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

‘Smart Dimensioning’
Previous work within ENTSO-E has pointed at the potential for increased cost efficiency by
a smarter dimensioning of the connection to shore capacities. The socio-economic
benefits from some 10-15% capacity reduction would – at the expense of some
curtailment during a relatively limited number of hours – result in important overall cost
reductions. The regional benefit would have to be investigated (loss of cheap production
vs. saving of investment cost). This sensitivity analysis would require some agreement
with ENTSO-E on how work on this substantial exercise would draw on the limited
resources available for the TYNDP2014 work.
Other sensitivity analyses were considered (like extensive underground cabling in the
onshore tracks of new offshore connections), but are currently not proposed with a high
priority for further work.
Benefits and barriers to meshing
The future offshore grid will gradually be developed through specific individual grid
reinforcement projects with a positive business case. With the findings of the NSCOGI
Offshore Grid Study and the insights obtained on Market and Regulatory Issues, further
work could be carried out in order to identify the benefits and barriers for integration of
offshore wind and trading across a virtual grid facility combining the two. The purpose of
such work is to identify options for common future regulatory approaches for such joint
cross border assets. Issues to be considered will include anticipatory investment,
allocation of costs and benefits and the impact of national renewables support schemes
on trade and investment. Analysis of this topic will not be possible without sufficient
resources from stakeholders involved. Resources for assistance by external consultancy
will be required.
6.1.7 Recommendation for Future collaboration
During the last couple of years the European institutional electricity landscape has
changed considerably. National approaches, prevailing less than a decade ago, have been
replaced by approaches under which the European dimension is becoming more obvious.
The challenges for the future coordinated European electricity system are enormous. In
the next few years internal procedures and specific ways of operational cooperation
between the Commission, the Government authorities, TSOs, regulating Agencies and
industry will further be developed.
In this respect the constructive cooperation within NSCOGI has proved its added value. In
the absence of further developed settled institutional behaviour including also the
governments beside the settled cooperation between ENTSO-E, ACER and the EC, NSCOGI
has provided a platform for analysis, exchange of views and information; within the group
and, at appropriate moments, also with industry. The existence of such a platform may
therefore help the development of further analysis, planning and regulatory
considerations before these will be considered in policy discussions in more formalised
settings.
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