Connected on paper: Europe’s offshore wind grid queue

A grid connection date carries different weight across different markets.

In Aegir Insights’ new analysis, we compare the grid connection models used across Northern European offshore wind markets. We look at who builds the connection, how firm the connection date is, who pays when it is late and whether that date is backed by physical delivery.

Who pays when the grid is late depends on the regime:

• Germany: The TSO builds the connection, and consumers fund most of the delay compensation.
• Great Britain: The developer gets more time against its CfD milestones, but no money for lost output.
• Denmark and Poland: Delays to the offshore substation or export cable sit directly with the developer.

Across all four, platform delivery is the common constraint. Of the 63 Northern European transmission platforms with a known fabrication yard, 24 are being built in Asia or the Middle East. German platforms ordered since 2022 are now expected to take almost eight years from contract award to first power.

For more on who builds these platforms, see our map of the AC/DC fabricators of offshore substations.

Interested in getting a glimpse of this analysis?

Reach out to Matthew Delany: www.aegirinsights.com/contact