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Co-ordinated grid planning ‘could save EU €500 bn’


Europe Transmission & distribution The European Union ‘could save more than €500 bn by 2050’ by optimising energy infrastructure investments through well-co- ordinated planning among member states, says an alliance of European energy transition think tanks in a jointly produced analysis, reports news agency Clean Energy Wire. Agora Energiewende collaborated with Forum Energii (based in Poland), IDDRI (France), ECCO (Italy) and Romanian organisation Energy Policy Group to produce the report. Their analysis finds that an integrated scenario would require 505 GW less back-up


capacity, 15 % less onshore wind capacity, and 9 % less hydrogen electrolyser capacity than a more nationally focused, sectoral approach. Independent top-down planning is crucial to realise the savings, the researchers say. The report is based on energy system modelling by German think tanks Fraunhofer IEG, Fraunhofer ISI and consultancy d-fine, and considers every sector from a Europe-wide perspective. This approach reveals “cross- sectoral synergies and efficiencies often missed in the more fragmented methods that are commonly used in today’s infrastructure planning processes,” the think tanks said.


The new planning process proposed by the think tanks would prioritise transmission networks and the construction of electricity interconnectors between member states, Tagesspiefel Background reported. Hydrogen, natural gas and carbon dioxide networks, on the other hand, should be limited to “clearly defined industrial and regional clusters”. The European Commission planned to make proposals on European networks on 10 December. The “European Grids Package” of proposals is intended to help upgrade and expand existing grids to support rapid electrification, and speed up permitting.


Borkum Riffgrund 3 delivers first power Germany Wind power


Ørsted’s offshore wind farm, Borkum Riffgrund 3, has commenced power generation, supplying its first electricity to the German grid. The project, co-owned by Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure, has an installed capacity of 913 MW. Situated 72 km off the German North Sea coast, the wind farm occupies an area of approximately 75 sq km. Construction utilised components from across Europe: wind turbines and foundations from Denmark and Germany, cables from France and Germany, and installation vessels from Belgium and the Netherlands. The facility consists of 83 wind turbines,


each rated at 11 MW. Notably, Borkum Riffgrund 3 is said to be Ørsted’s first German offshore wind farm to be built without an offshore substation. The turbines are connected via a 66 kV link to the DolWin epsilon offshore converter platform, which is operated by TenneT, the German transmission system operator.


Borkum Riffgrund 3 is backed by multiple long-term corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs) that Ørsted has entered into with industrial and technology clients. Ørsted notes that these offtake agreements total 786 MW and have been signed with Amazon (350MW), BASF (186MW), Energie-


Handels-Gesellschaft/REWE Group (100MW), Covestro (100MW), and Google (50MW). Borkum Riffgrund 3 is expected to be fully commissioned in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026. Operation and maintenance activities for Ørsted’s German offshore wind farms are managed from Norden-Norddeich and Emden in East Frisia.


Earlier in 2025, Ørsted and Nuveen Infrastructure’s Gode Wind 3 offshore wind farm was fully commissioned. With the addition of these projects, the installed offshore wind capacity of Ørsted in Germany is projected to reach around 2.5 GW by early 2026.


Fusion project completes conceptual design Japan Nuclear power


Starlight Engine Ltd and Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd have completed the conceptual design for Japan’s privately-led FAST (Fusion by Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) power demonstration plant, reaching the project’s first major milestone one year after its launch in November 2024.


The partners have released a Conceptual Design Report (CDR) that sets out FAST’s objectives, required performance, system configuration, feasibility, costs and construction schedule. It is the first CDR in Japan prepared for a privately-led fusion power demonstration in line with the government’s “Fusion Energy Innovation Strategy.”


FAST is a low-aspect-ratio tokamak designed to generate and sustain deuterium–tritium burning plasma, targeting around 50 MW of fusion output using neutral beam injection heating in a device comparable to the JT 60SA


tokamak. The project aims to demonstrate an integrated fusion power system, combining energy conversion, tritium breeding and fuel cycle technologies, and remote maintenance at a scale relevant to commercial plants. SLE leads the project with KF and leading researchers from the University of Tokyo, Nagoya University and Osaka University, supported by major Japanese companies including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, J Power, JGC JAPAN, Hitachi, Fujikura, Furukawa Electric, Marubeni, Kajima, Kyocera, Mitsui & Co., Mitsui Fudosan and Mitsubishi Corporation.


The conceptual design draws on decades of Japanese experience in JT 60SA, ITER and DEMO studies, and incorporates technologies such as high-temperature superconducting magnets and liquid breeding blankets. According to the project team, completing this phase in just one year is unusually fast.


10 | November/December 2025 | www.modernpowersystems.com


FAST now moves into the engineering design phase, with an Engineering Design Report targeted for 2028 and construction planned after 2028. In parallel, the project is publishing site requirements, engaging potential host regions, advancing safety discussions with the Nuclear Regulation Authority, and preparing to secure funding for engineering design and R&D from 2026.


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