One giant turbine sweep and the Tesla can travel 220 miles
With the death knell ringing for the internal combustion engine, in 2035 apparently, governments and businesses will have to find innovative ways to charge vehicles once fossil fuels go the way of British Home Stores, Woolworth’s and Blockbuster.
We all witnessed the petrol and diesel shortage recently, which was caused by panic buying after BP had to close out 30 petrol stations due to driver shortages.
It’s not difficult to envisage a future where petrol queues become a queue for charging points at service stations, supermarkets and businesses. Home chargers will become the norm but with current EVs having a range of 100 to 400 miles, will the infrastructure of new points work?
At HSEQ-360, we’re not sure.
Though it’s laudable that the future of transport is seen as electric, perhaps the big consumers of diesel need to be tackled first – HGVs and trains. Britain’s rail network is only 42% electric, meaning 58% is diesel-powered and in our corner of the world, Norfolk, diesel trains are the norm.
There’s also the question of spiked demand for electricity when people have to charge their cars most days and nights. Consumers are worried about costs too, which is understandable given that petrol and diesel prices are around the £1.50 per litre mark.
How much will it really cost to charge batteries overnight or during the day? It may be measured at 5p per mile now, but what will that price really be in 2035 and beyond?
Now we’re not writing this to deliver an anti-EV, anti-green message.
Quite the opposite.
As a company firmly embedded in a renewable industry, we welcome it but do recognise that change will be a challenge.
It’s excellent then to read, last week, of new giant wind turbines. Turbines so big that a 360 degree bald sweep can produce enough electricity to move a Tesla for 220 miles.
Vestas, of Denmark, are leading the way with a prototype of a 15MW turbine that will power about 13,000 homes (and many Teslas).
To put that output in content, it’s worth remembering that in 2017, the maximum was 8MW.
There are huge risks and costs involved for companies like Vestas and Siemens Gamesa.
Firstly, manufacturing costs are huge as are transportation and installation costs.
This is due to the blade sizes, which are mind-boggling. The rotors have a diameter of 236m, which, to put in context, isn’t far behind London’s The Shard, at 310m height.
Because of their dimensions, they will need to be located strategically offshore, meaning generated power has many miles to cover to get back to shore and that could prove tricky, as some power does get lost in transit.
If the UK is to deliver net-zero electricity by 2035 it needs 40GW of wind power energy.
Who knows too that, by then, when we’re all dependent on electricity to move around in cars, that 40GW will even be enough?
Watch this space – as they say.
