Baltic Sea TSOs publish roadmap for offshore grid
Image: 50Hertz
Eight Baltic Sea TSOs have published a paper on increased cross-border cooperation in developing offshore wind and the associated transmission grid infrastructure.
The TSOs from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden, comprising the ‘Baltic Offshore Grid Initiative’ (BOGI), aim to generate more offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea and to make it available to the respective markets as efficiently as possible.
Currently, less than 5GW of offshore wind is installed in the Baltic Sea, while the potential for energy generation is estimated at around 93GW.
The expert paper is based on the Vilnius Declaration, which was signed by the governments of the Baltic Sea Region on 10 April 2024. The declaration called for a strengthening of regional cooperation among the TSOs.
Have you read?
European TSOs map Northern Seas offshore grid
Iberdrola’s Baltic Eagle wind farm secures planning approval
At that time, the Baltic Sea countries had set an offshore capacity of 26.7GW by 2030 as a target, and almost 45GW by 2040.
The paper states that the Baltic Sea, with its diverse wind profiles and the envisaged placement of offshore wind farms at greater distances to each other, presents a favourable environment for the development of offshore renewables and the related infrastructure.
Wake effects are expected to be low and long-distance (hybrid) interconnectors can level out local variations in wind power generation.
It comments that TSOs across the region are exploring innovative approaches that can reduce grid investment needs and optimise resource utilisation, such as cross-border radial connections and the co-location of offshore wind energy production with energy demand, such as onshore hydrogen production via electrolysis.
Moreover, with rising project costs and more dispersed project benefits across member states, the financing and cost sharing of offshore hybrid infrastructure projects in particular could be aided by regional planning and new funding mechanisms.
The Baltic Sea TSOs could also address supply chain challenges by collaborating with manufacturers and suppliers, by providing clear asset need forecasts, standardising technical requirements, and enabling early engagement to streamline processes.
With the expected increase in the number of offshore wind projects with the investments they will attract the Baltic Sea region also has the potential to generate jobs across the value chain.
The paper also notes that the security of critical undersea and offshore energy infrastructure is paramount. Strategies to enhance its resilience against hybrid threats as well as robust cooperation between TSOs, security authorities and private operators are necessary.
Looking to the next steps in 2025 and beyond, the paper states the Baltic Sea TSOs will continue to jointly engage in the development of offshore wind power projects, work closely with project developers, respond to the progress made on customer projects and derive key success factors to further advance the European energy transition via the offshore sector.
The eight TSOs of the Baltic Sea are 50Hertz (Germany), AST (Latvia), elering (Estonia), Energinet (Denmark), Fingrid (Finland), Litgrid (Lithuania), PSE (Poland) and Svenska Kraftnät (Sweden).
