We all want a waterproof computer, a waterproof computer. We all want...

[Moi x]

From the front page of Caithness.org and the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/16/waveandtidalpower-renewableenergy)...


Off-grid data centre powered by tidal energy planned for Scotland

Morgan Stanley scheme sidesteps major barrier to renewables – the long wait for connection to the national grid

A plan to build a large, off-grid computer data centre in Scotland, powered directly by tidal energy, is set to be announced by the US investment bank Morgan Stanley.

The scheme sidesteps one of the biggest barriers to installing renewable energy — the long wait for connection to the national grid. It also addresses the need to find low-carbon ways of powering fast-expanding and power-hungry data centres which house large arrays of servers.

The data centre will be located in Scotland's Pentland Firth, which separates the Orkney Islands from the Scottish mainland, and has huge potential tidal energy resources. The data centre would require about 150 megawatt hours of power, equivalent to that needed to power a city the size of Bristol.Great news! Roll on the jobs!

Wait a minute, it's even better. The data centre will be located in Scotland's Pentland Firth. It will be in the Pentland Firth? Will it be on a boat or will it be underwater alongside the tidal turbines? Do you think the author knows what the Pentland Firth is? Does she know a firth is full of water? Or have Morgan Stanley spent the vast sums of money they've lost on a waterproof computer?

Even better, the data centre would require about 150 megawatt hours of power. Is that 150 Megawatt hours in total? It must consume energy at a rate of at least 150MW if it's enough to power Bristol. Then what? Do their waterproof computers run for one hour and then shut down for ever or do they run on fresh air? Will Google only work in Caithness when the tide flow is high? Are Morgan Stanley running away from their huge losses on Wall St. and setting up shop in Caithness? Will they have branches in Wick and Thurso, will they be open at lunchtime, and will they close after lunch on the first Monday of the month?

Do the Guardian editors know how little their writer Tricia Holly Davis evidently understands of what they've paid her to write? [disgust]

Her specialisms allegedly include environment, energy, education, travel, and she's a contributor on green investment (http://www.journalistdirectory.com/journalist/zziL/Tricia-Holly%20Davis). I could have written a more accurate article than her and I'm a mere sociologist. God help us all if she's the best the UK press can muster to cover something this important.

[Bill Fernie]

Yes I agree the article was a bit off beam in the particulars eg "In The Pentland Firth" and maybe on the power usage.

However I thought the article was worth highlighting as it does get the point of using the renewable energy nearest to the point of production rather than taking it away south with all the power losses on the lines. Industries with high energy requirements located in the north Caithness and Orkney would seemto be a quicker route to exploiting renewable enrgy from the Pentland Firth or indeed wind farms than awaiting the installation of the power lines or a grid cable under the sea given the many planning problems already seen by the Beauly Denny Consultation. Some companies already say that if it went at the rate of Beauly Denny Consultation is would take up to 30 years to take the line through all the planning committees the length of the UK. Bringing the industry to the area might make better sense in the short term. Iceland for example is exploiting its geo-thermal energy by using it in an aluminium industry. Of course that type of approach may also bring the spectre of industrialisation on a scale never before seen in the north. Data centres may be a more benign form of energy usage than an alluminium plant as it will sit basically within large buildings probably resembling big warehouses.

On the bank Morgan Stanley and banking problems I think we do not need to be concerned for this idea. Moprgan Stanley is not proposing to use its own money but as usual with banks to use other investors money if they can raise it. They would be acting as facilitators to finance the project and no doubt take the approriate fees but perhaps someone with knowldge of banking finance can give more details on how risk capital is raised.

The main thing from this skewed article is that people are thinking about how to exploit the resources in the north and this will hopefully mean jobs in the construction of it all and the running of plant and equipment in ther longer term.

Still for all we know they are looking at a huge underwater office run on tidal energy.......bring back Jules Verne.

The same topic has been dealt with by the BBC News and at least someone there has decided to use a known land location - The Castle Of Mey to give their readers a reference point - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7675510.stm

For any companies seriously interested in getting involved in a project in the Pentland Firth and wanting to get bid in then a visit to the Crown Estate web site will give you all the information and applications forms - see http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/newscontent/92_pentland_firth_tidal_energy_project.htm
The announcment on 29th September 2008 that options to lease parts of the Pentland Firth was in reality the equivalent of firing the starting gun just as they did when they first began to sell leases for oil exploration in the North Sea. Suddenly the Pentland Firth has a value and a biddng war is about to commence. Hopefully this has the potential to unlock new possibilities to bring the huge capital investment it will require. If it succeeds then it will be one of the biggest parts of Regeneration not just of Caithness but potentially for the whole of Scotland.

[gleeber]

I must admit to a certain optimism concerning tidal power. Once the initial lack of investigation by the Journalist is recognised the project itself stands on it's own as a new source of energy for the world. Dounreay was at the forefront of nuclear technology, no reason why Skarfskerry or Gills shouldn't be at the forefront of tidal power technology.
Alex Salmonds speech in Thurso last week should leave no one in doubt that caithness could become the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy.
I was surprised to read in the Gaurdian report that data centres use 3% of all the power manufactured in Britain rising by 2020 to 6%. That's an amazing amount of energy.
Bring it on and with a little help from my friends, when I'm 64 I will twist and shout with pocketfuls of money whilst the fool on the hill fixes a hole where the windmills were, yea yea yea!.

[Moi x]

Thanks for your input Bill.

Gleeber, the Pentland Firth might be the best source of renewable energy in this part of the world but the suggestion that it should be compared with Saudi Arabia is risible.

Moi x