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

1.1.6 Grid designs – key principles
Grid designs – key principles
The illustrative grid designs are based on an assessment of:
possible generation and demand backgrounds assumed for 2030;
development and deployment of different types of generation (including those
applicable offshore);
transmission electricity technology which may be available for deployment over the
time period considered[5];
resilience and integrity of the transmission systems which is reflected in the different
transmission design topologies utilised in this document; and
holistic design requirements of transmission systems which is reflected in the
different transmission design strategies utilised in this document.
Grid design strategies
The illustrative electricity transmission system designs consider the possible development
of an offshore grid by utilising two different design strategies which enables a comparison
between the different approaches and associated technology assumptions, described in
[5], which was written to gather the assumptions for this study:
Radial
Point-to-point connection of offshore wind farms from offshore substation to a
suitable onshore substation and shore-to-shore interconnectors utilising anticipated
future transmission technology e.g. 2GW capacity converter stations and high capacity
offshore cables. Necessary onshore development is considered as well.
Meshed
A coordinated onshore, offshore and interconnected design approach using
anticipated technology (2GW cables etc), but also interconnecting offshore platforms,
offshore development zones and countries. Optimised for an overall economic and
efficient design. This means that the meshed design for the whole of the North Seas
region could include some or all of the solution types shown in Figure 1-3, as for
some offshore wind parks a fully meshed solution may not be economic.
Gradual development
For simulation of the meshed variant, a gradual transition from radial via local
coordination and internal coordination has been assumed.
Working Hypothesis
The study’s basic hypothesis is that a meshed grid provides a series of quantifiable and
non-quantifiable benefits against the radial design. This is to be tested utilising the
Reference scenario.
Page 10 of 142