North Sea Energy’s Post

Big moves in energy infrastructure across Europe! 🌍 The EU just announced a major game-changer with 166 cross-border projects focusing on electricity, gas, and hydrogen. This marks a pivotal step towards carbon-neutral goals. 🌱🔌 By integrating Projects of Common Interest (PCI) and for the first time, Projects of Mutual Interest (PMI) with non-EU countries, we're seeing a broader reach and impact. More than half of these projects are dedicated to powering up our electricity grids—key to hitting the ambitious target of 111GW of offshore renewable energy by 2030. 💡🌬️ What's also exciting? The inclusion of hydrogen and CO2 networks. These aren't just buzzwords; they're the building blocks for a cleaner industrial future. 🚀 As we anticipate most of this infrastructure to go live between 2027 and 2030, we're gearing up for a radical transformation in how we power our lives. So, for fellow enthusiasts and professionals watching this space—let's talk! What are your thoughts on this development? Could this reshape our approach to energy? Drop a comment below or message me directly to continue the conversation. #EUenergy #Infrastructure #RenewableEnergy

📘Our latest report quantifies the potential scale of infrastructure required for ocean energy arrays in Europe over the coming decades, on the premise it follows a similar deployment trajectory to the rapid expansion of wind power. It is available now on the ETIP Ocean Knowledge Hub at https://lnkd.in/eUnZG2zR   The report estimates that ocean energy may only need 1% of the port space needed for offshore wind in the early 2030s, but by the end of the decade this could grow to around 13%, or 240 ha. Continued growth in deployment of ocean energy, as seen in wind, would lead to considerably higher requirements by the 2040s, albeit with greater uncertainty. Planning and delivering strategic national investments in projects such as ports have long lead times. Port upgrades, being planned now or in future, to support more widespread deployment of offshore wind should consider implications of ocean energy deployments. There are huge infrastructure synergies between offshore wind and ocean energy, however with some divergent needs which can be complementary. A range of smaller or more constrained ports may be suitable for ocean energy that cannot support offshore wind projects. Planners can harness these opportunities by comprehensively integrating ocean energy into their infrastructure planning for ocean energy. In practice this means: ◾ Ensuring offshore wind ports can handle peak requirements in the 2030s and 2040s for offshore wind and ocean energy deployments combined. ◾ Ensuring specific offshore wind ports are sufficiently future-proofed so they can be reoriented towards ocean energy’s peak in the 2040s. ◾ Systematically exploring whether existing and/or new port space which is unsuitable for wind can be harnessed to facilitate ocean energy. ◾ Systematically examining existing smaller ports as potential suppliers for wave and/or tidal energy projects — and provide these ports with the necessary infrastructure to effectively take the strain off larger ports. Support is also required at a regional, national, and European level to effectively develop suitable infrastructure for offshore renewable energy.   #oceanEnergy #waveEnergy #tidalEnergy #renewableEnergy #infrastructure #ports #harbours #ETIPocean #HorizonEurope

Amprion GmbH Offshore has started working on an energy corridor project that would bring electricity produced by up to 8 GW of offshore wind farms in the North Sea directly to the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Named Windader West, the energy corridor involves building four offshore grid connection systems that would use the new-generation 2 GW offshore grid technology. Each of the four connections (NOR-15-1, NOR-17-1, NOR-19-1 and NOR-21-1) would have a transmission capacity of 2 GW and, together, the grid connections would transmit enough electricity to cover the energy needs of eight million households in North Rhine-Westphalia. The subsea cables that run from the wind farms in the North Sea would be bundled underground from the landfall point to their grid connection points in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region. Amprion GmbH plans for the first 2 GW of offshore wind capacity to flow to North Rhine-Westphalia via a Windader West line in 2032. The remaining three lines would go into operation in 2033, 2034 and 2036. Currently, the transmission system operator (TSO) is preparing the project for public consultation to provide comprehensive information to the public and stakeholders while the project is at an early stage of planning. The start of the spatial planning process for the four offshore connections will start in September with the application conferences of the Düsseldorf district government (for North Rhine-Westphalia) and the Weser-Ems regional development office (for Lower Saxony). The documents for the Amprion GmbH procedure will not be submitted until next year and public participation will be carried out by the authorities. #energy #offshorewind #germany #wind #carbon60 #renewableenergy #engineering

Great news for the Siemens Energy and BAM Nuttall JV will support SSEN Transmission in delivering onshore transmission infrastructure schemes. Works will include the delivery of overhead lines, underground cables, and substations required to develop the transmission network in north Scotland by 2030. The programme will help to meet the UK and Scottish Government’s 2030 renewable energy and climate change targets. The new transmission infrastructure will help to secure the country’s future energy independence by enabling the connection and transportation of affordable and homegrown low carbon power, reducing the country’s dependence on - and price exposure to - volatile global wholesale energy markets.

ISO New England is taking decisive steps towards advancing transmission planning, a crucial initiative that will facilitate the integration of clean energy into the region’s grid. Collaborating closely with the New England states, ISO New England will embark on long-term planning and procurement for transmission projects. These projects will support the expansion of clean energy like offshore wind and ensure the continued reliability of the grid. The ISO will submit the proposed changes to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for approval in April or May of 2024. Transmission planning is hard. It involves systematically assessing current and future electricity transmission needs by evaluating existing infrastructure, forecasting future electricity demand, identifying new generation and retirements, and assessing renewable energy potential. Since 2014, North America has built just 7 gigawatts of large-scale multi-state transmission, compared with 44GW in Europe and a staggering 260GW in China. As a result, the U.S. power grid is struggling to integrate hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of new wind, solar and battery power. New England’s process hopes to change this. #energytransition #transmission #isonewengland #ferc #pjm #miso #offshorewindenergy #transmissionplanning

Grid infrastructure developments! A scalable transition to renewable energy requires urgent upgrades to grids, not only to physical infrastructure but also to the way grids are planned and managed. Policy makers and investors need to come together to tackle what is necessary in areas such as investment, regulation and planning to get to the estimated $435bn investment needed to meet targets for European offshore wind grids. The ENTSO-E’s TYNDP report is out and hopefully is a blueprint for the investment and strategy needed in Europe: “The Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP) is ENTSO-E’s network planning tool or, in other words, the European electricity infrastructure development plan. Mandated by Regulation (EU) 2022/869, it provides a pan-European vision of the future power system and investigates how power links and storage can be used to make the energy transition happen in a cost-effective and secure way.” Read more here 👇👇👇 https://lnkd.in/gEcaQKEX.

Germany wants to quadruple the amount of power generated through offshore wind farms by 2030. But industry figures have cast doubt on this goal, partly due to inadequate seaport infrastructure. Currently, around 30% of German electricity is still generated by burning coal and gas. Wind turbines, meanwhile, generate almost half of the country's power. The government aims to shift to fully climate-neutral electricity production primarily by establishing large wind farms far out in the North and Baltic Sea. To reach this goal, Germany will have to quadruple the amount of power generated by wind turbines in just six years. Wind industry representatives, however, have warned that this could be difficult. According to the German Wind Energy Association, only 27 new wind turbines were connected to the power grid in 2023. And several trade associations warned in a joint statement that "In order to achieve the statutory expansion targets, the expansion [of wind energy] must increase drastically by 2030." In a recent letter, Germany's Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency warned that establishing certain North Sea grid connections could be delayed by up to two years due to converter construction bottlenecks.

Powered by wind, this $10B transmission line will carry more energy than the Hoover Dam. Are more lines really the answer though? 🫥🇺🇸 Im not a fan of the grid, never been, never will be (from the looks of it). But if this can help get more renewable energy to places in needs, fine for now I guess. Gold folks in Torrance and Lincoln counties must be thrilled for the opportunity to provide AZ with energy. Good on them 😕 The western US transmission system is not optimally planned under a regional transmission organization and instead regulated by each state's regulatory agency. As a result, instead of planning lines that connect all the states and have benefits across the system each state plans its own mini-system that by definition is suboptimal. Just for some slightly more accurate terminology, the line will transmit more power (energy per second) than the Hoover Dam can generate. 3500 MW for the SunZia Energy transmission line vs. 2080 MW capacity of the Hoover Dam. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. https://lnkd.in/dq52WMjG #nilssoderstrom #energytech #renewableenergy #energygrid #windenergy

UK Plans Wind Energy Expansion with New Government-Owned Energy Company: The U.K. government "will substantially increase offshore wind investment in the next five years," writes long-time Slashdot reader shilly — "in partnership with the Crown Estate (a public corporation that owns land including the coastal seabed on behalf of the monarch)." It will do this via its new state-owned energy generation [and investment] company, Great British Energy. The new approach includes ensuring grid connections are in place, and is in tandem with changes to the UK's planning regime that should reduce the ability of NIMBY groups to prevent infrastructure build-outs. Since [the Labour Party] came to power 20 days ago, the government has also approved three new solar farms and reversed a ban on onshore wind. Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a speech Thursday that "I don't just want to be in the race for clean energy; I want us to win the race for clean energy," according to an article by BNN Bloomberg: Thursday's announcement marks the first concrete step by the government to use Great British Energy in its quest for a zero-carbon electric grid by 2030. The collaboration with the Crown Estate, owners of the UK's seabed, means the public sector will get involved in projects earlier and may attract more private funding... Great British Energy is receiving £8.3 billion of taxpayer money to own and operate assets in collaboration with the private sector. The article points out that "By allowing borrowing, the government believes 20-30 gigawatts of new offshore wind seabed leases can be secured by 2030." As Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in his speech, "We've got the potential, we've got the ports, we've got the people, the skills." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

UK Plans Wind Energy Expansion with New Government-Owned Energy Company: The U.K. government "will substantially increase offshore wind investment in the next five years," writes long-time Slashdot reader shilly — "in partnership with the Crown Estate (a public corporation that owns land including the coastal seabed on behalf of the monarch)." It will do this via its new state-owned energy generation [and investment] company, Great British Energy. The new approach includes ensuring grid connections are in place, and is in tandem with changes to the UK's planning regime that should reduce the ability of NIMBY groups to prevent infrastructure build-outs. Since [the Labour Party] came to power 20 days ago, the government has also approved three new solar farms and reversed a ban on onshore wind. Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a speech Thursday that "I don't just want to be in the race for clean energy; I want us to win the race for clean energy," according to an article by BNN Bloomberg: Thursday's announcement marks the first concrete step by the government to use Great British Energy in its quest for a zero-carbon electric grid by 2030. The collaboration with the Crown Estate, owners of the UK's seabed, means the public sector will get involved in projects earlier and may attract more private funding... Great British Energy is receiving £8.3 billion of taxpayer money to own and operate assets in collaboration with the private sector. The article points out that "By allowing borrowing, the government believes 20-30 gigawatts of new offshore wind seabed leases can be secured by 2030." As Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in his speech, "We've got the potential, we've got the ports, we've got the people, the skills." Read more of this story at Slashdot.