SOUTHAMPTON MEDICAL SOCIETY
President: Dr Nigel Dickson FRCGP
A meeting of the Southampton Medical Society was held on the 5th October 2022.The President was in the chair. The meeting started with a two minutes silence in memory of Pharic Gillibrand.
The minutes of the last meeting were approved.
The President introduced the speaker Mr Alan Chivers who spoke to the title “Energy Renewables in 2022-30; Joined up Solutions”. He said that he had been enthusiastic about renewables for between 40 and 50 years. As there are so many renewable energy technologies he was going to concentrate on offshore wind development. Offshore wind, he said, is the only energy source that is cheap, has little environmental impact, is reliable, economic and quick to deploy. It attracts huge investment and has a global significance. The UK is leading the way. We have the best wind resources in NW Europe. People often ask why not use solar panels? The answer is that 180,000 panels would be needed to reach the output of one wind turbine. Offshore wind is now the cheapest form of renewable energy in the UK. People also worry about bird deaths. He said that birds do get killed but great care is taken to avoid windfarms on migration routes and the height of the latest turbines is above the flight path of most sea birds now.
The seabed is owned by the Crown Estates and plots are auctioned every 5 years with companies paying very large amounts for leases.
Wind turbines are connected by cables to an offshore substation and then to an onshore one for transmission. The turbines sense the wind direction and rotate accordingly. The rotor size and power rating have increased steadily and continue to do so. Two of the latest turbines now produce power equivalent to one of the older 30 megawatt gas electricity generating stations. These latest turbines are the height of the Shard skyscraper in London. The connecting cables come in 20 metre diameter rolls and are pulled through underground tunnels already prepared. The substations are getting very much larger too.
The monopol foundations need to be able to withstand the harsh conditions of the sea. They are driven 50 metres into the substrata by 500 ton hammers. Specially designed vessels are needed to transport the large pieces of equipment and components and ports have to be redesigned to accommodate the ships and the equipment. Floating hotels are provided for workers as the distances offshore are great and the hotels obviate travelling time to the site. The work is strictly controlled by Health and Safety, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority who collaborate on regulations for offshore work.
What can go wrong?
The safety of workers is regulated. In 2021, the last full year of figures, there were no fatalities. The turbines now have internal lifts to avoid long ladder climbs and their associated accidents. The hotels are connected by covered walkways. Most accidents occur during lifting operations. Working at height and with electricity account for others. The emergency services cannot help as fire ladders cannot reach the heights needed and the farms are too far offshore for emergency vessels to reach quickly. It is therefore incumbent on the owners to make up for this through training, drills and rehearsals etc.. There is zero tolerance for injuries in the offshore industry.As a comparison we need to remember the toll of injuries and deaths from carbon exploitation.
The President then thanked Alan for his excellent, and insightful, talk.