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

The costs and the benefits for the radial and mesh network designs are summarised in the
Table 5-3 below. The differences are presented with reference to the radial case.
The capital costs account for the majority of the total costs with the meshed capital costs
being 5% lower than the radial capital costs. The variable operating and maintenance costs
(VOM) show a similar result with Meshed VOM costs being 4% lower than the Radial VOM
costs. Together, the total costs differ by 5%.
The Production cost savings for both the Radial and Meshed scenarios are almost the
same, differing by just under 0.5%. Consequently, the analysis of the costs and the
benefits of the proposed network designs will be dictated by the differences in the total
costs of the two network designs and not by the differences in the production cost
savings.
Table 5-3 Summary of Costs (excluding OWP connection costs) and Benefits for Radial and Meshed Designs
A B
Annualised
Investment
Cost excluding
the radial
OWPP
connection
costs
Annual
VOM
Costs
C
= A+B
Total Costs
D
Production
Cost Savings
E
= D-C
Net benefits
F
= E/C
Net benefit
related to
total costs
M€ p.a. M€ p.a. M€ p.a. M€ p.a. M€ p.a. [%]
Radial 1,152 336 1,488 1,449 -39
-2,6
Meshed 1,096 322 1,418 1,456 38
Difference
Radial vs
Meshed
-56 -14 -70 7 77
Based on the scenario considered and the assumptions made, the meshed network design
has an annual net benefit of 38 M€ compared to the radial network design that has an
annual net loss of 39 M€, representing 77 M€ per annum difference between them. These
net benefit or net loss values individually represent approximately 2.6% of the total costs
and as such may not necessarily be seen as significant enough to distinguish the results
from a net break-even result for either design.
The difference between the two alternatives is relatively small and on a purely comparative
basis - using the assumptions, data, methodologies and tools available - the meshed
network design would be ranked ahead of the radial network design.
+2,7
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