The ’Green Powerhouse North Sea‘ ambitions as set in the Paris Climate Agreement include the expansion of electricity grid interconnections, conversion to hydrogen, smart grids, demand response, storage options, and artificial islands to expand the role of offshore wind energy in the energy system while decreasing social costs and ecological impact of offshore energy generation. Besides ‘regular’ consumers, heavy industry and the transport sector (notably aviation) are expected to drive the demand for green, affordable electricity and hydrogen as they too transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources. It has been recognised that a suite of flexible energy system solutions and services across the offshore wind value chain is needed to facilitate the implementation of offshore wind at lowest social costs.
Strongly related to offshore wind is the foreseen development of hydrogen as a key energy carrier in energy system storage, transport and usage.