Offshore grid transmission: Knowledge gap has been identified

Philipp Härtel from Fraunhofer IWES in Germany is staying three months at NTNU/SINTEF as a guest researcher through the IRPwind mobility programme. During discussions with other researchers in Trondheim, a crucial knowledge gap in the field of offshore grid transmission planning has been identified: The quality of the model input data.

Data difficult to obtain

Investment models for transmission expansion planning studies always need cost estimates for infrastructure. Even though valid models are used in a study, the uncertainty of the cost input data for VSC HVDC components poses a significant problem for the validity of the results. High-quality input data on the cost of VSC HVDC components are difficult to obtain. However, due to the large number of recent and ongoing projects, significantly more data is available than only two years ago.

In order to address this issue, Philipp then joined forces with Til Kristian Vrana from SINTEF Energy Research. Based on published cost data of real VSC HVDC projects and cost parameter sets of existing studies, they work to condense all the available information into a more accurate cost estimation data set. This can serve as a more solid basis for future transmission investment studies, increasing the validity of the findings.

Find out more about Philipp Härtel’s project at SINTEF: Impact of alternative flexibility options on offshore grids in the North Sea.