This research relates to the connection of the offshore wind farms with the electricity grid.

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The current legal framework is aimed at national connection and hinders alternatives for the “just” connection of windfarms with the shore. Studies show that in terms of financial and industrial sensibility, this is not the right practice for the large deployment of offshore electricity generation.

 

This research intends to point out legal alternatives which make sense from an industrial and financial point of view.

 

Hereby, we examine the adequacy of the rules regarding grid connection, market and regulatory aspects and planning and authorization from an international and European law perspective in combination with a comparative study between Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

 

In relation to this, the research is subdivided into a short-term research question and a long-term research question:

• What is the current legal framework for connecting the Belgian offshore wind energy farms to the Belgian transmission grid?

• What is the current legal framework for interconnecting the Belgian offshore wind energy farms to the grids of other European States?

 

Considering different alternatives, we examine the legal possibilities in order to determine whether connection can't be made cheaper with less environmental effects. Making the connection cheaper will result in lower electricity bills, which is in the benefit of the electricity consumer and the industry.

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Henceforth, this research can deliver direct usable insights for legal options for connecting and interconnecting windfarms.