🐙 DataViz at @OctopusEnergy ⚡️ Obsessed with maps and energy ✨ Creator of @ViziCities 👨💻 Previously @WoodMackenzie & devrel @Mozilla
North Wales, United Kingdom
Joined April 2008
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It's here! All power assets are now live on my GB Renewables Map ⚡
That's right, it's not just wind farms any more. Now you can see live and historic data for gas power plants, nuclear, grid batteries, biomass, pumped hydro and even a bit of solar.
Wind farms are still the default for now, though you can enable as many or as few of the other fuel types and your selection will be remembered when you come back to the website.
It's already live so go play for yourself here:
renewables-map.robinhawkes.c…
There are numerous other updates as well:
⛔ Click the plug button to see a curtailment view, now including turn-up and a better visual representation of turn-down and turn-up actions
ℹ️ Tooltips include loads more detail about fuel type and balancing actions
☢️ Each fuel type can be toggled using the map buttons
🧠 Map state is remembered when you reload or revisit the website
✨ Lots of new and under construction power assets are now on the map
↕️ Summary of balancing actions at the top of the map
🚦 Grid boundaries and constraints shown using a traffic light system
And I'm only getting started!
This update was the original goal of creating the map a few years ago. Now it's here I can shift focus to all the other ideas I have for it…
Oh, and there's a new feedback button at the top. Please use it to let me know of any issues you find (there will be plenty) or suggestions to help improve this resource for everyone else.
I'd also like to thank you for all the support and encouragement as I build this free resource in my free time (yup, this isn't my job).
Honestly, it's been an incredible motivator and the discussions over the years have taught me a huge amount that has only made the map better for everyone.
Until the next update!
Can always rely on @CraigTaylorViz to create something visually stunning 😍
I need to up my game! 😅
Vessels in The English Channel, Civ-style 🚢
A Friday experiment with Houdini & Blender (for a change): real vessel traffic meets procedural towns, lighthouses, wind farms and a few birds.
Vessel data via @MarineTraffic
Recently I've been experimenting with how I visualise weather data…
✨ Massively upgraded wind particle system
⛈️ Visualising weather radar and rain data
🌀 Automated tracking of pressure and storm paths
And a lot more that isn't included in this video 😉
Can't wait to use this to add much-needed weather context to my energy visualisations.
Some unusual curtailment related to transmission constraints today, the majority of the volume being gas plants in England.
Looks like the boundary in the south east is constrained as well.
Robin Hawkes retweeted
I'm hiring 👀🐙⚡
This is a rare opportunity to join the Data Visualisation team at @OctopusEnergy, the largest (and most exciting) energy supplier in Britain.
It's a tiny team with a big remit and an outsized impact. You'll be working directly alongside me to help shape how the public understands the energy transition.
You'll be turning complex energy data into clear, compelling stories; working closely with senior leadership, marketing, policy, press and product teams.
You'll be exposed to a diverse range of energy-related topics in areas like supply, renewables, policy, infrastructure and low carbon technology… to name just a few.
On the visualisation side we mostly live in React and Next.js, Mapbox and WebGL, with Blender for 3D and animation. But we reach for whatever the job needs, so you'll be picking up new things regularly.
Can you pull a compelling narrative out of raw data and pick the right way to tell it?
If so, please consider applying (link in thread below).
Not sure that's correct. Voltaire left the Dogger Bank project a week ago or so, it's already at a dock in Cadiz, Spain.
Cadeler's Wind Apex will work alongside the project’s existing vessel contracted to transport and install 87 GE Vernova Haliade-X 14 MW turbines at Dogger Bank C, Jan De Nul’s Voltaire, which is currently working at the Dogger Bank B #offshorewind farm. buff.ly/etdU0RM
Robin Hawkes retweeted
I may have fallen down a particularly niche rabbit hole over the weekend and made a thing that generates 3D models of all the varieties of electricity tower in Britain.
It's way over the top, like generating all the individual struts and bolts kind of over the top 🤓⚡
I may have fallen down a particularly niche rabbit hole over the weekend and made a thing that generates 3D models of all the varieties of electricity tower in Britain.
It's way over the top, like generating all the individual struts and bolts kind of over the top 🤓⚡
I'm thinking at least @EngineerLondon will find this interesting, even if no one else will 😅
Massive credit due to Daniel Beardsmore and his specularly nerdy website and drawings of towers
telcontar.net/Power/pylons/
Robin Hawkes retweeted
A sneaky peak into something new I've been tinkering on in my free time 👀
I've been wanting a semi-realistic way of representing data about energy and wind farms for a while now. And now I finally have it!
It's a fully interactive WebGL scene in a Web browser, something you can move around in and control. Change the time of day, move the clouds, make the sea stormy, etc.
Maybe it should be a game? That could be fun…
More soon.
A sneaky peak into something new I've been tinkering on in my free time 👀
I've been wanting a semi-realistic way of representing data about energy and wind farms for a while now. And now I finally have it!
It's a fully interactive WebGL scene in a Web browser, something you can move around in and control. Change the time of day, move the clouds, make the sea stormy, etc.
Maybe it should be a game? That could be fun…
More soon.
Robin Hawkes retweeted
Wind constraints right now are effectively nil, the volume is from other assets. Mostly England and Peterhead in Scotland.
Robin Hawkes retweeted
Today's costs aren't the wind farms, in fact the wind farms have *paid* to be curtailed today
What's curious is Peterhead gas plant in Scotland is being fully constrained all day.
Here's how grid batteries and pumped hydro storage reacted to storms Austen and Boelo…
Playing back the previous week shows exactly where and when all the energy was 🔵 stored (imported) from the grid and when it was 🟣 discharged (exported) back.
The split view shows the distribution of imported energy compared to exported, highlighting how the storage assets tend to perform similar actions at the same time.
You can also see the absolutely massive storage capacity of pumped hydro assets like Dinorwig in North Wales, which stored a cumulative 37 GWh over the week.
As for batteries, Coalburn BESS on its own stored a cumulative 10 GWh over the week.
Each type of storage has it's own capabilities and purpose on the grid, which creates a complex and fascinating system when combined.
Over two weeks later and Ventus is on its way back to port after its adventure at Dogger Bank A.
Unsure yet why so long at a single turbine. Though some of the delay will be due to the storms.
It's especially curious how it gets used now that Voltaire is off the project. It's now the only jack-up vessel on site capable of installing a Haliade-X.
Looks like Dogger Bank A has another extended jack-up re-visit…
Ventus arrived at turbine P33 at DBA on October 11th and has remained next to the turbine until at least yesterday morning, some 10 days later.
The latest Sentinel-2 satellite imagery shows the jack-up vessel in the same position, with what appears to be at least one blade on the rack at the back. Imagery from October 14th also showed at least one blade on the back.
It's not clear if any blades on the turbine have been replaced, though it's possible given the blades on the rack as well as the "major component exchanges" stated as reasons for commissioning delays in the latest Transmission Licence Exemption.
As things stand this is the 7th revisit of a jack-up vessel to an already-installed turbine at DBA, the previous 6 being performed by Voltaire this year.
There was separately another extended jack-up revisit by Wind Lift 1 a few weeks ago but that didn't appear to be related to blade exchange operations. It's still unclear what happened in that case.
As an aside, you can also see turbine P34 without any blades in the bottom left of the image. It was originally installed with blades in May 2024, however the blades were then removed in August 2025 and have not been reinstalled.
It will be interesting to see how things progress, especially with the recent request for a third licence exemption to April 2027. And more pressingly, the CfD Long Stop Date for DBA's Phase 1 coming due at the end of next month.
Hopefully the technical defects are resolved soon and they can get commissioning back on track. That 1,200 MW of wind output at £55.01/MWh can't come soon enough.
