The European North Seas Countries' Offshore Grid initiative — The way forward

In Europe, a large amount of offshore wind power is expected to be built. Today, there is about 3,5 GW of offshore wind power capacity installed, and potential has been identified to an increase to 150 GW on-and offshore wind power by 2030. About half of European offshore wind is expected to be built in the North Seas, about 60–80 GW by 2030. Some of the sites will be far from shore, requiring the use of long DC subsea cables to connect them with the onshore power systems. Additionally, Europe is aiming for increased integration of the power markets by expanding international power exchange capacity. There is a potential for these developments to merge by combining offshore wind power grid connection and interconnectors between European member states by the establishment of an offshore grid. The North Seas Countries' Offshore Grid initiative was formed as the responsible body to first investigate barriers and propose solutions to the 10 countries' ministers, who will then decide on the way forward. The paper describes issues investigated by the technical working group related to grid integration issues. The methodology, assumptions concerning available technology and some first results are presented.