Photo by Zbynek Burival on Unsplash
In theory solar power is damn awesome. It is one of the lowest carbon forms of energy and is by far the cheapest. However, in practice, it is not perfect. Cloudy days and nights make solar unreliable and the mega batteries we use to combat this are far from environmentally harmonious. But thanks to a British startup solar may soon shrug off these disadvantages and become a global energy powerhouse. But how?
So, solar isn’t quite the environmentally brilliant solution you may think it is, for example the 100 MWh battery pack Tesla built for Australia’s solar power infrastructure will have a sizeable carbon footprint. The mining of the raw materials will have impacted ecosystems. Then there is the fact solar can damage local biodiversity by causing habitat loss if not planned correctly. This is compounded in low sunlight countries like the UK, which need large farms to generate the same power as others. Then badly planned mega solar farms can actually cause catastrophic weather pattern changes (read more in my article about how Sahara solar farms could collapse the Amazon rainforest).
Photo by Michael Förtsch on Unsplash
In short, whilst solar is still infinitely better than fossil fuels, it still has significant drawbacks.
But this is where XLinks comes in with their concept of a global energy grid.
XLinks wants to use high-efficiency undersea cables to link almost every countries’ solar infrastructure into a giant global energy grid. The idea is that, at night you can get power from the other side of the globe, or on a cloudy day you can get power from a desert. The cable system means that solar farms can be placed in a location with more sun, meaning that solar farms can be far smaller, negating their impact on ecosystems and reducing the carbon footprint from manufacturing. It also means that the need for these mega batteries is pretty much entirely taken away (some will still be used, but far smaller), further reducing solar’s carbon footprint.
Sounds great doesn’t it? So why haven’t we done this before? Well, that’s all down to efficiency. Old cabling was not as efficient as battery storage so it made sense to have solar and battery storage close to where it was consumed. That way, you can get the maximum kWh for your buck and keep solar farm size down.
Lithium Ion batteries aren’t as efficient as you think — Photo by Roberto Sorin on Unsplash
But, lithium-ion batteries aren’t that efficient at about 95%. So if you charge up a lithium-ion battery with 1kWh of energy you can only ever get 0.95 kWh back out of it. This is particularly true for batteries under constant load, old batteries and even ones in too hot or too cold conditions.
But, the NEMO HVDC cables, which are already in use in other applications, used by XLinks are 96% efficient, even over thousands of miles. Also, the modern transformers that transfer the high voltage electricity from these cables down to our standard grid voltage are getting close to 99% efficiency. This means that XLink’s global energy grid idea will be about as efficient as using a mega battery pack.
But don’t forget, these batteries have a limited life span before they need to be replaced, at great expense to the provider’s balance and the planet. In contrast, XLink’s cables will last for far longer and have a far more minimal impact on the Earth.
Power cables might be a better option — Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash
So XLink is using already proven technology to out-perform batteries and make solar a near-perfect power solution. What’s next?
Well, XLink is currently doing a ‘proof of concept’ job for the UK. They are laying a 3,800 km (2,361 mi) cable between Morocco (one of the sunniest countries in the world) and the UK (one of the most overcast countries in the world - I should know I live there). This will reliably deliver 3.6 GW of carbon-neutral power to the UK for 20 hours a day. Not only will this project show just how efficient and valuable their energy grid could be, but it may even act as a starting point for their international grid.
XLink are also in talks with the Indian government and plenty of others are watching their UK/Morocco project with keen eyes. Developing countries that are rich in sunshine, are especially taking note, as this technology will allow them to become market leaders in the exportation of energy, something that only oil-rich countries could do before. So it is definitely plausible that XLink could soon build an international solar energy grid and even enable poorer nations to become much more wealthy.
So, will this technology take off and provide us all with eco-friendly desert sun power 24/7? Well, right now, it certainly seems possible. We will have to wait and see how the UK/Morocco project goes and who decides to take them up on the global national grid offer. But at least, in theory, this technology could solve all of solar’s problems and transform it from an inconsistent eco power alternative to the main player in our transition to net-zero. As always, with such revolutionary climate technologies, let’s hope it isn’t too late.
