ENTSO-E, the European Network of System Operators for Electricity, has published its first ever Offshore Network Development Plans (ONDPs), indicating the amount of offshore transmission system needed to deliver Europe’s offshore renewables targets, agreed by EU Member States in January 2023. ENTSO-E is legally required to publish the report and integrate offshore renewables in its long-term grid planning.
SuperNode CEO John Fitzgerald:
“Europe now has its inaugural plan for an offshore transmission system to deliver Europe’s offshore renewables targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050. I see the contours of a meshed offshore grid, but not yet something that can deliver on our shared vision for a system that is secure, sustainable and affordable, and that integrates the expected amount of renewable energy.”
ONDPs
The ONDPs are a new feature of ENTSO-E’s Ten Year Network Development Plans (TYNDPs). The TYNDPs analyse Europe’s energy system to determine how decarbonisation can be achieved in a cost effective and secure manner. After the revision of the Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E) (Regulation 2022/869), ENTSO-E was for the first time legally required to develop a plan for how to connect the targeted offshore renewable capacities of each Member State bordering a European sea basin, for the years 2030, 2040 and 2050. According to ENTSO-E, the 2050 figures for offshore wind, onshore wind and solar are up to 486GW, 859GW and 1,936GW, respectively. The ONDPs are split into 5 sea basins: The North Seas Offshore Grids (NSOG), The Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP), The Atlantic Offshore Grids (AOG), South and East Offshore Grids (SE offshore) and the South and West Offshore Grids (SW offshore). ENTSO-E will publish the TYNDP 2024 System Needs Study in Q2/Q3 2024 which will assess both the onshore and offshore systems.
SuperNode CEO John Fitzgerald:
“The ONDP seeks to create optimal offshore transmission systems. However, it omits more than 80% of Europe’s 2050 electricity generation and does not consider what happens to the offshore power once it lands at the beaches of Europe, integrates with the onshore grid and ultimately reaches electricity consumers. These pivotal elements must be included before the ONDPs can be considered an effective tool for planning Europe’s transition to energy independence and decarbonisation.”
Need for Holistic Pan-European Plan
The vision and primary goal is to decarbonise. The purpose of the offshore renewable energy initiative is to produce and deliver energy to onshore demand centres. The approach of developing isolated offshore plans without considering how they integrate with one another and the onshore system precludes optimisation. An optimal energy grid must be designed around offshore renewables and onshore energy production and demand to be considered a holistic plan.
The grid takes time to develop and has already emerged as a critical bottleneck to delivering Europe’s renewables targets due to grid congestion issues. The sooner we have a fuller appreciation of the challenge the sooner we can set out to address it. This iteration of the ONDPs delivers huge amounts of offshore renewables to shore without due consideration of:
- what onshore reinforcements would be needed to handle that energy as well as onshore energy production;
- how such a system can provide secure, sustainable and affordable energy; and
- identification of technology gaps where innovation will be needed.
CurrENT, the European association of innovative grid technology suppliers, will be hosting an event to propose an approach that can address these critical matters.
You can find each of the ONDP reports here.
