TNEI is a consortium partner in ISLES, a full feasibility study into the development of an offshore transmission network linking potential offshore sites for the generation of renewable energy in the coastal waters of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Western Scotland.
ISLES is a collaboration between the Scottish Government (Business, Enterprise & Energy), the Northern Ireland Executive (Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment) and the Government of Ireland (Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources).
The feasibility study involves developing a business case for the delivery of a trans-boundary grid and will examine aspects such as technology and infrastructure; environment and planning; regulatory and finance; construction and deployment; and opportunities for economic development. TNEI’s Power Systems and Technology Group is providing technology and infrastructure expertise; this includes developing key ISLES transmission network concepts and a corresponding technology roadmap.
The current phase of the study is a detailed engineering, costing and economic assessment of the ISLES development concept, in which two separate offshore transmission grids were proposed each integrating multiple offshore resources via a single offshore network into the trans-boundary grid. Industry engagement is crucial to this study and consultations have been carried out by TNEI and other consortium partners with various key stakeholders.
The project is currently at the stage of developing detailed technical plans of the Northern and Southern ISLES networks including costing of the offshore and onshore equipment. The indicative routes are being assessed from an environmental and consenting perspective before the concepts are finalised. The Northern concept is shown in the diagram below.
A key part of the project, to which TNEI is lending considerable expertise, is the understanding of the technology characteristics and requirements for offshore renewable grids. This understanding is crucial to the development of appropriate, robust and constructible network configurations. The network architectures have been developed around the offshore energy resources, taking into account their geographic locations, timing and generation characteristics. A key aspect of this is that the offshore networks are being considered as part of an integrated transmission system rather than simply as point-to-point or generation export systems.
