Building the Backbone of Offshore Wind Power: Practical Grid Insights for Developing Economies

The week began at WindEnergy Hamburg, where delegates joined sessions on key themes from grid build-out to auction design. One lesson quickly emerged: grid integration cannot be bolted on after an offshore wind auction. Transmission planning, procurement design, regulation and system operations need to advance together.

As I often say, “if you love offshore wind, you need to at least like transmission.” Turbines may get the glamour shots; the grid still has to take the power home.

At TenneT's SuedLink Information Centre and construction site, delegates learned about TenneT's offshore strategy and one of Germany's major high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission projects. The visit highlighted the long lead times and onshore reinforcements needed to move large volumes of power. It was a useful reminder that while wind farms can be developed comparatively quickly; major transmission infrastructure often takes much longer.

In Esbjerg, we asked each delegation two questions: What keeps you awake at night? And what questions do you most need to answer?

The similarities were striking. Countries with very different markets were wrestling with many of the same challenges.

Three questions surfaced repeatedly:

• Who moves first – should transmission be built ahead of projects or wait for developer commitment?
• Who bears the risks associated with delays, congestion and curtailment?
• What happens when the best wind resource is not located where the grid is strongest?

Workshops, featuring contributions from the Port of Esbjerg, Vattenfall and the Danish Energy Agency, gave delegates an opportunity to compare approaches rather than hunt for one answer. A smaller group visited Vattenfall's Operational Control Center, while the full delegation toured the Port of Esbjerg and its Wind Hub to see the operational and logistics backbone behind offshore wind.

The final technical visit took us offshore to Ørsted's Anholt Offshore Wind Farm. During the vessel journey, Ørsted's team discussed regulation, operations and the practical experience of managing a 400 MW wind farm with 111 turbines . After days spent discussing planning frameworks, rules and grids, seeing the infrastructure operating at sea brought the conversation vividly to life. As I like to say: “the only thing better than talking about offshore wind is seeing offshore wind."

By the time we returned to Horsens, one message was clear: countries do not need to replicate either Germany or Denmark, but they can avoid relearning every lesson from scratch. The value lies in understanding the consequences of different choices, then adapting them locally.

Across the country presentations, three themes emerged:

1. Planning: offshore wind procurement must align with transmission, permitting and the wider generation pipeline.
2. Regulation: responsibilities and risks related to connection delays, congestion, curtailment and stranded-assets need to be clearly allocated and defined.
3. System operations: as variable generation increases, forecasting, reserves, ancillary services, storage, system flexibility and institutional coordination become increasingly important.

Grid integration is not simply a technical issue. The timing of transmission investment, allocation of connection and curtailment risk, market and procurement design, and coordination between institutions all affect project bankability, system cost and delivery confidence.

If developers do not know when a grid connection will be available, who pays for reinforcement, or what happens when a project cannot export power, those uncertainties are ultimately reflected in the financing costs. That is why planners, regulators, ministries and financiers need to be in the same conversation much earlier.

A recurring reflection was that preparation cannot wait until projects are ready to build. Grid planning, regulation, market design, permitting and institutional coordination need to advance in parallel.

Peer exchange mattered just as much. Ministries, regulators, system operators and transmission planners were able to test ideas, share experiences and challenge assumptions from different institutional perspectives.

A successful study tour should deliver practical knowledge, trusted relationships and confidence to call a peer when a difficult problem arises. I believe we achieved that.

My sincere thanks go to the 36 participants for their contributions throughout our journey across Hamburg, Wewelsfleth, Horsens, Esbjerg, and Grenaa. I am grateful to ESMAP’s donors for their support and to GWEC, TenneT, Port Esbjerg, Vattenfall, the Danish Energy Agency, Ørsted and WindEnergy Hamburg for sharing their experiences so openly.

The next step is to turn those lessons into action which will allow offshore wind to succeed at scale in each participating country.