the heat storage capacity.

1. See also

Proposed nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom Moorside nuclear power station Nuclear power in the United Kingdom Hinkley Point C nuclear power station Sizewell C nuclear power station

1. References

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Moorside nuclear power station

Moorside nuclear power station was a proposed and subsequently cancelled to be built near Sellafield, in Cumbria, England. The original plan by NuGeneration, a British subsidiary of Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric Company, had the station coming online from 2024 with 3.4 GW of new nuclear capacity, from three AP1000 reactors. Work up to 2018 would include acquiring the site licence, the development consent order, and other required permits and permissions to start work. Site preparation was to take two years, up to 2020. Following the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Westinghouse in March 2017, the project was put under review. From December 2017 to July 2018 Kepco was named as preferred bidder. Kepco were thought to prefer their own APR-1400 reactor design for the site, a design which had not yet gone through generic design assessment with the UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation. On 8 November 2018, it was announced that Toshiba's plans for the new nuclear power station had been scrapped and its subsidiary company, NuGen, would be wound up. The Moorside site was handed back to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and the government issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to new nuclear. In July 2020, a EDF-led Moorside consortium announced a proposal for two EPR reactors yielding 3,200 MWe of new nuclear capacity. A second Rolls-Royce-led UK SMR consortium plans a low-carbon power station around a small light-water reactor and the possibility of a link with renewable technologies, storage systems and hydrogen production named Moorside clean energy hub.

Industrial Landmark

River Ehen

The River Ehen is a river in Cumbria, England. The river's source is at the west end of Ennerdale Water: it runs west through Ennerdale Bridge where it is joined by Croasdale Beck (flowing from Banna Fell). Ennerdale Water itself is fed by the River Liza. The Ehen continues past Cleator Moor and Cleator, where it is fed by the River Keekle, moving southwards through Egremont and eventually running parallel to the Irish Sea which it eventually joins at Sellafield at the same point as the River Calder.

Landmark

Windscale fire

The Windscale fire of 10 October 1957 was the worst nuclear accident in the United Kingdom's history, and one of the worst in the world, ranked in severity at level 5 out of 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The fire was in Unit 1 of the two-pile Windscale site (now Sellafield) on the north-west coast of England in Cumberland. The two graphite-moderated reactors, referred to at the time as "piles", had been built as part of the British post-war atomic bomb project. Windscale Pile No. 1 was operational in October 1950, followed by Pile No. 2 in June 1951. The fire burned for three days and released radioactive fallout which spread across the UK and the rest of Europe. The radioactive isotope iodine-131, which may lead to cancer of the thyroid, was of particular concern at the time. It has since come to light that small but significant amounts of the highly dangerous radioactive isotope polonium-210 were also released. Calculations based on the amount of radiation released estimate that the accident may have caused 190 cases of cancer, with around 100 of these being fatal, however recent epidemiological studies indicate that the accident caused fewer cases of cancer than predicted. At the time of the incident, no one was evacuated from the surrounding area, but milk from about 500 km2 (190 square miles) of the nearby countryside was destroyed for about a month afterward due to concerns about it being contaminated with iodine-131. The UK government played down the events at the time, and reports on the fire were subject to heavy censorship, as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan feared the incident would harm British-American nuclear relations. The event was not an isolated incident; there had been a series of radioactive discharges from the piles in the years leading up to the accident. In early 1957, there had been a leak of radioactive material in which strontium-90 was released into the environment. Like the later fire, this incident was covered up by the British government. Later studies on the release of radioactive material due to the Windscale fire revealed that much of the contamination had resulted from such radiation leaks before the fire. A 2010 study of workers involved in the cleanup of the accident found no significant long-term health effects from their involvement.

Historic Site Industrial

Windscale Piles

The Windscale Piles were two air-cooled graphite-moderated nuclear reactors on the Windscale nuclear site in Cumberland (now known as Sellafield site, Cumbria) on the north-west coast of England. The two reactors, referred to at the time as "piles", were built as part of the British post-war atomic bomb project and produced weapons-grade plutonium for use in nuclear weapons. Windscale Pile No. 1 became operational in October 1950 followed by Pile No. 2 in June 1951. They were intended to last five years, but operated for seven until shut down following the Windscale fire on 10 October 1957. Nuclear decommissioning operations commenced in the 1980s and are estimated to last beyond 2040. Visible changes have been seen as the chimneys were slowly dismantled from top-down; Pile 2's chimney being reduced to the height of adjacent buildings in the early 2000s. However, the demolition of pile 1 chimney has taken much longer as it was significantly contaminated after the 1957 fire. The reactor cores still remain to be dismantled.

Historic Site Industrial