Only a few offshore interconnectors currently exist between Northern European power systems, but many more are in a planning stage. The  Northern Seas offshore grid will connect these systems and the burgeoning offshore wind power in the region. However, usual challenges to transmission expansion are pivotal in the case of the offshore grid, such as multiple actors and regulations, risk and uncertainty. The offshore grid is a key element, both a driver and barrier to the enforcement of the European energy, climate and technology policies. Multiple research projects have addressed the offshore grid, but apply exclusively perfect-foresight optimization or qualitative frameworks. We use a myopic optimization approach to co-simulate the transmission and generation expansion of the Northern Seas offshore grid. For this we develop an open-source model using Pyomo (a python optimization modelling system). This allows us to study the impact of grid investment, technology availability

  and network design with the final aim of exploring the most suitable governance frameworks for the Northern Seas.

This seminar will cover:

•Current status of the offshore grid, together with its machallenges and research.

•Transmission and generation expansion with the Offshore Grid Exploratory Model • Optimization in Python with Pyomo and Scipy