Rapid development of wind and solar power as well as the increasing power demand due to electrification are central elements in the EU Commission’s scenarios for a climate-neutral Europe in 2050. The wind power capacity in the scenarios reaches up to 750 GW for onshore wind and 450 GW for offshore wind, corresponding to yearly net expansions of about 20 GW onshore and 15 GW offshore wind in the period from 2020 to 2050. This, therefore, sets stringent requirements for planning and deployment of wind power capacity, infrastructure, and integration of wind in the overall energy system.

The North Sea Wind Power Hub consortium (NSWPH) is working on new approaches to offshore wind connection and integration, which can support an efficient deployment of wind power. The main component in NSPWHs work is the Hub-and-spoke configuration, which combines grid connection of offshore wind power and market integration, thereby enabling increased socio-economic welfare, compared to a traditional radial approach to connection offshore wind power.

Energynautics and the Danish company EA Energy Analyses have been commissioned by the NSWPH consortium to provide a firm analysis of efficient integration of offshore wind (including a possible hydrogen infrastructure) which can provide input to specific design considerations for the first offshore wind power hub and the market regulation needed to enable its potential.

Besides the overall project management, Energynautics is responsible for analysing the security of supply by determining generation adequacy and adequacy of primary reserves upon hub failure, determining the net transfer capacities (NTCs) as well as analysing the underlying cost assumptions of the required infrastructure (hydrogen, transmission, wind power plants, etc.).