Progress updates – Offshore grid development
Updates from the “Offshore grid development” subproject (SP1)
September 2022
SP1.1 Offshore grid expansion optimisation
We are looking at the choices to be made regarding the gradual buildout of the offshore energy infrastructure to support the development of the overall optimal layout.
Activities 2022:
- Investigate energy hub concepts and their suitability compared to radial and hybrid grid concepts,
- Assess cost drivers and relevant cost parameters as input into the optimisation model. Collect and process public cost data for offshore grids,
- Specify and analyse one or more case studies, and
- Identify economically robust, stepwise grid optimisation strategies using the optimisation model from SP5.
We have started looking into energy hub concepts and lessons learnt for other countries, and will compare suitability to radial and hybrid concepts. We will investigate alternative scenarios for North Sea grids with or without hubs, and describe offshore hub concepts relevant for Norwegian conditions.
We will continue the work with defining the cost drivers and reviewing the cost drivers influence on optimal grid layout and continue working with the cost model.
Power production from offshore wind, timeline, location of power production and different offshore grid infrastructure shall be specified in the case study. Norway’s ambition is to allocate 30 GW by 2040. In this project, we are planning to look at 30 GW installed by 2040, with a stepwise buildout where we assume 16 GW installed by 2035. We assume that 20 GW will be located south of Stadt and 10 GW north of Stadt. The next step is to decide on the different offshore grid infrastructures we will include in the case study.
SP1.2 Energy market design
A massive introduction of offshore wind energy will affect the power prices in the surrounding price areas. A novel deployment of hybrid wind farms connected to multiple price areas requires a review of the current market design and regulatory developments.
A stronger interaction between power and hydrogen is expected, and infrastructure development needs to take existing and new infrastructure into account.
Wind farm profitability is dependent on market conditions and future European energy demand. Variability both on the supply and demand side is likely to become more pronounced.
The selected tool for the study is Multi-area power-market simulator (EMPS). There are several potentially relevant electricity markets to consider. However, SP1.2 will primarily focus on the spot market.
Different models and analyses would be needed to simulate future balancing prices.
Therefore no specific balancing-market models are planned to be used. Other incentives (e.g. RES support) or costs (e.g. sharing of grid costs) could still be included in the analysis.
SP1.3 Regulatory conditions
The overall vision for this working package is to develop a Norwegian regulatory model for offshore wind and offshore grid development.
The overall research question is to develop a regulatory framework that makes it possible to realise investments in offshore wind and offshore grid that are profitable from investors’ points of view.
The geographical focus is developing offshore wind in Norwegian Exclusive Economic Zone (NEEZ) outside the Norwegian territorial waters.
The work is structured around two levels to be addressed successively along the project lifetime:
Level 1: Legal definition of and jurisdiction over multipurpose interconnectors/hybrid cables to the EU-UK from Norway. This task is divided into several sub-research areas focusing on the relationships between EU-EEA (European Economic Area) and the UK jurisdiction over hybrid cables between Norway-UK-EU.
Level 2: Legal requirements in terms of market design alternatives and cost and revenue sharing models. The task aims at mapping market design alternatives and assessing the best options. Alternatives must reflect choices in terms of, notably: operatorship responsibilities, offshore bidding zones, allocation of revenues, bottleneck congestion rent, and transmission rights.
We will continue the work with defining the cost drivers and reviewing the cost drivers influence on optimal grid layout and continue working with the cost model.
Power production from offshore wind, timeline, location of power production and different offshore grid infrastructure shall be specified in the case study. Norway’s ambition is to allocate 30 GW by 2040. In this project, we are planning to look at 30 GW installed by 2040, with a stepwise buildout where we assume 16 GW installed by 2035. We assume that 20 GW will be located south of Stadt and 10 GW north of Stadt. The next step is to decide on the different offshore grid infrastructures we will include in the case study.
SP1.4 Interoperability
The work was, in accordance with our plan, started with a workshop in August 2022. The focus so far has therefore been on defining the detailed focus of the work, e.g. what aspects of the vast topic of interoperability should be addressed within Ocean Grid.
Through this work, we will:
- Align expertise of stakeholders, and identify the best practices for preventing and correcting interoperability issues,
- Apply these methodologies to a selected use case, and
- Establish interoperability-oriented specifications for manufacturers and as input for grid codes/operators. The activity will cover both the DC side and AC side, including power-electronics-dominated islanded AC systems and converters offering grid-forming features.
The focus of the project will be on aspects that are specific to the Norwegian context, and the developer and TSO points of view.
