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UTILITY WEEK | OCTOBER 2020 | 21 Policy & Regulation are now performing "a very effective job" , she says. Along with a number of other Conserva- tive MPs from across Norfolk and Suffolk, Baker has been energetically lobbying the Department for Business, Energy and Indus- trial Strategy (BEIS) in recent months for a more planned approach to East Anglia's offshore transmission infrastructure. This summer, the department responded by announcing a review into the UK's offshore transmission arrangements (see box, below). The offshore wind industry recognises that the UK's existing transmission arrange- ment are overdue for a revamp, Wharton says: "If you look at the number of wind- farms we will want in the future, it's becom- ing clear that the point-to-point connections we currently have aren't going to be fit for purpose. We want to reduce the costs by hav- ing shared connections and reducing the impact on onshore communities." The problem will become more pressing as more windfarms are earmarked by the Crown Estate in its upcoming round four allocation, says Greig. "With round four there will be more hotspots, so this is about making sure those hotspots don't become barriers to offshore wind." Another factor pushing the development of a shared network is that high-voltage AC cables used for existing point-to-point connections become less effective than DC the further offshore windfarms are located because they waste more energy. "As we move further offshore with much longer cables and high voltages, we are mov- ing from the AC to DC world," says Wharton. Professor Keith Bell, of the University of Strathclyde, who recently joined the Commit- tee on Climate Change, says a number of DC transmission lines from different windfarms could feed into a single convertor station. And once on land, delivery of a single and larger corridor is potentially easier because it would involve negotiating with fewer land- owners to secure access to the cables for maintenance and operation, says Greig. An upside of an offshore grid is that it could be used to create new interconnectors, says Bell: "Cables can serve two purposes: bringing offshore wind energy back to shore and if it's not windy those connections can now serve as interconnectors." Obstacles The major obstacle to the development of an offshore transmission grid has been Ofgem, which has taken a cautious approach to net- What can we expect of the BEIS offshore transmission review? Utility Week understands that as many as eight different offshore trans- mission options are being looked at. The highest profile of these is the so-called Norfolk ringmain, which is being explored by the county's Tory MPs. A single would hug the East Anglian coast, coming onshore at no more than two points and minimising the land infrastructure required. Another option is to build a convertor substation offshore, which could be hooked up to the individual windfarms by radial lines. However, there are concerns that reliance on individual points could pose risks to security of supply, says one infrastructure source: "We need to ensure that new offshore wind transmission infrastructure is as secure and robust as onshore wind. If you have half the offshore windfarms plug into one supply, that's going to be a problem." Yet another proposal is to create a "bootstrap" cable, which would bypass Norfolk entirely, enabling the windfarms output to be transmitted directly to where demand is greatest in London and the South East. Like the Irish Sea "bootstrap", this could also reinforce the resilience of the wider grid. Yet another option could be to use the electricity generated to manu- facture hydrogen offshore with sea-mounted electrolysers, says Bell: "You could bring it back in the form of hydrogen by putting in a load of electrolysers. You can fit more energy through a metre width of hydrogen pipe than through electricity cables." BEIS is due to announce its terms of reference for its review in the autumn. work extensions, like those recently mooted for the Scottish islands, says Bell: "Regula- tory arrangements don't lend themselves to this co-ordination." According to Munir Hassan, partner and head of clean energy at solicitors CMS Cam- eron McKenna, "the idea of having an off- shore transmission strategy has fallen at a very simple hurdle". "Ofgem's regulatory framework effectively places the burden of current investment decisions on transmission licensees. "Point-to-point connections are easier to justify: there will be customer with a par- ticular need for that size of cable coming to shore. The question that will have to be addressed is, who will take the risk on that anticipatory investment, building stuff that may not end up needing to be built?" Wharton says: "Ofgem is not keen on very large infrastructure being built before it's needed, but if this is going to work we need to build stuff out in the hope and expecta- tion that maybe five years later, a number of windfarms will connect into it. The debate is how much anticipatory investment Ofgem will allow." But he is reassured by the "enthusiasm" Ofgem and the grid's Energy Systems Opera- tor have displayed about tackling the issue, noting that offshore transmission was one of the nine points in the regulator's decarboni- sation plan. And as more windfarms are developed, they will be more likely to be grouped closer together, which will further reduce the finan- cial risks of building shared infrastructure, says Greig. India Redrup, policy manager at Energy UK, sums up the debate: "Ultimately, we don't want any barriers to the growth of off- shore wind because it's a massive resource. Any potential barrier needs to be removed and addressed." David Blackman, policy correspondent