The North Seas Countries' Offshore Grid Initiative - Initial ... - Benelux

Figure 0-6 Meshed Grid Design for 2030, Reference Scenario
Based on the NSCOGI 2011 forecasts of generation and demand in the Reference scenario,
the analysis carried out for this study showed that there may be slight a preference for
adopting a meshed approach to grid design by 2030.
The radial and meshed designs generate an annual saving in overall production costs
across the NSCOGI region of 1,449 M€ at annual costs of 1,488 M€ for the radial design,
and of 1,456M€ at annual costs of 1,418 M€ for the meshed design. Thus, the meshed
design provides economically the slightly better solution for the region on the basis of the
assumptions made. However, the significance of these differences has to be tested with
further analysis and other generation mix scenarios.
In addition, there are other less quantifiable implications of both approaches including
challenges and possible advantages of a meshed grid:
Challenges: the added complexity associated with designing and building a
meshed grid, increased technology and operational risk and the need for
regulatory clarification, which has already been started within NSCOGI WG2 .
Possible advantages: the increased operational flexibility provided by the meshed
network with greater resilience for individual Offshore wind power plant (OWPP). In
addition, reduced environmental impact should be expected with the potential for
larger cables and fewer landing points.
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