A 4-year project investigating the benefits of a meshed offshore transmission grid has been launched recently under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research Program, and is currently the biggest energy project within the program.
A meshed offshore grid connecting offshore wind farms to land could provide significant financial, technical and environmental benefits to the European electricity market, DNV GL said.
The goal of the PROgress on Meshed HVDC Offshore Transmission Networks (PROMOTioN) project is to develop and demonstrate three key technologies: diode rectifier offshore converters, multi-vendor high-voltage direct current (HVDC) grid protection system, and the full power testing of HVDC circuit breakers.
Furthermore, a regulatory and financial framework will be developed for the coordinated planning, construction and operation of integrated offshore infrastructures, including an offshore grid deployment plan (roadmap) for the future offshore grid system in Europe.
PROMOTioN consortium, which is coordinated by DNV GL, includes 34 partners from 11 countries. A series of stakeholder workshops and events will be organised during the project phase to discuss the various technological and regulatory approaches.
Elisabeth Harstad , CEO DNV GL – Energy, said: “Combining new HVDC technologies within present systems is instrumental in bringing large scale renewables into the grid and to ensure a future-proof grid which is affordable, reliable and sustainable.”
Marie Donelly , Director Renewables, Research and Innovation, Energy Efficiency – DG ENER, said: “The Northern Seas offer unique opportunities for cooperation and to deliver cost-reduction to the offshore energy systems. We think that an offshore grid in the North Sea could become a flagship project for regional cooperation as foreseen by the Energy Union.”