With the ultimate aim of unlocking the full potential of Europe’s offshore resources, PROMOTioN addresses technical, legal, regulatory, economic and financial barriers to the implementation of a meshed offshore HVDC transmission network. By connecting key stakeholders from industry, academia, consultancies and transmission system operators, PROMOTioN both provides a platform for interdisciplinary development and increases acceptance of required novel technologies and frameworks.
Challenges
As indicated in the figure below, the challenges facing deployment of meshed offshore HVDC grids in the European Union are manifold and encompass a variety of different aspects. For the PROMOTioN project, the following challenges have been identified:
- Cost effective and reliable converter technology
- HVDC grid protection systems
- Compact HVDC switchgear
- Financial framework for infrastructure development
- Regulations for deployment and operation
- Agreement between manufacturers, developers and grid operators
Goals
PROMOTioN forms the link between technology research, validation (testing) and development of recommendation for meshed offshore grids.
Based on the broad range of challenges involved, the PROMOTioN project partners set themselves a number of fundamental, non-negotiable goals that must be achieved. These goals are:
- Develop interoperable & reliable network protection
- Work towards technology interoperability & standardisation
- Recommendations for EU regulatory & financial framework
- Deployment plan & Roadmap for implementation up to 2050
- Full scale technology demonstrations of:
- HVDC control & protection systems
- Wind turbine converter harmonic model validation
- HVDC gas insulated switchgear
- HVDC circuit breakers
