German Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) will publish the Federal Spatial Offshore Grid Plan for the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Baltic Sea tomorrow.
It contains a planning timeline to 2023 for four grid connection measures with a capacity of about 1000 MW. The plan defines routes for submarine cable systems and locations of substations for connecting offshore wind farms to the grid.
In addition, the Spatial Offshore Grid Plan also includes illustrations for an interconnection. The interconnection will ensure that the electricity may be further transmitted even in case of failure of individual cables. The plan also sets out cable routes that would allow an international electricity exchange.
“The offshore network development plan sets out the chronological installation sequence of the network connections. This also contributes to predictability in the development of offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea,” said Monika Breuch-Moritz, President of BSH .
Defined areas allow for a total of approximately 605 km corridors for submarine cables and up to nine substations in the EEZ. The cables can transport a capacity of up to 4,500 MW of offshore wind power by 2030.
The strategic environmental assessment has shown that the implementation of the Spatial Offshore Grid Plan has no significant effects on the marine environment.
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Offshore WIND Staff, March 6, 2014; Image: BSH