West Coast Scotland Offshore Wind

A report into grid connection options and

developer co-ordination issues

SUMMARY REPORT March 2010

Objectives

Five of the planned offshore wind farms in Scottish Territorial Waters lie on the west coast of
Scotland: Argyll Array, Islay, Kintyre, Wigtown and Solway Firth. The total output of these wind farms
is up to 4080MW with a central estimate based on discussions with developers of 3000MW. Many of
these projects are distant from potential onshore grid connection points and the appropriate method of
connecting them is not obvious. Some designs raise new commercial and regulatory issues. In view
of this The Crown Estate commissioned Transmission Capital to:

i) Evaluate possible offshore grid designs for the connection of these offshore wind farms, and
identify the preferred design(s).

ii) Determine the level of co-ordination required between these projects in the design and
execution of their grid connections.

iii) Indicate the commercial and regulatory implications of these designs, and recommend an
approach for resolving any associated uncertainties.

Designs were to be evaluated on their overall economic cost taking account of reliability, flexibility and
potential for future expansion and not be constrained by (for example) boundaries between onshore
Transmission Owners or System Operators.

System Capacity

The offshore wind capacity on the West Coast represents about a third of the total proposed offshore
wind capacity in Scotland (over 10GW). Although not all of these offshore wind farms may ultimately
be built, a success rate of 60% by 2020 – the same success rate as that achieved by Round 1
offshore wind projects over a similar period – would require the construction of two or more additional
offshore high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable circuits from Scotland to England/Wales. These
HVDC circuits would be in addition to the two offshore HVDC cable projects already discussed in the
ENSG report1, which was based on a much lower level of offshore wind in Scotland.

In view of the extent of these reinforcements, when designing connections for the Argyll Array, Islay
and Kintyre projects any connections to Scotland were accompanied by the addition of further HVDC
cable capacity to England & Wales. Depending on the design this capacity might be provided by
cables built especially for the associated wind farm project, or it can be provided by allocating a
proportion of the capacity of a larger new HVDC cable that could also serve other onshore and
offshore projects.

1
Energy Networks Strategy Group (ENSG) report “Our Electricity Transmission Network: a Vision for 2020”

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Alternative designs

In evaluating suitable grid designs Islay and Kintyre offshore wind farms were considered as a cluster
due to their proximity, size (which makes them suitable for a combined connection), and their
common ownership. Solway and Wigtown offshore wind farms were also considered as a cluster due
to their proximity to each other and to nearby onshore connection points, all of which are at a distance
for which alternating current (AC) cables are economic. Argyll Array was considered on its own.

For each of the offshore wind farm groups a survey of all possible connection points was carried out
and then screened based on costs and risks. The use of both AC and HVDC technology was
considered for all groups, evaluating possible connection points in Scotland, England & Wales, and
Northern Island.

Argyll Array

The distance from Argyll Array to all of the connection points considered is sufficiently great that
economic considerations dictate the use of Voltage Source Converter HVDC2 links.

i) Hunterston was the preferred connection point in Scotland. Hunterston is relatively well
connected with four 400kV AC circuits and (from 2015) an 1800MW HVDC circuit.

ii) Deeside was the preferred connection point in England & Wales. Deeside is well connected
with eight 400kV AC circuits and, by 2015, two HVDC circuits. The 400kV circuits, however,
may be congested due to the volume of generation in the area and so a sensitivity study was
undertaken: this confirmed that the study results would not be significantly changed if the
connection point needed to be moved to an alternative site further inland.

iii) Kilroot was the preferred connection point in Northern Ireland.

The study concluded that the Argyll Array should be connected through two cables: one to Hunterston
and one to Deeside. The cable to Deeside would pass close to the Kilroot site and (providing certain
commercial and regulatory issues can be overcome) it would be beneficial for some of power that
would otherwise have been transmitted to Deeside to be taken off at Kilroot instead. This would allow
the Kilroot-Deeside part of the cable to be designed to a lower rating.

Islay and Kintyre

The same potential connection points were selected for these wind farms as for Argyll Array. The
study concluded that the Islay and Kintyre projects should be connected together using a DC cable,

2
Wind farm connections using this technology already exist: the cover of this report shows the installation of the
offshore HVDC converter station “Borwin Alpha” in Germany.

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with the output of the cluster exported through two cables: one to Hunterston and one to Deeside. As
with the Argyll Array the cable to Deeside might be tapped into at Kilroot.

Solway and Wigtown

Preferred connection points were identified at Tongland (near the Scottish coast) for Wigtown and
Broughton Moor (near the existing Robin Rigg tie-in point) for Solway.

Preferred Designs

The preferred designs are as shown below, with the choice between the two preferred designs being
driven primarily by the total amount of generation at the Argyll, Islay and Kintyre sites. In the design
shown on the left there are two separate HVDC systems serving Argyll Array and Islay/Kintyre
respectively. This design is slightly more expensive (about 8-10% more than the design on the right).
The design of the right, which has a single combined HVDC system, is cheaper – but is only feasible
if the amount of generation in Argyll Array, Islay and Kintyre is below a certain amount; this critical
amount may be as low as 1000MW or as high as 2300MW depending on future design standards. In
both designs the Wigtown and Solway Firth wind farms have independent AC connections.

Two Separate HVDC Systems Combined HVDC Systems

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The possibility of connecting part of Round 3 Zone 9 (Irish Sea) to the HVDC cable(s) coming to
Deeside from the west coast Scotland wind farms was also examined but rejected due to the resulting
complexity, the limited scale of the benefits, and its inconsistency with work already planned by
National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) for the connection of the zone.

Co-ordination Requirements

In respect of co-ordination the report concludes that:

i) For the Wigtown Bay and Solway offshore wind farms no new regulatory issues arise and
there is no need for measures to ensure co-ordination between the developers beyond the
existing structures established by The Crown Estate to deal with cumulative impacts.

ii) For the Islay and Kintyre wind farms a joint connection is recommended. Both these projects
have the same developer so co-ordination should not be difficult.

iii) Argyll Array and Islay/Kintyre projects should develop separate offshore grids until sufficient
information is available regarding the size of these wind farms (and the future size of the
system infeed limits) to allow a decision to be made on whether the two projects can connect
to a single HVDC system. Such a decision is unlikely to be possible unless both projects can
simultaneously commit to construction of a certain capacity.

iv) Where the separate HVDC systems being developed by Argyll Array and Islay/Kintyre are
adjacent the developers should co-ordinate with each other on issues relating to acquisition of
land rights and environmental permitting. If the existing co-ordination measures are
insufficient it is suggested that The Crown Estate should encourage the developers to jointly
hire a single party to undertake this development work. Joint cable routing and joint cable
surveys between these projects, and potentially the Hunterston-Deeside cable being
developed by Scottish Power Transmission and NGET, could be directly facilitated by The
Crown Estate.

v) There is no need for a single offshore transmission owner (OFTO) to be appointed covering
both Argyll Array and Islay/Kintyre, or for all of the OFTOs to be appointed simultaneously.
Each project should be able to select the timing of OFTO appointment that is best suited to its
programme.

vi) Given that the Northern Ireland’s system operator (SONI) has indicated that it will be very
difficult for them to accommodate more than one 500MW connection from a wind farm /
interconnector, it is possible that if both Argyll Array and Islay/Kintyre wish to connect to

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 Northern Ireland only one will be permitted to do so 3. In this case it is recommended that
Britain’s system operator (NETSO) select the option that gives the lowest overall costs.

Regulatory Issues and Next Steps

Regarding regulatory uncertainties and barriers the report concludes that:

i) The tariffs that would be applied to a generator connected to an offshore HVDC network that
connects to multiple onshore locations should be clarified.

ii) The rules limiting the maximum instantaneous loss of power that can be experienced (which
limits the amount of generation that can be connected to each HVDC system) must be
clarified, both as regards the possibility of going beyond current limits and any tariffs that may
be associated with this.

iii) The potential for changing the grid planning standards so that a connection to an external
system (in this case Northern Ireland) can be used to meet part of an offshore wind farm’s
grid connection requirements should be clarified.

iv) The ownership of energy trading rights between Northern Ireland and Britain, and the tariffs
that would be levied on such energy trades, needs to be clarified.

v) The ownership of the transmission assets should be clarified, though this need not delay the
development process where this is being undertaken by the wind farm developers and their
appointees.

3
The economies of scale in HVDC converter design are such that building two 250MW converters – one for each
HVDC system – would not be economic.

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ABOUT THE CROWN ESTATE

The Crown Estate is an estate valued at more than £6 billion, including substantial blocks of urban
property, over 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres) of agricultural land in England, Scotland and Wales,
and around half the foreshore, together with the seabed out to the 12 mile territorial limit. Every year it
pays its entire revenue surplus to the Treasury for the benefit of all UK taxpayers. In 2008/09 this
amounted to over £226.5 million.

As owners, managers and guardians of one of the United Kingdom’s most important and diverse
urban, rural and marine property portfolios, The Crown Estate is underpinned by three core values of
commercialism, integrity and stewardship.

The Crown Estate’s marine properties include more than half of the UK’s foreshore (17,000 km), 55
per cent of the beds of tidal rivers and estuaries and almost the entire seabed out to the 12 nautical
mile territorial limit around the UK. It also includes the rights to the natural resources in the UK
Continental Shelf, with the exception of oil, coal and gas.

The Crown Estate manages its assets on a commercial basis, guided by the principles of sustainable
development and social responsibility. We are committed to sustainable and long-term management
of these unique assets.

In 1999 The Crown Estate established its programme of Marine Stewardship to provide funding to
support practical projects, relevant research, and other initiatives that improve the status and
management of the marine estate.

For further information and contact details see www.thecrownestate.co.uk

ABOUT TRANSMISSION CAPITAL

Transmission Capital is an independent transmission company which provides asset management

and advisory services to transmission investors. It is working with investor partners to procure, own
and operate offshore transmission assets through Britain’s new offshore transmission regulatory
arrangements.

Transmission Capital is also providing transmission development services to several offshore wind
developers, using its project management, commercial and technical expertise to lead teams of
specialists such as environmental experts, planners, land agents, electrical engineers and offshore
design engineers.

For further information and contact details see www.transmissioncapital.com