The IEA predicts that offshore wind capacity will reach 130-180 GW by 2040. Both the offshore wind and underlying offshore grid technologies are available.

This report is a collaboration of WindEurope and Hitachi Energy, it describes the current state of offshore infrastructure development across Europe, the opportunities, and challenges, as well as the enablers associated with delivering this offshore future. Short-to-medium-term actions which will drive the offshore industry growth and the creation of meshed offshore grids are identified.

The quantity will reach 130-180GW. Both offshore wind power and potential offshore wind power grid technologies are ready. Therefore, the European continent must urgently deploy these technologies, not only to pursue the speed and scale of deployment, but also to ensure coordinated and holistic implementation methods.

The European wind energy industry has a history of over 40 years, with the first wind farm put into operation on a small island in Greece in 1982. In 1991, nearly 10 years after the operation of Europe’s first onshore wind farm, Europe’s first offshore wind farm began operating in Denmark, with only 11 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of only 5MW.

At the same time, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission, a technology that allows large-scale long-distance power transmission, has also begun to expand its application scale since breakthrough innovation was achieved in 1954. In 1997, a new voltage source converter (VSC) high-voltage direct current transmission solution was introduced to the global market, which can transmit large amounts of electricity underground, underwater, or through overhead lines. This new technology can also be used in application scenarios such as urban power transmission, interconnecting cable connections, and connecting offshore wind farms. It is worth mentioning that this technology is also a component of hybrid AC-DC transmission systems.

Currently, the EU’s offshore wind power target is to have 300GW of offshore wind power operational by 2050, while the UK’s target is to have 50GW of offshore wind power operational by 2030. The offshore wind power industry is rapidly growing and is considered key to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. With the growth of offshore wind power installation, there is an urgent need to develop transmission methods for industries, businesses, and households to transmit offshore electricity to land.

Source: Windeurope