In response to TW’s comments on June 29, 2024.
As Australia and Singapore are far distant from each other:
Joint nuclear electricity programs would not enjoy the advantages of continental Europe where large French reactors can feed electricity into the German, Dutch and Belgian grids. Also Sing and Aus are nuclear novices, each having no nuc electricity experience.
Shawn C advised me along the lines - also Singapore has such a small land and sea area that no Singapore located reactor could accommodate the large fenced and low population open land Exclusion Zone required. Such a Zone is required to stop terrorist attack or state based sabotage. Also any major nuclear accident (eg. Fukushima scale) might render all of tiny Singapore uninhabitable.
Better that Aus relies on countries with long power reactor experience, like South Korea, Canada or France to build nuclear reactors
in Aus.
The long range undersea power cable
proposed by some business interests would be high risk politically and
technically.
Politically an Aus-Sing cable totally relies on Aus and Sing having near permanent good relations with the country/waters the cable crosses ie. Indonesia. Heard of Konfrontasi when Indonesian President Sukarno's hostility impacted Sing and drew in "British Commonwealth" eg. Aus forces? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia%E2%80%93Malaysia_confrontation Is it reasonable to expect Indonesia would have stable relations (or not demand too high a "cable rent" for crossing rights) with Aus and Sing - say for 60 to 100 years?
Also the cable could be cut
accidentally on purpose by the likes of Chinese Maritime Militia "trawlers".
Technically - long distance power
lines/cables have major downsides: "Long-distance power transmission can
lead to power loss, voltage drop, and environmental impacts.
...Another implication is voltage drop. As electricity travels along a transmission line, the voltage gradually decreases. This is due to the impedance of the line, which is a combination of its resistance and reactance." see https://www.tutorchase.com/answers/ib/physics/what-are-the-implications-of-long-distance-power-transmission
An alternate solution is Australia transforming its vast solar and windfarm and maybe geothermal potential into "Green" hydrogen and then shipping it, in liquid form, to Singapore. see https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/hydrogen
Also see "Singapore’s National Hydrogen
Strategy" https://www.iphe.net/_files/ugd/45185a_b3020dd0074d49d7ab2da61a9be0ff38.pdf
4 comments:
Hi Pete,
The Power Link/Sun Cable project to link Singapore to a solar farm near Darwin is currently.. nothing - no mention in the last 10 months.
Singapore has opened up its energy market to import greener energy from Malaysia and Indonesia - hoping this will spur the development of wind farms on the East coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Its also taken its first steps to a hydrogen economy, opening a hydrogen refuelling station (https://www.porttechnology.org/news/psa-develops-first-hydrogen-refuelling-station-in-port-of-singapore/) for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
As I mentioned to you in the past, the biggest current user of fuel cells in Singapore is the Singapore Navy, who happens to own four fuel-cell AIP submarines..
Singapore can't operate a nuclear plant for a simple reason - absolutely no space for the exclusion zone.
Enhanced Geothermal is also a future possibility:
"Some 15 years ago, when geothermal was last being pushed with
any sense of vigour in Australia, ‘Net Zero’ was more a target
for Socceroos defenders than the growing global ESG zeitgeist.
But now, as Australia, along with 140 other nations, moves
closer to an agreed 2050 deadline to meet net carbon neutral
targets, geothermal power production has again become a hot
topic for countries around the globe.
And, while up to 16 coal-fired power stations are scheduled to
close around Australia over the next 25 years, Puckridge
believes geothermal could well be “Australia’s dark horse in
the race to Net Zero”."
See:
https://stockhead.com.au/energy/the-heat-is-on-why-the-time-and-place-is-right-for-an-australian-geothermal-comeback/
==================================
"Whitebark’s strategy for developing hydrogen from a geothermal
energy source and supporting the ‘Hydrogen Highway’ through
inland Australia is in line with recent Federal Government
Budget announcements (including A$6.7 Billion in Hydrogen
Production incentives) promoting hydrogen production through
extensive funding support. The company believes that it is in a
unique advantage to capitalize on a growing market demand by
leveraging its existing assets with significant geothermal
potential."
See:
https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/whitebark-starts-hydrogen-production-studies-for-australian-geothermal-asset/
==================================
"This so-called “enhanced geothermal system” (EGS) facility
supercharges the geothermal production process by using
advanced drilling techniques to access deeper and harder-to-
reach resources. EGS also involves using high-pressure water to
break up the subterranean rocks so as to enable the extraction
of larger loads of heat much more quickly. As the water
circulates through these fractures, it absorbs heat from the
surrounding rocks before being brought back to the surface to
generate electricity. (Conventional geothermal plants tap into
hot springs and geysers much closer to the Earth’s surface.) And
deeper drilling means enhanced geothermal can be implemented
just about anywhere on the planet."
See:
https://emagazine.com/enhanced-geothermal-power-the-clean-green-way-of-the-future/
Thanks Shawn at 6/30/2024 4:04 PM
Your understanding of the dormant nature of the Power Link/Sun Cable is in accord with mine.
It makes much more sense that Malaysia and Indonesia, countries close to-bordering Singapore construct just short power links to Singapore as short links are far more technically efficient and less risky politically.
Only shipped hydrogen from Australia might be more efficient and less risky. I've noticed https://www.gea.gov.sg/SAGEA/ .
Yes, it makes sense "Singapore can't operate a nuclear plant for a simple reason - absolutely no space for the exclusion zone." An exclusion zone is necessary to reduce risk of terrorist attack or state-based sabotage and also a major nuclear accident, on the scale of Fukushima, might render all of Singapore uninhabitable.
Regards Pete
Thanks Anonymous at 7/01/2024 2:07 PM
Yes geothermal energy harnessed for domestic use like in the US and China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_energy#Geothermal_power may have a big future in Australia.
Also geothermal energy converted into Green Hydrogen might have good long range export by ship potential.
Regards Pete
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