The UK power regulator Ofgem is inviting tenders to deliver ahead investments in new energy interconnectors as a part of its “cap and flooring” revenue regime.
Ofgem will undertake a 3rd spherical of funding subsequent 12 months to construct new subsea interconnectors that may import cheaper clear power when wanted and export extra electrical energy to neighboring international locations.
The UK regulator may even, for the primary time, run a pilot cap and flooring program to bid on multipurpose interconnectors (MPIs) that may join clusters of offshore wind farms on to an interconnector.
That’s, when the wind blows within the North Sea, these offshore wind farms can export extra electrical energy to each the UK and Europe.
The UK at present has seven working energy interconnectors with a capability of seven.4 GW connecting it to Eire, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway and offering almost 7% of UK electrical energy final 12 months.
The federal government plans to greater than double the present interconnector capability by 2030 in help of its purpose of quadrupling offshore wind capability by the identical date.
With a view to obtain this purpose, the subsequent 12 months’s funding spherical will give desire to tasks that may be accomplished by 2030.
“A stronger networking of power throughout borders is essential with a view to guarantee resilience, affordability and sustainability when reworking our power system sooner or later,” mentioned Akshay Kaul, Director of Networks at Ofgem.
“Our subsequent spherical of interconnection investments will drive the investments we’d like, create inexperienced jobs and unlock the complete potential of the UK’s main world offshore wind business whereas defending clients by limiting prices.”
Ofgem’s determination to evaluation the interconnector coverage concludes a session course of that started in August 2020.
The choice acknowledges the advantages of interconnectors for the UK and that an up to date model of the present cap and flooring is the precise software to take action. The modifications made by Ofgem are designed to make sure that the higher and decrease bounds proceed to work properly for each traders and power shoppers. The revised regime will probably be refined earlier than it’s launched for the subsequent funding spherical from mid-2022.
The earlier two “Cap and Flooring” rounds in 2014 and 2016 attracted investments for 9 tasks, and there are at present 8.5 GW of interconnector tasks in varied levels of improvement.
