I like the cut of ya jib lad!
@swimfeeders, Good post Swimmy. You mention some things concerning
security that l had never thought about before? I was more concerned
with the technical problems ?
From what you say it seems that these RR units are going to be a modified
and scaled up version of the ones in submarines, this makes sense !
But if the output of each of them is as low as you suggest then surely
we will need more than seven of them wonât we ??
Donkeyman! 
@ Bruce, In SAâs case it is case of technology failure Brucy !
The power stations they did manage to build were years over due and
when switched on, promptly broke down, and continue to do so !?
Donkeyman! 
When tides are rising and falling - agreed. But what happens at âdead waterâ times, i.e. that hour or so when the tides are changing direction and there is no flow in either direction? To my mind, even tidal generation isnât 100% because of the dead water periods.
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Possibly so but I think we have used it much. Islay in Scotland that had a scheme that was rated at 500kW. I did the electrical calcs for that. Later they they reduced it to 350kW then abandoned it altogether.
Then there is the the Severn Estuary with its formidable Severn Bore. Excellent conditions you would have thought. Lots of discussions over the century but it hasnât happened yet.
For my sins I done a few electrical projects for renewable systems. Free energy once the capital cost has disbursed. These were around 500 kW. Quite a lot of power one might think - but a single motor on an oil refinery is 10000 kW
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Hi
Thanks for your response, great to have an expert in such things on the forum.
I am afraid my expertise in such things is very , very limited, but I love to learn from others.
I never realised that the output from schemes could be that much lower than promised.
The trouble with sustainable electrical energy generation is that wind turbines produce energy all the time that the wind is blowing, solar panels produce electricity whenever the sun is shining, and with tidal, electricity is produced at some point on the tidal clock but never constant, these things might not happen when the demand is at the highest. Generating electrical energy on a grand scale i.e. for the national grid, has to be sourced or sunk, it cannot be stored for later, and I suspect that a lot more electricity is wasted from sustainable sources than is actually used. So calculate all the electricity that was generated when it wasnât required - people at work, people asleep, times when heat and light are not needed, but the wind was blowing and the sun was shining - that power will be sunk and wasted.
As we have discussed, coal and gas powered stations take a long time to crank up to full output, and to have them producing electricity 24/7 so they can deal with demand would be wasteful in fuel, so they are turned on and off as demand requires. But consider a nuclear power station that uses no fuel other than some radioactive rods that last for many years - thatâs why the waste products from nuclear reactors continue to be radioactive for hundreds of years, itâs also the reason why they produce heat for nothing. So it could be on full power and the excess electricity could be sunk until itâs needed, and you arenât wasting coal, gas, or any other combustible material.
Swim mentions that a nuclear power station takes up to two football pitches, but how much land do 150 land turbines take up? And how much land to acres of solar panels take up? Considerably more I would thinkâŠ
This was the Gravity Battery that I mentioned earlier. A possible way of storing energy until itâs needed. Still a long way off of being useful, and adds to the cost of supposedly âFreeâ electricity.
An excellent and truly workable solution to some of our problems.
Of course, we already have an early example of water storage in Wales. Back in 1984 (I think it was) I attended a âfield tripâ to Machynlleth where they had a small water storage system for its own use.
Of course, there are not so many suitable mountainous areas in this country, and the construction of âgravity batteryâ buildings like the one in the video would be relatively expensive. On the other hand, we have many deep mine shafts and and can see their utilisation for energy storage being a valid solution for the future.
Any such energy storage systems would allow us to benefit from such natural sources as the Severn Bore and other tidal movements elsewhere.
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@Old Grey Fox, That Gravity battery you showed looked to be a danger
to aircraft Foxey !
Why donât they put them over old coal mine shafts ??
BTW, Did you see the article on the idea of drilling down about 20 Kms
into the earths crust to use the heat from the volcanic stuff down there ??
They say this will last us âforeverâ ??
Donkeyman! 
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Not as fast as I once could, unfortunately. Iâm afraid that my fingers donât always hit the right keys any more, certainly when I try to go too quickly.
Or perhaps itâs my brain failing?
Appreciated kind Sir! I am an electrical engineer in the field of power electronics so I should know something about powerâŠ:âŠ
An 11kV pole maybe?
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O M G Donks. Some people are already shit scared of fracking. Just wait until you tell them someone is drilling down that far and we might be having volcanoes in our back gardens.
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@Percy_Vere ,. 
, I donât think they will drill down as far as the red stuff
Percy, it said the rocks , at a certain depth reach a temperature of
700 ro 800 degrees centigrade, so enough to create steam !
But as you say, someone will probably protest ??
Donkeyman!
Good idea Donkeyman, I think they are already suggesting that on a smaller scale for those heat pumps.
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Hi
One of the major problems we have is we do not own the nuclear power stations and distribution networks.
We have sold them off, just recently we have sold off a controlling stake in our gas distribution to an Australian Company.
Large amounts of our electricity generating and distribution are owned by EDF, which is owned by the French Government.
Both Labour and Tories are guilty in this respect.
The French Government are doing very nicely out of the deal.
We, the UK, kept the liability for dealing with the Nuclear Waste and decommissioning costs.
The French have been taking the profits and not investing in the infrastructure costs.
We only sold the Gas Distribution Network very recently.
The Government have now realised they have no control over electricity distribution and have announced that they are going to buy back part of it.
Gas and Electricity Distribution Companies paid out ÂŁ3.6 Billion last year in dividends, a very nice return for the French Government and other Foreign Owners.
This will be fun, negotiating a price to buy back what we have sold.
As Iâve said before, what a collection of useless prats we have in Westminster.
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