THE PROJECT PARTNERS

DNV GL

Driven by its purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, DNV GL enables organisations to advance the safety and sustainability of their business. DNV GL provides classification and technical assurance along with software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil & gas and energy industries. It also provides certification services to customers across a wide range of industries. DNV GL, whose origins go back to 1864, operates globally in more than 100 countries with its 16,000 professionals dedicated to helping their customers make the world safer, smarter and greener.

In the Energy industry

In DNV GL we unite the strengths of DNV, KEMA, Garrad Hassan, and GL Renewables Certification. DNV GL’s 2,500 energy experts support customers around the globe in delivering a safe, reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy supply. We deliver world-renowned testing, certification and advisory services to the energy value chain including renewables and energy efficiency. Our expertise spans onshore and offshore wind power, solar, conventional generation, transmission and distribu¬tion, smart grids, and sustainable energy use, as well as energy markets and regulations. Our testing, certification and advisory services are delivered independently from one another.

Visit us on www.dnvgl.com

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact.
The ABB Group of companies operates in roughly 100 countries and employs about 135,000 people.

Visit us on http://new.abb.com/systems/hvdc

At KU Leuven the division for electrical energy covers the broad spectrum of electrical energy systems and robust control of industrial systems. The development of the future smart grid is the key activity. As the largest research group on electrical energy systems in the Benelux, KU Leuven combines fundamental research with immediately and prospectively applicable solutions for the industry. Alongside this development of know-how, our center-of-excellence finds it important to share gained knowledge with the academic community, students, industry and the society as a whole. In that framework KU Leuven is a co-founder of the knowledge center EnergyVille, together with VITO and imec.

Visit us on www.kuleuven.be

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm is the largest and oldest technical university in Sweden. No less than one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education capacity at university level is provided by KTH. Education and research spans from natural sciences to all branches of engineering and includes Architecture, Industrial Management and Urban Planning. There are a total of 12,400 full year students at first and second cycles, almost 1,900 active (at least 50 per cent) research students and 5,100 employees.

The School of Electrical Engineering conducts research and education in the fields of Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Information and Communications Technology, Space, Fusion and Plasma Physics. The field of Electrical & Electronic Engineering at KTH is ranked #17 in the world by QS during 2016 (#16 during 2015). 450 people work in this creative and dynamic environment, out of which half are Ph.D. students, many from other countries. Our research projects are carried out in close collaboration with industry partners as well as with research colleagues from Sweden and other countries. The school is responsible for bachelor- and master programmes in Electrical Engineering. The programmes have a high number of applicants every year and are closely linked to the research conducted at the school.

Visit us on www.kth.se

Since 2006, EirGrid has operated and developed the national high voltage electricity grid in Ireland. EirGrid is a state-owned company. EirGrid operates the flow of power on the grid and plan for its future. The grid moves wholesale power around the country. EirGrid brings energy from generation stations to heavy industry and high-tech users.

Visit us on www.eirgridgroup.com

The Institute for Energy Transition (ITE) Supergrid is a collaborative research platform in the field of low-carbon energy, bringing together the expertise of industry and public research in the logic of public-private co-investment and close cooperation between all stakeholders of the sector.

The institute aims to develop technologies for the Supergrid that is the future electricity transmission network, using direct current and alternating current at very high voltages (in the order of one million volts), designed to transport large-scale energy from renewable sources remote from load centers, a significant portion of which are offshore, which will be in connection with flexible storage resources; to manage the intermittent nature of renewable energy; and also, to ensure the stability and security of the network.

Visit us on www.supergrid-institute.com

In today’s complex energy market, Deutsche WindGuard is committed to providing extensive scientific, technical, and operational services, which are unbiased and manufacturer-independent. WindGuard is one of the world’s leading service providers to renewable energy enterprises, utilities, investors and public authorities.

The WindGuard Group is a holistic network with a scientific-core leadership team and 150 experienced specialists with international experience. Just like the universe, our services are constantly expanding – a fact which justifies our international renown and status as a competent leader of projects of all magnitudes throughout the world.

Our clients’ investments are safeguarded by supplying comprehensive expertise regarding revenue opportunities, frame conditions and related risks. Internationally recognised accreditations and certificates add certainty and objectivity to the assessment of all project-related information. Our comprehensive services reliably support the complete lifecycle of wind power projects, reaching from feasibility studies, services required during the planning, construction and operating phase of wind farms, until the dismantling. Onshore. Offshore. Worldwide.

Today, we offer investors and developers, manufacturers, decision makers in governments and businesses worldwide, extensive and independent expertise on all facets of wind energy. We can evaluate the potential of a location and create all the necessary documentation for the approval of your project. We ensure a smooth implementation of your project, from the first draft of the first contract to the handover and connection to the grid. We ensure a trouble-free operation and conduct all the necessary testing. Our objectivity is underlined by accreditations by the German accreditation body Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DAkkS). Our clients can take advantage of every service in the WindGuard Universe, either as a single item or combined with others. In every instance you will receive the benefit of WindGuard know-how: Our experts constantly exchange ideas, thus their work contains knowledge from all sectors of the wind energy industry.

Visit us on www.windguard.com

Mitsubishi Electric is a global leader in the research, manufacturing and marketing of electrical and electronic equipment used in communications, industrial technology, energy and transportation. Mitsubishi Electric portfolio spans from conventional HV equipment (switchgears and transformers) to pioneering power electronics based solutions (SVCs, Statcoms and HVDC, including Direct Current circuit breakers). 

Mitsubishi Electric's operations in Europe began more than 40 years ago and today, it is helping European customers meet their business challenges, through providing innovative technologies and high-quality products and solutions. To understand and meet the industries’ requirements in Europe, Mitsubishi Electric engages regularly with industry stakeholders in the different phases of the product development cycle. Understanding market and customer requirements enables the company to manufacture products that fit with local needs.

A key topic for Mitsubishi Electric is how to deliver competitive low carbon energy in Europe whilst overcoming the different societal challenges faced within the European community. By participating in Horizon 2020 PROMOTIoN Project, Mitsubishi Electric will be investigating different topologies and technologies that could allow for a trans-European energy infrastructure capable of transmitting carbon-free generated electricity.

In particular, Mitsubishi Electric will work closely with industrial and academic partners to better understand and design offshore meshed DC grids in WP 4, 5 and 6. Moreover, in WP 9 and 10 Mitsubishi Electric along with the PROMOTioN partners will test and further improve control and protection systems and DCCB technology respectively. By participating through this consortium, Mitsubishi Electric will demonstrate its in-house expertise on meshed HVDC network technologies as well as the developed equipment through its Direct Current circuit breaker technology.

Visit us on emea.mitsubishielectric.com/en/index.page

Svenska kraftnät (Swedish national grid) is a state-owned public utility that has many different areas of work. One of Svenska kraftnät’s important tasks is to transmit electricity from the major power stations to regional electrical grids, via the national electrical grid.

In our control room, we monitor the national electrical grids and ensure that there is always a balance between consumption and production in Sweden. Our work contributes to ensuring an electricity market where the players can purchase electricity in free competition.

We are the government authority responsible for electricity preparedness and we work to reinforce the country’s electricity supply system to ensure it is able to withstand critical situations.

Svenska kraftnät is operating six HVDC transmissions and have another two HVDC transmissions under construction/commissioning and more are planned.

Visit us on www.svk.se

Grid Solutions: Connecting what matters

Grid Solutions, a GE and Alstom joint venture, equips 90% of power utilities worldwide to bring power from the point of generation to end power consumers.  Grid Solutions is among the top three players in the global transmission and distribution business. With over 200 years combined experience in providing advanced energy solutions, our products and services enable more resilient, efficient and reliable power systems.  Over 20,000 employees in 80 countries work to satisfy our customers globally. 

At GE’s Grid Solutions, we deliver customer-valued solutions to build smarter, more stable, more efficient and environmentally friendly electricity grids worldwide. We are well-positioned to help our customers meeting the energy challenges, by:

• Helping to meet growing energy demand
• Providing solutions to improve grid resiliency and energy efficiency
• Upgrading and digitizing aging infrastructure
• Enabling renewables and a diversified energy mix

HVDC has been a key technology for over 50 years and this continues to support the above challenges

Innovation remains at the core of everything we do.  GE invests heavily in industrial technology development, including emerging spaces such as advanced manufacturing and the Industrial Internet. This sustained investment brings solutions and value to GE’s Grid Solutions customers across the electricity value chain.

GE is transforming itself to become the world's premier digital industrial company, executing critical outcomes for our customers. GE’s digital industrial software solutions and services — powered by the Industrial Internet — bring together our customers’ brilliant machines, data, insights, and people to drive real-time connectivity and data intelligence through a digital thread.

Grid Solutions offers industry-leading digital solutions including Smart Grid and Smart City technologies, complete digital substations, advanced asset management and automation solutions.

Visit us on geGridSolutions.com

Established in 1495, the University of Aberdeen is consistently ranked in the top 1% of the world’s universities and is renowned for its world-leading research in energy, health, energy, food and nutrition and environmental and biological sciences.

With a community of students and staff covering 120 nationalities, the University of Aberdeen is renowned for its international outlook, and was recently ranked by Times Higher Education in the top 40 of the world’s 200 ‘most international universities’, making it the second highest Scottish university to be included in the rankings.

Our research expertise is renowned worldwide, and  76% of research assessed through the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF14) is considered as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’

The University’s High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Research Centre has around 8-10 staff members with many research students working on research projects funded by UK/EU research councils and major industry players. 

Led by Professor Dragan Jovcic, the Research Centre will play a key role in several large research projects related to HVDC, DC grid development, and various new components such as DC circuit breakers and DC/DC transformers that are essential for the creation of a meshed HVDC grid, as well as the operational aspects that would enable system control.

Visit us on www.abdn.ac.uk and www.abdn.ac.uk/engineering/research/aberdeen-hvdc-research-centre-472.php

RTE is the French Transmission System Operator (TSO) in charge of the development, the operation and the maintenance of the high voltage grid (100 000 km from 63 to 400 kV inserted in a grid comprising more than 2600 substations). RTE also manages the interconnection lines with other neighbouring European countries. Two of these interconnections are HVDC links, including the line-commutated converter based cross-channel link to UK commissioned in 1986, and the voltage-source converter based link to Spain which was commissioned in 2015. A VSC-HVDC link to Italy is under construction. Other HVDC projects are planned, making RTE very attentive to developments around HVDC technology.

In the field of meshed HVDC networks, the company’s dedicated roadmap has been built through its commitment in various HVDC grids activities, either internal or within consortia or international bodies such as the TWENTIES project, CIGRE B4 working groups, CENELEC TC8X/WG06 working group, and the BEST PATHS project.

RTE is a company of about 8500 people and the biggest TSO in Europe.

Visit us on www.rte-france.com

The research that will be performed at TU Delft in the scope of PROMOTioN is related to modelling and testing of the interruption capabilities of DC circuit breakers. Currently, there are several technologies developed in the past 20 years, which are all patented and different from each other. How will the DC fault current be interrupted? What kind of stress may the DC circuit breaker experience under different network topologies? The answers to these questions will be provided by detailed analysis of a specific DC circuit breaker. These circuit breakers have never been put in service and therefore there are a lot of tests and simulation that should be performed in order to investigate how the current will be interrupted and the effect of the generated overvoltages to the surrounding network. In this project, the TU Delft part is related to the Mitsubishi technology based on the large experience that TU Delft has built over years with different types of AC circuit breakers. The Mitsubishi DC circuit breaker consists of a vacuum circuit breaker and an oscillatory circuit to help the current  chopping. A particular issue in this work is that the DC current should be interrupted much faster and it is in the range of several milliseconds. In this project, in the first part, reliable models will be developed and verified by measurements. These models will be used by other partners. In the second part, more detailed analysis will be performed in order to evaluate the performance of the metal oxide varistors for energy absorption during current interruption and the influence of the speed of contact opening on current interruption.

Visit us on www.ewi.tudelft.nl

Equinor (formerly Statoil) is an international energy company with operations in 40 countries. Building on more than 45 years of experience from oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf, Equinor is committed to accommodating the world's energy needs in a responsible manner. Equinor meets the demand for energy which is necessary for further economic and social development, while showing consideration for the environment and making an active effort to fight global climate change.

By utilizing the oil and gas platform experiences, Equinor’s world first large floating wind turbine has inspired the offshore wind industry not only in the shallow water sites but also in the deep water sites. Equinor is one of the most influential offshore wind farm developers in the world. More superficially, Equinor is the major developer for three commercial offshore wind farms in UK (Sheringham Shoal (317MW), Dudgeon (402MW) and Dogger Bank (potential for many GW)).

Visit us on www.equinor.com

TenneT is a leading European electricity transmission system operator (TSO) with its main activities in the Netherlands and Germany. With approximately 22,000 kilometres of high-voltage connections we ensure a secure supply of electricity to 41 million end-users. TenneT has an international offshore division and is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the offshore grid in Germany and The Netherlands. We are the only European TSO that owns an offshore infrastructure – partially with investors and TSOs from neighbouring countries.  At the start of 2016, TenneT owns and operates 6 HVDC offshore grid connection systems and two  subsea HVDC interconnectors. Several HVDC projects are currently under construction or in development, including two interconnectors crossing the North Sea, offshore windfarm connection systems and onshore grid reinforcement projects. TenneT's offshore grid connection capacity is expected to rise to more than 13 GW and interconnection capacity up to 3.8 GW by 2025.

We employ approximately 3,000 people, have a turnover of EUR 3.3 billion and an asset value totalling EUR 15.4 billion. TenneT is one of Europe’s major investors in national and cross-border grid connections on land and at sea, bringing together the Northwest European energy markets and enabling the energy transition. We take every effort to meet the needs of society by being responsible, engaged and connected. Taking power further.

Visit us on www.tennet.eu

The German Offshore Wind Energy Foundation was created in 2005 to promote environmental and climate protection. The main objective is to promote the use of wind energy at sea, and to improve research. The Foundation has since established itself as a nonpartisan, multiregional, independent institution supporting offshore wind energy in Germany and Europe. It serves as a communication platform for political decision-makers, for business, and for research. The Foundation serves as a platform to share expertise and as an initiator of new ideas. At the same time, it also represents and bundles the various stakeholders' interests, representing them towards politics, economy, and science, as well as to the general public. Our key activities:

• ADVICE AND CONSULTING FOR POLICY-MAKERS
  The Foundation supports various political institutions and stakeholders in expanding and promoting the use of offshore wind energy in Germany and Europe. It provides information, advice, and consulting to energy policy committees and works with other industry representatives to develop position papers on current issues related to offshore wind energy. The Foundation also contributes to debates on energy policy with studies and scientific investigations, and it connects different players in the offshore wind energy sector with the maritime sector.
• SHARING EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH
  The Foundation participates in national and international projects and research on different issues related to offshore wind, thereby supporting development and innovation in the field. It functions as a platform for the different stakeholders from the industry and works for better conditions in the sector. The Foundation's scientific advisory council identifies and initiates new areas of development.
• MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Activities
  The Foundation's targeted press and public relations work encourages public acceptance of offshore wind. Since 2009, for example, its traveling exhibition "Fascination Offshore" has taught visitors about various aspects of using offshore wind energy.
• GRID AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION
  The Foundation is active in several areas related to grid and system integration, including working with partner organizations to draft statements and position papers on relevant issues. In order to find constructive solutions, the Foundation discusses matters with the Federal Network Agency, relevant ministries, and grid operators.

Visit us on www.offshore-stiftung.de

The Siemens Energy Management Division, Erlangen, Germany, is one of the leading global suppliers of products, systems, solutions, and services for the economical, reliable, and intelligent transmission and distribution of electrical power. As the trusted partner for the development and extension of an efficient and reliable power infrastructure, Energy Management offers utilities and the industry the portfolio they need. This includes facilities and systems for the low-voltage and distribution power grid level, smart grid and energy automation solutions, power supply for industrial plants, and high-voltage transmission systems. Represented in more than 90 countries, this Siemens Division has nearly 53,000 employees and more than 100 production sites worldwide.

Visit us on www.energy.siemens.com/hq/en/power-transmission

The Technical University of Denmark is today a leading technical university in northern Europe and benchmarks with the best universities in the world. DTU has approximately 7000 students, 1700 scientific staff and 1200 PhD students (2010) and offers 11 B.Eng. programs, 14 B.Sc. programs, and 27 M.Sc. programs – one of which is a two-year Wind Energy Master program. The previous Wind Energy Division of Risø DTU – now part of DTU Wind Energy, has undertaken basic research, teaching and commercial activities in all aspects of wind energy since the mid-1970’s. DTU Wind Energy is the world’s largest public research institute for wind energy. The department counts 240 staff members with a strong portfolio of national and international research projects. The department is internationally recognized as being in the forefront of wind energy technology, and has provided a major part of the wind energy research in Denmark. Wind power control is a core area of research for DTU Wind Energy. Further DTU Wind Energy has a significant tradition in coordinating very large research initiatives such as European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) Joint Programme Wind and larger projects, e.g. is currently coordinator of the EU FP7 INNWIND project which is the largest ongoing research project in wind energy in Europe.

Visit us on www.dtu.dk/english and www.vindenergi.dtu.dk/english

RWTH Aachen University, established in 1870, is divided into 9 faculties containing more than 45,000 students and 500 professors. The university budget amounts to more than 850 million Euros of which more than a third are third-party expenditures. RWTH’s outstanding research potential is underlined by its variety of excellence clusters and special research programs, its 25 graduate programs and its more than 15 affiliated institutes with strong industrial and application-oriented alignment.

The Institute for High Voltage Technology (IFHT) belongs to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of RWTH Aachen University. Over 60 of its roughly 100 employees are researchers investigating on a broad range of diverse topics. Main focuses of research and education are innovative high-performance insulation materials, power components for distribution and transmission grids with a particular focus on HVDC systems, the future of electric mobility and the holistic modelling, analysis and optimization of power supply systems on all voltage levels.

Visit us on www.ifht.rwth-aachen.de

Universitat Politecnica de Valencia is one of the largest technical universities in Spain, with more than 36,000 students and 3,000 research and teaching staff. UPV has 42 departments and 45 research centres and institutes covering most engineering disciplines. UPV is the pioneering research centre on Offshore Wind Farm connection with HVDC diode
rectifiers.

UPV is the Spanish university with the largest income from IP licensing and has a large expertise in Power Systems, Power Electronics, Control Systems and Renewable Energy.

The research project will be carried out within the Institute of Industrial Informatics and Control (AI2), which has a large experience on Wind Power Systems and on safety critical real-time control of distributed systems for industrial, medical and aerospace applications.

Visit us on www.upv.es

FGH is a non-profit research association with about 25 employees sponsored by the German Energy Supply Industry. Its members include all four German transmission system operators. The history of FGH reaches back almost 100 years, with the original aim being support for the introduction of the extra high voltage levels in Germany. From this strong focus on power equipment technology for the EHV level, the principal activities have evolved into other voltage levels and into the fields of system studies, software development and technical education – always related to electrical power supply networks. While research projects still play a main role for FGH, commercial studies and consulting for utilities and the development of software solutions today are equally important. These activities are situated in subsidiary companies of the FGH association with another 50 employees. So, FGH can provide renowned expertise for the complete transmission and distribution sector. FGH has extensive experience in managing and co-ordinating national and international research activities. For example, the company participated in the ElectroNet project (ESPRIT IV 22297), in the ScadaOnWeb project (IST-2000-30067, as coordinator), in theDGnet project (CT-2001-20528), in the RELIANCE coordination action (SES6-020088), in the S-TEN project (IST-2005-027683, as coordinator), in the PEGASE project (FP7/2007-2013) and in the UMBRELLA project (FP7/2012-2015).

Visit us on www.fgh-ma.de

Ørsted Wind Power is based in Denmark and is the world leading offshore wind developer, with 3 GW installed capacity and a strategic target of 6.5 GW looking towards 2020. Its footprint extends across Northern Europe, with offshore wind farms installed in Germany, Denmark and the UK. Ørsted Wind Power has strong focus on safety and strives for cost of electricity reduction. The company has one operational wind farm connected to HVDC (Borkum Riffgrund 1) and two more under construction (Gode Wind 1 and 2). Moreover, it has engaged in several R&D activities related to the utilisation of HVDC technology for the connection of wind farms as a possible cost reduction driver. As the leading offshore wind developer, Ørsted Wind Power has built extensive knowledge in transmission system design for offshore wind, developing methods and tools allowing for an efficient and optimal design and deploying advanced technological solutions for offshore wind cost reduction.

Visit us at http://orsted.com

The Carbon Trust is an independent, expert partner of leading organisations around the world, helping them contribute to and benefit from a more sustainable future through carbon reduction, resource efficiency strategies and commercialising low carbon technologies.

Our mission is to accelerate the move to a sustainable, low carbon economy. We are experts on carbon reduction and resource efficiency.

Created in 2001, we have developed into a world-leading and trusted expert in low carbon issues and sustainable strategies, environmental footprinting and low carbon technology development and deployment. We offer over 15 years of unparalleled experience in the low carbon sector. So far, our work has saved our clients £5.5 billion in energy costs and cut our customers' carbon emissions by 60Mt.

We help to develop and deploy low carbon technologies by prioritising, designing, and delivering large scale renewable energy programmes for our governmental and corporate clients and by catalysing clean tech venture growth through our incubation support. We help all sizes of organisation to put energy efficient equipment, renewable energy sources and other low carbon solutions into practice, with complementary financing solutions.

The Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) is Carbon Trust's flagship collaborative RD&D programme. Set up in 2008, the OWA is a joint industry project, currently involving nine leading offshore wind developers. The initiative aims to reduce the cost of energy from offshore wind through innovation. Technology challenges are identified and prioritised, and the most promising concepts are developed, de-risked and commercialised as the OWA works closely with the supply chain throughout the process.

The OWA model brings together Carbon Trust's expertise in delivering innovation and convening industry consortiums with the industrial partners' technical knowledge and resources. The OWA funded by industry and the public sector.

Visit us on www.carbontrust.com

Tractebel is a global engineering consultancy company with more than 150 years of expertise in energy, water and infrastructure projects. Tractebel’s services cover the whole lifecycle of these projects, from feasibility studies to decommissioning.

Tractebel unique solutions bring added value to clients in public as well as private markets all over the globe. Headquartered in Brussels (Belgium), and with offices in more than thirty countries and projects in over 140, Tractebel undeniably is a top-level partner for every single one of its clients.

Tractebel is a business unit of ENGIE, the European leader in multi-technical energy related services and one of the key business lines of ENGIE. Our clients fully benefit from the many synergies we share with the wide array of ENGIE Group companies.

Tractebel employs around 4,400 people worldwide.

Visit us on www.tractebel-engie.com

The Florence School of Regulation is a leader in producing analytical and empirical research in the field of regulation and provides a European forum where academics and practitioners meet and share their views and knowledge.

FSR’s main role in the project is to define a target model for offshore grid planning, investment and operation. This proposed EU wide regulatory framework will be applicable to the North-Sea case as well as to other existing or future cases of green field power grid developments.

Visit us on http://fsr.eui.eu/

European Association of the Electricity Transmission & Distribution Equipment and Services Industry

T&D Europe, the first European Association of the Electricity Transmission and Distribution Equipment and Services Industry, aims to promote the common technical, industrial economic, environmental and political interests of the European electricity transmission and distribution manufacturing, and product derives solutions industry.

T&D Europe was created in March 2008 by the merger of two European committees: CAPIEL HV and COTREL. It represents all relevant European national associations. The companies represented by T&D Europe account for a production worth over € 25 billion, and employ over 200.000 people in Europe.

T&D Europe is a driver for advanced solutions and technologies in the field of electricity networks, encouraging an energy-and cost-efficient as well as an environmentally friendly infrastructure.

Visit us on www.tdeurope.eu

The University of Strathclyde is one of the UK’s leading science and engineering universities and also has strengths in humanities, social sciences and business.

Strathclyde’s contributions to PROMOTioN come from the Institute for Energy and Environment, one of the largest groups in Europe concerned with electrical power. Based in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, it hosts cross-disciplinary work on energy and has core engineering expertise covering: power systems; power electronics, drives and converters; HVDC; high voltage technologies; renewable energy, in particular wind power; power system protection and control; modelling of energy demand; and electricity markets, regulation and energy economics. It works closely with industry including Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), EDF Energy, China CERI, National Grid and Rolls Royce, and has been involved in projects with European transmission system operators such as RTE and Elia, and equipment manufacturers such as Mitsubishi and ALSTOM. It has also worked in support of policy makers and regulators such as the Scottish Government, the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Office for Gas and Electricity Markets in Great Britain (Ofgem).

Strathclyde’s input to the PROMOTioN project is led by Dr Lie Xu who is active along with Prof Steve Finney in WP2 & 3. Strathclyde contributions to WP1 are led by Prof Keith Bell.

Visit us on www.strath.ac.uk/engineering/

Prysmian Group is world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry. With almost 140 years of experience, sales of about €7.5 billion in 2015, over 19,000 employees across 50 countries and 88 plants, the Group is strongly positioned in high-tech markets and offers the widest possible range of products, services, technologies and know-how. It operates in the businesses of underground and submarine cables and systems for power transmission and distribution, of special cables for applications in many different industries and of medium and low voltage cables for the construction and infrastructure sectors. For the telecommunications industry, the Group manufactures cables and accessories for voice, video and data transmission, offering a comprehensive range of optical fibres, optical and copper cables and connectivity systems. Prysmian is a public company, listed on the Italian Stock Exchange in the FTSE MIB index.

Visit us on www.prysmiangroup.com

Within the faculty of law of the University of Groningen the Groningen Centre of Energy Law coordinates all legal research involving (parts of) the energy sector.

The research covers the entire energy chain (“from well to burner tip”) and includes all legislation and regulation applying to the production, transmission and supply of energy, the promotion of renewable energy sources, the need to secure energy supply as well as issues concerning climate change and environmental protection. Within this broad research area, the research has focused on a number of themes such as market liberalisation, emissions trading, carbon capture and storage, investments in the energy sector and smart grids.

Offshore energy production and supply is one of the key research areas. The North Sea features as a key example of these developments. Apart from the research on legal issues involving offshore hydrocarbons and the re-use of depleted reservoir as well as abandoned installations, the focus is on the production of offshore wind energy and the construction and use of offshore cables bringing the energy to shore. For this purpose the research focusses on developments in international law (law of the sea), European law and national law.

As regards the concept of a North Sea electricity grid, GCEL has been and is involved in two researches projects.

• A study on the legal framework for a transnational offshore grid in the North Sea (research conducted jointly with the TU Delft and funded by NWO);
• A study on interconnectors and cross-border connections between offshore wind farms (research conducted as part of the TKI WOZ).

Visit us on www.gcel.nl

MHI Vestas Offshore Wind is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Vestas Wind Systems A/S established in April 2014. Our vision is to be a leading player in the offshore industry by remaining customer-focused and setting new standards for industry collaboration. We aim to lead growth and co-develop offshore wind as a financially viable and sustainable energy source to benefit future generations. We are an international organisation, totaling more than 1100 employees. Our headquarters are based in Aarhus, Denmark, and we have offices in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Sweden.

Visit us on www.mhivestasoffshore.com

Energinet owns the Danish electricity and gas transmission system. Our main task is to maintain the overall short-term and long-term security of electricity and gas supply.

Visit us on www.energinet.dk

Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc (SHE Transmission) is the owner of the high voltage electricity transmission system in the North of Scotland. It maintains and invests in the reinforcement of the North of Scotland electricity transmission network. The network is made available to National Grid Electricity Transmission, which in its role as the Great Britain National Electricity Transmission System Operator, is responsible for controlling and administering access to the GB electricity transmission system as a whole.

In recent years SHE Transmission has undertaken significant rebuilding and reinforcement of its transmission system to accommodate  high volumes of renewable generation connecting in the north of Scotland. Strengthening the network is continuing with the construction of an HVDC link between Caithness and Moray scheduled to complete in 2018, with  potential extension to multi-terminal operation to accommodate an HVDC connection from the Shetland Islands. 

Visit us on www.ssepd.co.uk/TransmissionHome/

As developer of HVDC technology equipment, SCiBreak contributes to the objectives of PROMOTioN in many ways. Its HVDC breaker technology differs from what the other manufacturers in the project develop. In this way the issue of interoperability of equipment originating from different vendors in an HVDC grid is being better addressed.

SCiBreak takes part in the efforts towards standardization in the field of HVDC breakers within the project, together with the other project partners. By introducing its breaker technology to the project, it adds a further perspective to this work. SCiBreak also supports the work towards creating mathematical models of HVDC breakers on different levels of abstraction, so that their interaction with the overall system can be studied by simulation. Furthermore, SCiBreak contributes to the development of practices and standards for testing of HVDC breakers. In particular, a prototype of their breaker technology will be made available for testing at DNV GL’s facilities. The results from the testing will further contribute to the modelling and simulation efforts in the project. Finally, SCiBreak contributes to a techno-economic analysis of HVDC equipment that will serve as one input to the deployment plan for a European offshore HVDC grid that PROMOTioN will provide.

Visit us at www.scibreak.com