Dividing the Sea into Small Bidding Zones? The Legal Challenges of Connecting Offshore Wind Farms to Multiple Countries

Massive deployment of offshore wind is a core building block of the EU’s climate and energy strategy. So-called ‘hybrid assets’ can be used to connect offshore wind to the onshore grid. A hybrid asset is a connection between at least two countries, to which offshore wind farms are also connected. The connection transports offshore-generated electricity to shore, while facilitating electricity trade through additional interconnection capacity. The current EU Electricity Market Regulation is not fit for this purpose, holding back the development of hybrid assets. This article discusses the legal issues regarding hybrid assets, and a promising solution: offshore bidding zones

Regulating Offshore Electricity Infrastructure in the North Sea:Towards a New Legal Framework

Offshore wind farms need to be connected to the onshore electricity grids of the North Sea coastal states. With an increasing amount of wind farms, it becomes beneficial to construct a meshed offshore electricity grid rather than only single point-to-point lines between the windfarm and the coast. However, the legal framework for offshore electricity infrastructure is currently not yet able to facilitate an offshore electricity grid. Therefore, this dissertation discusses how the legal framework for offshore grid should be changed in order to facilitate the cost-effective development of offshore electricity infrastructure. A main conclusion is that a 'North Sea Agreement' is a suitable instrument. The dissertation analyses the possible contents of such an agreement using a qualitative informal cost benefit analysis

Regulating offshore wind energy

Offshore wind has become a large component of the renewable energy ambitions of many coastal states. Whereas onshore wind energy has a large visual impact on the landscape, offshore wind farms have fewer problems of this nature. Although this technology has historically been more expensive than its onshore counterpart, the cost reductions are promising – in part due to the larger areas available offshore, which allow for large economies of scale to be reached. After providing a factual background of offshore wind development, the chapter provides an overview of international law applicable to offshore wind farms. As the majority of offshore wind farms are located in the EU, the chapter also gives an overview of applicable EU law, before providing examples of different legislative options available to states throughout the lifetime of an offshore wind farm, based on a comparative overview of different national legislative systems for offshore wind