Better co-ordination in the development of transmission links to offshore wind farms would help to reduce the cost of energy generated offshore, says the UK’s government.
UK energy regulator Ofgem and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have published a report indicating that co-ordination between transmission link developers and the authorities could reduce the cost of offshore connections by up to £3.5 billion.
A co-ordinated approach would therefore help the government to meet its target of reducing the cost of offshore wind energy to £100/MWh by 2020.
It could also pave the way for the development of a trans-European offshore transmission network that links up offshore wind farms around Europe, says the government, which has proposed a package of measures to achieve greater co-ordination.
The UK is set to build up to 18 GW of offshore wind energy by 2020 and wind farms are set to get progressively larger and located further offshore. The government’s report shows that interlinking wind farms with shared connections is more cost-effective than developing individual transmission links for each wind farm.
Coordination measures could also help to reduce the timescales of project development, says renewable energy association RenewableUK. “Early investment in planning, developing, permitting and constructing offshore transmission will help to deliver networks in the most cost effective manner,” said Guy Nicholson of RenewableUK. “As well as connecting the 18GW of offshore wind generation RenewableUK expects to be operating by 2020, the offshore transmission regime can help reduce timescales and costs for both onshore reinforcements and interconnection with the rest of Europe.”
National Grid also welcomed the report. “We have always supported an integrated and linked approach to connecting the potential of offshore wind, and agree that this is absolutely the right approach. Individual connections for each potential site would take longer and cost more,” said Executive Director Nick Winser.
“This is also a positive step forward for the evolution of an offshore ‘supergrid’. Greater co-ordination will give us more flexibility to connect to our European neighbours and share the potential of renewable generation, bringing further benefits to the UK and the north seas region.
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