A meshed offshore transmission grid connecting offshore wind farms to land could provide significant financial, technical and environmental benefits to the European electricity market. Launched this January, the project ‘PROgress on Meshed HVDC Offshore Transmission Networks’ (PROMOTioN) aims to investigate these benefits during the next four years.
The goal is to develop and demonstrate three key technologies: diode rectifier offshore converters, multi-vendor HVDC (high-voltage direct current) grid protection system, and the full power testing of HVDC circuit breakers. Furthermore, a regulatory and financial framework will be developed for the coordinated planning, construction and operation of integrated offshore infrastructures, including an offshore grid deployment plan (roadmap) for the future offshore grid system in Europe. PROMOTioN is funded under the EU Horizon2020 research programme (H2020) from January 2016 until December 2019. The project consortium which is coordinated by DNV GL includes 34 partners from 11 countries - all major HVDC manufacturers, TSO’s linked to the North Sea, several wind turbine suppliers, offshore wind developers, academics, and consulting companies. A series of stakeholder workshops and events will be organised during the project phase to discuss the various technological and regulatory approaches.