But where do you plug them in

The transmission of power from large, offshore wind farms is a considerable technical challenge. It is similar to that faced by oil exploration companies in the 1960s when they first began to exploit offshore oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. A reliable, modern and efficient grid, both onshore and offshore, is required. Offshore, the challenge is to more efficiently connect power harvested at sea with the onshore transmission system, while at the same time building a system that can actively contribute to stability and security of supply by enabling further integration of the European power market. This was the dilemma mulled over by global renewable energy consultancy 3E when it analsysed the situation in a report for the OffshoreGrid project, co-financed by the European Commission under the EU's Intelligent Energy Europe programme. The consultancy published its final report late last year. Not surprisingly, the technical solution deemed most viable was a meshed grid consisting of linked hub connections. This would entail connecting projects located in close proximity so that they could share a single transmission line to shore. The report predicted that this would shave £11.5bn from the original £67bn.