The North Sea Wind Power Hub (NSWPH) consortium is working on a new approach for offshore wind connection, the so-called Hub-and-Spoke concept, where the generated power from several wind farms is gathered and distributed to countries around the North Sea. In the long term, one or more hubs shall form an energy island complex that will be the basis for a more sustainable European energy system.

Energynautics and the Danish company EA Energy Analyses have been commissioned by the NSWPH consortium to perform several studies on integration routes for offshore wind and potential hub configurations.

In April 2021, another study within this framework was kicked off, which focuses on wind power hubs as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Denmark and the Netherlands. In this MoU, Denmark and the Netherlands agree to carry out further research on joint energy hubs.

The main objective of this study is to investigate different potential setups of joint hubs in order to identify the value of interconnected Danish and Dutch hubs (with each other and with surrounding countries) compared to radially connected wind farms. One case study furthermore contains offshore hydrogen production at the Danish and Dutch sites. The calculations will be carried out using the energy system model Balmorel. The best options will be subject to a more detailed techno-economic analyses.