The UK Government has launched an Offshore Transmission Network Review in relation to proposals for an enduring regime and multi-purpose interconnectors.
The current offshore transmission regime takes a developer-led approach to designing and delivering offshore transmission, which has resulted in individual connections for each offshore wind farm in the UK.
This approach dates from when offshore wind was a nascent sector.
With rapidly increasing scale of deployment the cumulative impact of individual transmission links on the environment and local communities is no longer fit for purpose and could pose a major barrier to future deployment, the government said.
As a result the UK Government is consulting on proposals to develop a new enduring regime that takes a more strategic approach to offshore wind farm development.
The review states the deployment of both cross-border interconnection and offshore wind is important in reaching net zero emissions by 2050, both for the UK and for our North Sea neighbours.
“By combining the functions of offshore transmission and cross-border interconnection, MPIs have further potential benefits when compared to the counterfactual (conventional interconnection deployment).
“These potential benefits include reducing the number of landfall points of onshore grid connections, and therefore the environmental and local community impacts, reducing the capital and operational costs, alongside reducing the curtailment of wind with associated benefits of higher infrastructure utilisation rates.”
The government said it is not seeking to lock in a specific model at the moment, but will use industry feedback to inform further detailed assessment of individual options, before consulting again on the detail later in 2021.
Commenting on the review Antony Skinner, energy partner at law firm Ashurst, said: “A more coordinated approach to offshore transmission that can result in greater efficiency would clearly be a positive development.”