BWO online discussion: Offshore linkage: Yes! — but how?
Opportunities and challenges of a European offshore network
“In the program of the German EU Council Presidency, offshore wind energy was named as the mainstay of green recovery and the energy transition. There is no longer any doubt about that, even internationally, ”said BWO managing director, Stefan Thimm, during the BWO online discussion with the transmission network operators TenneT, Amprion and 50Hertz on Tuesday afternoon. “According to the EU Commission, up to 450 GW of offshore wind energy must be installed in Europe in order to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050. But it is also clear that we can only achieve these goals through international cooperation - both in the expansion of the grid and in the expansion of offshore wind energy. "
The guests Tim Meyerjürgens (COO TenneT), Peter Barth (Managing Director Amprion Offshore GmbH) and Dr. Henrich Quick (Head of Projects Offshore 50Hertz) agreed on this point. Together they discussed the opportunities and challenges that the development of a European offshore grid brings with it. “Offshore is a completely different world than onshore, we have all had this experience in the last 15 years. Technically it's challenging, but from my point of view it is feasible. What we need is the political will, ”explained Tim Meyerjürgens. “The challenges of the energy transition cannot be solved on a purely national basis. We need an integrated and cross-border system development. We have to think bigger about spatial planning and clarify usage conflicts at European level in order to be able to fully exploit the EU's great offshore potential. There is already very little space available for cable corridors and we have to use them as efficiently as possible. "
It was only in October that the Kriegers Flak Combined Grid Solution from 50Hertz and Energinet.dk, the first hybrid interconnector that connects several offshore wind farms as well as two countries - namely Denmark and Germany - went online. "In projects like this, it is important that not only the technology works, but that the regulatory framework is also right," emphasized Dr. Henrich Quick. “The long planning and implementation horizons of our projects can lead to the regulatory framework changing during project development and implementation. We must work together to ensure that the implementation of economically sensible projects is not unnecessarily difficult in this way. "
“The European networking of offshore wind farms enables us to distribute the offshore wind energy generated in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea more evenly to the neighboring countries and thus promote the European idea in the context of energy exchange. Germany could play a role as a locomotive ”, explained Peter Barth - also with reference to the German chairmanship of the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC). “Due to the long planning horizons alone, we cannot wait for the requirements to be agreed forever. We have to start today. In order to develop a good European solution, it is important to approach the EU with concrete initiatives. There is no blueprint for what the international offshore network should ultimately look like. But we now have to take a pioneering role and not only develop projects, but also implement them. Only in this way can something move. "
In addition - here too, all participants in the discussion agreed - it would be important to also think about issues such as the generation of green hydrogen from offshore electricity. According to Dr. Henrich Quick “largely a look into the crystal ball”, but the full potential of offshore wind energy could only be exploited if new ways of using energy were taken into account at the same time.
Before the discussion, the three representatives of the transmission system operators presented their respective approaches to implementing a European offshore network. Further information can be found at: