In 2019, the transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT has raised the German connection capacity for offshore wind power to 7,132 MW, exceeding the federal government’s target for 2020 of 6.5 GW for the North and Baltic Seas. TenneT transmitted a record of 20 TWh of wind power from the German North Sea - 21% more than in 2018 - enough to cover the annual consumption of more than 6 million households. The company is currently implementing three other offshore grid connections that should raise the transmission capacity in the North Sea to 10 GW in 2025.
In 2019, the company also commissioned its first offshore grid connection in the Netherlands with a target of reaching 3,500 MW of capacity by 2023. In 2020, TenneT plans to commission the 1,400 MW NordLink interconnector, a 525 kV HVDC submarine interconnection project between Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) and Tonstad (Norway). It will enable Germany to import hydropower surplus from Norway, while Norway would be supplied with German wind and solar surplus.
In the long-term, TenneT is considering North Sea Wind Power Hubs, which could open up to 180 GW of offshore wind power by 2045 to cover electricity consumption in Central Europe, with the first 10-15 GW operational in the early 2030s.