By Rikki Stancich in Paris

Located in the south Baltic Sea, Kriegers Flak has garnered significant attention in recent years due to its optimal, shallow water conditions for offshore wind.  

While the estimated wind power potential of more than 1.5 GW is divided between Germany, Sweden and Denmark, scope exists for these countries to exploit the wind potential collaboratively via an interconnected offshore grid, as demonstrated by a feasibility study carried out by Energinet.dk, Svenska Kraftnät and Vattenfall Europe Transmission.

WindEnergyUpdate speaks to Peter Jørgensen , Kriegers Flak project manager at Energinet.dk, about the current status of the proposed offshore grid that could potentially link these three countries. 

WindEnergyUpdate: Germany and Denmark are currently looking to collaborate on the development of an offshore transmission grid in Kriegers Flak. What
have been the main stumbling blocks to developing a shared offshore grid?

Peter Jørgensen: Originally the offshore grid interconnection project would have linked the offshore wind farms of Sweden, Denmark and Germany, however, Sweden withdrew from the project in January this year.

A major stumbling block right now is the political commitment from Denmark to build a wind farm in Kriegers Flak.

WindEnergyUpdate: Where will the investment for interconnecting the grid come from?

Peter Jørgensen: We are currently at the stage where we are ready to sign for a EU grant of €150mn which would fund the interconnection. However, whether or not the funding is approved depends on Denmark’s commitment to build a wind farm.

WindEnergyUpdate: To what extent could lessons from the Kreigers Flak grid be
extrapolated to the proposed North Sea grid?

Peter Jørgensen: Experience could be gained from using a multi-terminal and from using VSC (voltage source converter) technology.

Interlinking several terminals and connecting them to different countries will be  a requirement for the North Sea grid and to date, there is no experience of this in the world.

To build, operate and control such a system would provide valuable experience. This project could be considered as a mini-grid, or a pilot project for the North Sea grid.

WindEnergyUpdate: In Denmark and Germany’s case, would be the key benefits of a shared grid?

Peter Jørgensen: It enables a more optimal use of the cables, in that the cables would not simply be used for transporting energy to the mainland, but also for electricity trading between the two countries. This project would add to several existing grid inter-connections between Germany and Denmark and so would increase overall capacity.

WindEnergyUpdate: Does a shared offshore grid provide significant balancing potential among the two countries?

Peter Jørgensen: Yes, definitely.

WindEnergyUpdate: What happens if Denmark doesn’t decide to go ahead with its windfarm?

Peter Jørgensen: The two planned German offshore wind farms with grid connection would go ahead as planned. However, the EU subsidy would be at stake.

WindEnergyUpdate: If Sweden and Denmark decide to develop their wind farms a few years down the line, could the three countries’ wind farms be interconnected then?

Peter Jørgensen: Yes, that would not be a problem.

To respond to this article, please write to the editor:

Rikki Stancich: rstancich@gmail.com