Alpha 311

I'm in the habit of watching Bloomberg News first thing in the morning, its a great insight into our world of renewable energy and what is happening in markets around the world. This morning, E.ON Chief Executive Leo Birnbaum was interviewed regarding E.ON's results for the first half of the year. (EBIT €3.35B against Est. €3.32B). But what stood out was not only the level of investment E.ON is making, (€42B -up by more than double from when Leo took over 3 years ago) but also his comments on European energy prices and the restrictions relating to infrastructure. With regards to European energy prices, Leo said 'consumers that have the ability to invest in their own renewables (solar PV & batteries - we would obviously add our own turbines to that mix 😉 ) might come out with lower energy prices, whereas customer groups that can’t invest are in a tougher position. Are we expecting to see a significant hike in energy prices over winter and what are the drivers? Today's pricing already suggests double the current UK DA of £52/MWh for winter 2024 and what impact that will have on a country that is still in the grips of a significant cost of living crisis? When Guy Johnson asked about the backlog in connecting new energy generation to the grid, Leo said (we went back and made sure not to misquote him) ‘Markets like the UK and the Netherlands, where clearly the grid is maxed out, any large connection takes 7 to 8 or 9 years. So, if you don’t have a grid connection you are in a bad place. There are other markets where the situation is slightly better, for example in Germany, but we have to say that in more and more areas the clear restriction is the grid connection. If you want to erect a data centre around Frankfurt, I can tell you already... today... it is out of the question before the next decade that you even get a grid connection. Every possible grid connection that we have is already booked a decade in advance. The situation is similar in other regions.’ The takeaways from this interview, which unfortunately detracted from the both the stellar earnings and levels of investment, are: 1. that there are challenges ahead for consumers that are not generating their own energy. If it's bad for residential, then you know businesses are really going to feel it! 2. As we increase our use of #AI, and Google have just released a host of products full of it, the demand for data processing will require huge amounts of energy as more and more data centres are required. But if the demand outstrips both the connection and subsequent supply of electricity to these buildings, what is that going do to energy prices? #energy #renewables #energytransition

Being a start-up in the renewables space can be daunting. From funding and design to development and manufacturing, there are hurdles every step of the way.    Alpha 311's aim has always been to provide renewable energy at a local level, where possible, for a direct community benefit. We're making progress, and our turbines will come to market this year. But when you see an article in Bloomberg stating that by 2030, AI will consume as much power as India, it feels like the hurdles are getting bigger. According to the Arm Holdings CEO, the solution to the AI energy appetite is more efficient chips, which will reduce the level required by 15%. India currently consumes 1,844TWh of electricity per year. AI will require the same again. We need more than a 15% reduction! It's bad enough that social media use consumes a horrendous amount of energy and produces an eye-watering amount of CO2. In case you're wondering, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube users are responsible for approximately 105,000 tonnes of CO2 per day. We're now hurtling into the next tech revolution - AI - and with it comes nearly 2,000 TWh of electricity demand. We (and by that, we mean the planet) need to think long and hard about addressing these needs.    We must look at how we increase the yield of our existing infrastructure (including a mix of solar, wind and batteries) if we stand a chance of making a dent in our near-term requirements. Zoe Cloke, our head of technology, has more to say about this endless desire for more on her LinkedIn profile. Sources: https://lnkd.in/gaC47vFs https://lnkd.in/eT6qaJFx #AI #energycrisis #tiktok #carbon #windturbines

It's great to see and meet so many inspirational people and companies at FullyCharged.SHOW & Everything Electric Just caught Claire Miller onstage, showing again how brilliant she is at getting her message out to a mixed audience.

We talk a lot about energy that benefits the local community, but what exactly does that mean? Well, here's one example:

The question of what to do with old wind turbine blades is a problem that has troubled the industry for a long, long time. We've all seen pictures from the turbine graveyards, where the giant blades are put into landfill. It doesn't feel right, does it? From the very beginning, one of our guiding principles at Alpha 311 was that sustainability should be baked into everything we do. We will make our blades from a very strong, super-lightweight, carbon-fibre composite that can be recycled and reused when the turbine reaches the end of its life. Generating clean energy should not, and must not, end up damaging the environment further down the line. It's good to see other businesses and organisations making progress in finding a solution to the problem of unrecyclable blades. #windenergy #sustainability #windturbines #cleanenergy

We've been shouting about the benefits of local energy generation since we started Alpha 311. It's obvious, really: use energy where it's created, and it costs less. This is mainly because transmission costs are lower, and if it's renewable energy then that cost should fall even further. The UK electricity market reforms that have just been proposed aren't going to make much difference to the regular person. The suggested £45-per-year saving is bordering on a joke. That's about 12p a day. How is that supposed to make any serious difference to people struggling to pay their bills? Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eFFrvG8E The cost-of-energy crisis isn't going away. Something new has to happen. Ofgem has just announced that the number of households struggling with energy debt has risen by 50%, and the British Energy Secretary thinks that £45 a year is going to help...? No matter who's in Government, we need people who understand what the real world looks and feels like.

Here's footage of our wind turbine getting the wind tunnel treatment at University of Southampton. You may have seen this footage in the background of our recent appearance on The Weather Channel, but here's the full clip on its own. Wind tunnel testing is absolutely critical, and the data collected moves us ever closer to our objective of helping communities around the world. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ehRVXVww #windturbine #renewableenergy #testing

Did you see us on The Weather Channel? Alpha 311 was featured on a show called Pattrn, which focuses on the latest climate and sustainability news. It’s always fun to tell people about what we’re up to, but this was even more special than usual because we were able to share footage of the wind tunnel testing we had just completed. Every day we're moving a step closer to achieving the dream of providing a renewable energy source that truly benefits local communities. Here's a little clip from the interview. You can see the whole Weather Channel segment at this link: https://lnkd.in/ehRVXVww

There's an article in today's The Telegraph, which talks about Keir Starmer and The Labour Party's Green Prosperity Plan. This post isn't about that. It's about a paragraph in the article which reads: "Operators like SSE Renewables and RWE point out that onshore wind is weaker, the turbines are smaller and most of the best sites are taken. Onshore schemes also generate complaints from people living near them." We need to change the perception of onshore wind. If "onshore wind" means one big turbine, then maybe the best sites *are* taken. If, however, we think of "onshore wind" as smaller turbines deployed at scale across the entire road network, then no, the best sites aren't taken. The best sites are currently being wasted. The size of the Alpha 311 turbine means we can combine a lot of them in a relatively small area. For example, there are millions of lighting columns in the UK able to host one of our turbines, and when installed on one of them, we can harvest natural wind and airflow from passing traffic. What's more, by retrofitting our turbines along motorways, we avoid many of the complaints about spoiling the scenery aimed at traditional turbines. We can't continue to operate with the mindset that what once was true, must always be true. #windenergy #renewables #greenenergy

Almost 3 years to the day that BBC News did our first major interview, which aired over the Christmas break in 2020, CNN have published an update today. It is amazing to see how far we have come in such a short space of time and what a fantastic way to round off the year. It looks like 2024 is going to be busy. 🥂 Happy Holidays from the Alpha 311 team. https://lnkd.in/eN-exM4S