Some great news coverage recently signalling the benefits of offshore grids and offshore platforms & energy islands. Sir Kier Starmer has said it doesn’t matter where good ideas come from and that the Government plans to learn from best practices in Europe. These stories should give this new Government the confidence to halt National Grid’s cobbled-together, profit-mongering plans, and to pivot to a faster and cheaper solution for Great Britain involving Great British Energy. It is important to share these reports with influencers and we will be doing just this.
a) TenneT to build the next generation of offshore grid connection systems
TenneT awards onshore and offshore converter stations and HVDC technology contracts with a total capacity of 22 gigawatts, relating to projects in the German and Dutch North Sea. Innovative collaborations between TenneT and its suppliers will lead to a new global market standard for 2 GW HVDC systems, reaffirming TenneT’s position as a frontrunner in offshore grid development. The technology will consist of a new standardised platform and a new certified cable system with a higher transmission capacity.
b) Denmark to build offshore wind energy hub with an artificial island in the North Sea
Denmark has reached a landmark agreement on the construction of an energy hub in the North Sea. The energy hub will be an artificially constructed island 80 km from the shore of the peninsula Jutland. It will be owned by a public-private partnership.
c) Research suggests that an offshore grid could be ideal for the US East Coast
Offshore wind farms connected by an underwater power grid for transmission could revolutionize how the East Coast gets its electricity. Emerging research from the Department of Energy, the research company Brattle and other groups suggests that an offshore electric power grid could mitigate key challenges to building new transmission lines on land and reduce the costs of offshore wind power.