While furthering the progress of reaching climate targets, rapid electrification and expansion offshore renewable expansion have created new challenges for the energy system as a whole. For renewable power developers this could translate into difficulties obtaining a grid connection, curtailment, or reduction of profits due to ‘cannibalisation’.1 In light of this, Common Futures was contracted by to explore the benefits of taking a system integration approach in developing new projects for BlueFloat Energy, a leading offshore wind developer, with a view on how to anticipate and mitigate these risks and grasp new opportunities.
Common Futures performed a detailed analysis of five North Sea countries - Belgium, Denmark, England, Germany and the Netherlands - to examine 1) what the challenges of growing offshore renewable capacities were to the energy system, 2) whether national regulation or energy system planning has taken into account the need for system integration thinking in order to overcome these challenges, and 3) how projects that are currently being developed have taken this into account. Building on this analysis, Common Futures categorised the challenges into a general framework, and devised solutions, specifically applicable to an offshore wind developer, across different geographies. We discussed our findings during a workshop at BlueFloat Energy’s office in Madrid, in which we worked with the client to match our general findings with their project needs. This will provide input for a system integration strategy for the client.
1 Cannibalisation refers to the cannibalisation of the business case for developers of renewable electricity projects, as the average power price falls for solar and wind developers with more installed capacity.
Common Futures found an effective way to draw lessons from system integration in North Sea offshore wind developments, and to identify how we can apply the learnings for our business regions all over the world.
Fernando Sada
Sr. Director of Grid Connection and Electrical Works at BlueFloat Energy
