New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
How to deliver offshore wind energy to consumers
10/5/2023
8 min read
Feature
The UK leads the way in building offshore wind farms but needs to build considerable new transmission infrastructure to connect remote farms with load centres and end curtailment. Andrew Mourant describes a new holistic network design (HND) to include high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology.
If the UK government is to realise its target for a 75% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030, then an almighty effort will be needed to improve the nation’s infrastructure – territory in which the UK’s record is patchy, often characterised by inertia and questionable choices.
One thing is for sure: given the wider geopolitical situation, no effort should be spared in the drive towards energy self-sufficiency. This has major implications for renewables but, above all, offshore wind, whose full potential is being squandered because of the grid’s inability to cope with the amount of power being generated.
The good news is that the problem – namely that the current model is no longer fit for purpose without risking avoidable impacts on consumers, the environment and communities – has been recognised.