EU eyes more offshore renewables, meshed grid infrastructure in Atlantic Ocean

The European Union is considering tapping into more of its offshore renewable energy sources farther out in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, where it plans to study not only the technical potential of offshore wind and wave and tidal energy generation, but also the potential for building a meshed offshore grid.

A few days ago, the European Commission issued a tender for a study on the offshore energy potential in the continental European parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Republic of Ireland. The contract to be awarded under the tender, valued at EUR 250,000, will include exploring the potential for a coordinated approach in the area and a meshed offshore grid that would connect and power multiple countries.

This encompasses the EU and its Member States along the continental coast of the Atlantic Ocean: France, Portugal, Republic of Ireland and Spain.

Mapping the technical potential of offshore energy generation will take into account factors such as geographical and climatic conditions, and an assessment comparing the potential for offshore and floating wind, and ocean energy technologies such as wave and tidal.

For a potential meshed offshore grid in the continental European parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Republic of Ireland, the study will consider costs and benefits for the participating countries. The study will also provide an inventory of legal, regulatory, financial and coordination challenges relating to cross-border offshore grid projects that could be further looked into at a later stage.

Finally, the study will also focus on the challenges for the implementation of offshore renewables and meshed grid projects, including environmental impacts and public acceptance.

The tender is open until 9 February 2021 and is part of the EU’s aim to increase electricity generation from renewable sources and reach its decarbonisation goals.

“The generation of renewable energy in the continental European parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Republic of Ireland has a significant potential to supply the EU with renewable electricity and contribute to the EU decarbonisation goals and objectives”, the tender document states.

The Commission pointed out that the currently installed offshore wind capacity in Europe is predominantly located in the North Sea region, followed by the Baltic Sea, where the concept of a meshed offshore power grid was developed as a way to harness the offshore wind potential more cost-effectively and to better integrate the generated renewable electricity with the onshore grids.

This could be replicated in other areas too, including the continental European parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Republic of Ireland if it shows to be a feasible solution.

“The resulting necessity and potential for an offshore grid depends on the available generation potential and the ability to overcome technical, economic and regulatory challenges specific to this region. Depending on the actual location of the areas to be deployed, such a grid might require close coordination among participating countries and the related specific challenges need closer examination”, the European Commission states in the tender document.

The study on the offshore renewables and meshed grid potential will take into account renewable energy and decarbonisation targets in the EU and its Member States in this specific region, and the long-term objective to develop a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

As reported last month, the European Commission presented the EU Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy on 19 November, setting a target for 300 GW of offshore wind and 40 GW of ocean energy and other emerging technologies by 2050. The strategy, part of the EU Green Deal, also plans to have 60 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by the end of the next decade, along with 1 GW of ocean energy capacity.

The EU Commission then said it would encourage cross-border cooperation between the Member States on long-term planning and deployment, which will require integrating offshore renewable energy development objectives in the National Maritime Spatial Plans which coastal states are due to submit by March 2021.

In the strategy, it was also highlighted that a new framework would be proposed under the revised TEN-E Regulation for long-term offshore grid planning, involving regulators and the Member States in each sea basin.