North Sea region energy system towards 2050: integrated offshore grid and sector coupling drive offshore wind power installations
Matti Koivisto, Juan Gea‐Bermúdez, Polyneikis Kanellas, Kaushik Das, Poul Ejnar Sørensen
Abstract
Abstract. This paper analyses several energy system scenarios towards 2050 for the North Sea region. With a focus on offshore wind power, the impacts of meshed offshore grid and sector coupling are studied. First, a project-based scenario, where each offshore wind power plant is connected individually to the onshore power system, is compared to a meshed grid scenario. Both the amount of offshore wind power installed and the level of curtailment are assessed. Then, these results are compared to a scenario with sector coupling included. The results show that while the introduction of a meshed grid can increase the amount of offshore wind power installed towards 2050, sector coupling is expected to be a more important driver for increasing offshore wind power installations. In addition, sector coupling can significantly decrease the level of offshore wind curtailment.