Towards the first hub-and-spoke project

Executive summary 

The North Sea is an offshore wind energy powerhouse 

The North Sea holds a vast offshore wind energy potential. Offshore wind is one of the key building blocks for the green transition of Europe and to meet the Paris Climate Goals. This is reflected by the 2050 capacity target of 300 GW set by the European Commission. 

Countries must come together 

So far, energy policies in Europe have been mostly nationally focussed with international cooperation only recently starting up. Further acceleration of cooperation initiatives is required to realise the full potential of the North Sea: The increasingly large and variable volume of offshore wind electricity will be difficult to integrate, and there is no single silver bullet solution. 

Time for an ambitious next step 

Harnessing the power of the North Sea requires us to look at the whole North Sea area as one, and comprehensively rethink the energy systems of all of North-West Europe. This large-scale thinking is the only way to timely meet decarbonisation targets. 

A solution is at hand 

The North Sea Wind Power Hub (NSWPH) is an ambitious new approach to the challenge of integrating renewable energy. Today, climate policy is largely national, decoupled between energy sectors and incremental. The NSWPH takes a very different perspective. It is transnational, integrated and a step-change to a massive build out of offshore wind in the North Sea. The hub-and-spoke concept is able to link together the energy systems of North-West Europe in one well-planned and coordinated network while connecting large amounts of offshore wind. It has unique characteristics: 

• Transnational: by connecting multiple countries through a hub-and-spoke concept 
• Hybrid: by combining interconnection with the connection of offshore wind 
• Cross-sector: by integrating different energy sectors and energy carriers 

Cooperation is the way forward – The NSWPH consortium is helping to pave the way 

The NSWPH consortium was founded in March 2017 and consists of the leading TSOs of North Sea Countries; Energinet, Gasunie and TenneT. Our work focusses on timely addressing the main challenges on the way to realising a first hub in the early 2030s, and to support governments and policy makers in their decision-making processes. 

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Content in the concept paper

• Executive summary
• Main insights
• Vision
• System Integration
• Technical feasibility
• Cost & Benefits
• Regulatory & market design
• References
• Further reading