Seven European transmission system operators have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the launch of Eurobar, an initiative on international standardisation of interfaces and technology for interconnecting offshore wind platforms across Europe.

The aim of Eurobar is to integrate offshore wind power into the European power grid, starting from current regulation and point-to-point connections and prospectively evolving to an interlinked offshore network or “busbar alike system”. The concept is modular and is designed to be implemented autonomously.

Ultimately Eurobar is intended to help develop and implement a joint approach to connect offshore infrastructure to Europe’s transmission system. It proposes that  interfaces be standardised for the upcoming generation of offshore connection technologies, making them “offshore grid ready”.

The companies are 50Hertz Transmission (Germany), Svenska Kraftnät (Sweden), Amprion (Germany) Red Electrica De Espana (Spain), RTE (France), Statnett (Norway) and Terna (Italy).“Eurobar makes a constructive contribution to European plans for offshore development,” said Hans-Jürgen Brick, chief executive of Amprion. “It is a multinational framework for existing ideas, which need to be connected and translated into sustainable and innovative projects. Cooperation and exchange are key to the success of our initiative, therefore it is and remains permanently open to interested new parties.”