The analysis by Energy Systems Catapult underlines the important role for offshore wind - currently about 10GW capacity - as the workhorse of the power system in the coming decades.
Following the 'Offshore Wind Sector Deal' between the UK Government and industry and the subsequent adoption of the 40GW deployment target for offshore wind by 2030, the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) established a task force to ‘Solve the Integration Challenge’.
Energy Systems Catapult was commissioned by OWIC to consider the impact of very high levels of offshore wind on the energy system, and how these impacts could be mitigated, and also to identify opportunities to strengthen offshore wind’s role in delivering innovative solutions to system integration.
The report - 'Solving the offshore wind integration challenge' - draws on the Catapult’s whole system modelling capabilities to analyse a large number of possible future energy system configurations...