Offshore


A bundle


iven its ambitious net-zero targets – coupled with recent ‘black swan’ events, such as the global pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine – it should come as no surprise that Europe has been redoubling efforts to reduce fossil fuel dependency by investing in clean renewable energy, as well as bringing supply chains closer to home for the longer term. Key to this is exploiting naturally available wind energy to generate electricity and – more specifically – increasing operational efficiency across the continent by fostering policy convergence, while promoting the use of so-called ‘energy islands’ offshore. Currently, Europe’s offshore wind farms are


G 16


of energy


Europe is laying the groundwork for interconnected hybrid offshore wind farms, which will not only transmit electricity directly to shore but also serve to connect and transfer electricity between different countries and wind farms. Martin Morris speaks with Sébastien Silvant, InterOPERA project coordinator, SuperGrid Institute, and Cornelis Plet, head of department, vice-president – power systems advisory at DNV, to learn more about these so-called “energy islands”.


almost all connected to the energy system through subsea power cables that run from each individual wind farm back to their respective shores. However, energy islands offer an alternative – artificial islands constructed with the capacity to store several gigawatts of energy from nearby wind farms, centralising the transmission of the energy they produce. Some islands will also be connected to each other and are intended to improve energy flows between different countries in Europe. One major plank of this long-term strategy is the InterOPERA project, formally launched by the EU in January this year. With €69m of funding from Horizon Europe, the project – which brings


World Wind Technology / www.worldwind-technology.com


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