The North Sea Offshore Grid, officially the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative (NSCOGI), was a collaboration between EU member-states and Norway to create an integrated offshore energy grid which links

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

s and other renewable energy sources across the northern seas of Europe. It is one of several proposed

European super grid The European super grid is a possible future super grid that would ultimately interconnect the various European countries and the regions around Europe's borders – including North Africa, Kazakhstan, and Turkey – with a high-voltage ...

schemes. Since 2016, the cooperation has been integrated into the new Political Declaration on energy cooperation between the North Seas Countries.

History

The North Sea Offshore Grid was proposed by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

in the Second Strategic Energy Review, published in November 2008. The initiative was identified as one of the six priority energy infrastructure actions of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. According to the European Commission, the North Sea Offshore Grid should become one of the building blocks of a future

. The political declaration of the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative was signed on 7 December 2009 at the European Union Energy Council. The declaration was signed by the EU members

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, Sweden, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, as well as Norway. The European Commission planned to publish a "Blueprint for a North Sea Grid" in 2010.Jan De Decker, Achim Woyte
4 offshore grid scenarios for the North and Baltic Sea
''Offshoregrid.eu'', July 2010. Retrieved: 24 August 2010.

Description

Electricity would be transmitted via

high-voltage direct current A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...

cables, allowing it to be sold and exchanged in all involved countries. It would also make it easier to optimise energy production, and make the system overall less susceptible to the climate; Norway's hydroelectric power plants could act as a "giant battery", storing the power produced and releasing it at peak times, or when wind strength is low. Several high-voltage direct current interconnectors such as the

North Sea Link The North Sea Link is a 1,400MW high-voltage direct current submarine power cable between Norway and the United Kingdom. At it is the longest subsea interconnector in the world. The cable became operational on 1 October 2021. Route The cable ...

between Norway and Britain (operational since 2021) have been seen as integral parts of the project.

Significance

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources for the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...

Eamon Ryan Eamon Michael Ryan (born 28 July 1963) is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport since June 2020 and Leader of the Green Party since May 2011. He ha ...

, said of the initiative:

Studies

A techno-economic study into the North Sea Offshore Grid, has been set up within the European Union's Intelligent Energy Europe programme, to consider the technical, economic, policy and regulatory aspects of the possible grid, focused on the North Sea and Baltic region.

is building a national modular offshore grid, connecting several wind farms for common transfer of power onto land at Zeebrugge, near the

Nemo Link Nemo Link is an HVDC submarine power cable between Richborough Energy Park in Kent, the United Kingdom and Zeebrugge, Belgium. The project is a joint venture between British National Grid and Belgian Elia. The electrical interconnector is the ...

to England.

Support

Friends of the Supergrid, a group of companies and organisations interested in promoting the concept and influencing the development of a super grid within Europe, has taken an interest in the North Sea Grid proposals. The organisation has proposed that Phase I of the supergrid should integrate the UK's North Sea renewables with interconnections to Germany and Norway.A European Supergrid
Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, published September 2011, accessed 3 October 2011

References

External links

www.benelux.int/nscogi
– Official website
Political declaration on the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative
(PDF)
Signing ceremony of the political declaration on the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative
(video) {{Energy in the United Kingdom, sources Electrical interconnectors in the North Sea Proposed energy projects Proposed electric power infrastructure in Europe Electric power transmission systems in Europe Electric power transmission systems in Germany Electric power infrastructure in Sweden Electric power infrastructure in Denmark Electric power infrastructure in France Electric power infrastructure in the Netherlands Renewable energy in Germany Renewable energy in the Netherlands Renewable energy in the United Kingdom Renewable energy in the Republic of Ireland Renewable energy in France Renewable energy in Denmark Renewable energy in Sweden