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

Although the benefits of the emerging meshing opportunities found in this study may be
marginal for the region, there may be more significant benefits for the involved countries.
There may be added value for TSOs to investigate these opportunities, in close
collaboration with relevant NRAs and Government authorities. It should be noted in this
respect that this study optimised investments for the region; in other words, actions on
specific projects may have implications for neighbouring countries as a result of discrete
decisions taken by its regional neighbours.
This study emphasises the importance of studying scenarios developed against common
foundations to avoid distortions created by differences within the scenario, rather than
genuine market need. Although the radial and meshed approaches produced similar levels
of interconnection, with similar associated production cost savings, there were significant
differences in how they were achieved (e.g. Great Britain-Norway link in the radial design
is replaced by Norway-Germany and flows through Continental Europe in the meshed)
which need to be further investigated.
6.1.4 The benefits of meshing
It should be expected that there are quantifiable costs and benefits associated with
adopting a meshed approach to grid design, and these have been assessed as part of this
study. However, there are other less quantifiable implications which include the added
complexity associated with designing and building a meshed grid, increased technology
risk, challenges of operating an integrated DC grid and the need for significant regulatory
adaptation. These may be offset by increased operational flexibility provided by the
meshed network with greater resilience for individual offshore wind developments. In
addition reduced environmental impact should be expected with the potential for larger
cables and fewer landing points.
6.1.5 Sensitivity with increased amount of offshore RES
The RES+ sensitivity analysis was used to test whether the benefits of meshing would
increase if the volume of offshore RES were to increase significantly. The increased
volumes of offshore RES included in the RES+ sensitivity reflect the most ambitious
offshore RES numbers available to each of the TSOs. As such, they may not be consistent
with formal and/or published Government predictions.
Although the RES+ analysis did not go through the same rigour as the reference scenario
(only half way round the circle), the increased volumes of wind do create a more complex
offshore network in the North Sea, with simpler meshed networks emerging in the Irish
Sea and the English Channel and between Great Britain, Norway and Germany as well.
Indicative cost comparisons suggest that meshing results in higher interconnector costs
but lower national reinforcements. Overall costs of the offshore grid in the meshed
design are approximately 7 per cent lower than the radial design. The benefit in terms of
production cost reduction has not been assessed for this sensitivity (half way around the
circle).
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