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The UK Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is launching two projects to identify the challenges and solutions of collecting and distributing electricity from renewable sources in the UK

The development and installation of large offshore renewable energy farms, such as wind, wave and tidal, off the coast of the UK raises a number of challenges, according to the ETI. These include the collection of electrical energy offshore from energy farms, the transportation of bulk electrical energy generated by these offshore farms to the UK shoreline, and the connection and integration of these offshore farms into the onshore power system.

The Offshore Connection project, which will last around seven months, will examine the challenges and opportunities arising from the connection of offshore renewable energy to the UK grid system, as well as considering the impact of large-scale offshore development.

It will also look at electrical system designs and control strategies that could be developed to collect, manage and transmit renewable energy back to shore, as well as identifying and assessing innovative solutions to these issues.

The existing onshore transmission and distribution system has little spare capacity to cope with the widespread changes in generation and performance patterns that the introduction of more renewable energy sources will cause.
 
Therefore, the Network Capacity project will identify and assess new technology solutions that could enhance transmission and distribution capacity in the UK. This project will also last approximately seven months.