UK-based National Grid power system operator ESO has unveiled a £54bn plan to upgrade the country's electricity network to cope with the rapid expansion of offshore wind. The government plans to increase installed offshore wind capacity from the current 10GW to 50GW by 2030. The new, upgraded network is expected to accommodate an additional 23GW of capacity.

Grid upgrade to cooperate with wind power

The upgrade plan envisions a single, integrated approach to support power delivery from large-scale offshore wind. This is outlined in a report titled The Road to 2030, Including Overall Network Design HND.

National Grid ESO developed the HND in partnership with transmission owners, in consultation with Ofgem, the UK, Welsh and Scottish governments, as well as offshore developers and environmental stakeholders. It mainly consists of offshore wind projects that have received subsea leases through Crown Estate Scotland's ScotWind Leasing Round and Crown Estate's Offshore Wind Leasing Round IV.

National Grid ESO said the planned coordinated approach would save consumers £5.5bn in costs by 2030 compared with designs that would connect wind farms individually. State Grid ESO executive director Fintan Slye said the release of the overall network design is a critical step in providing certainty to offshore wind developers and mitigating the potential impacts of energy infrastructure on the environment and local communities. Keywords: engineering news, overseas news

It will also ensure the process provides value for money to consumers while meeting the government's ambitions to achieve up to 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The overall network design was developed as part of the ESO's role in the review of the offshore transmission network. OTNR was launched in July 2021 by the Ministry of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).Editor/XingWentao