Long and windy road: What is the glue that will hold the pieces together as we plan for 40 GW of offshore wind in and around the North Sea region in 2020?

THE IDEA of a supergrid connecting offshore wind farms in the North Sea with a multiple number of countries is a concept being quietly supported by politicians and pushed by industry groups like Friends of the Supergrid. But how can an offshore supergrid be realised in practice, on the technical side?As more and more offshore wind farms are built in Northern Europe, the question of transmission becomes increasingly important. Not just in terms of cables and substation build-out, but also how the wind parks will be connected to shore, and resultant electricity traded across countries. A Northern European supergrid, which could effectively create a trading system delivering offshore wind generated-power between different countries is a compelling idea. But technically, this is a mighty – and expensive – challenge.