The Dutch-German grid manager Tennet and the British electricity and gas company National Grid are working on a plan to connect the Dutch and UK energy grids via wind farms in the North Sea. This should create a new market and reduce the need to shut down wind farms due to overproduction.

The wind farms have a production of 4 GW. That production is becoming more important to the British energy market because obsolete nuclear power stations are being closed down there. Tennet and National Grid want to have a first project in sight by the end of next year and aim to connect the energy networks of the Netherlands and the UK by 2029.

National Grid wants to have 7.8 GW of grid connections with mainland Europe by 2024, enough for a quarter of Britain’s energy needs. The UK is a world leader in offshore wind farms.

The upcoming Brexit is seen as a complicating factor in the plans as the UK’s exit from the European common market also changes how energy is bought and sold. Brexit will also make it more difficult for countries to close deals with each other.

Source: ANP