The North Sea Super Grid - a technical perspective

The North Sea Super Grid (NSSG) will include several independently planned projects, comprising a variety of different AC and DC technologies. The offshore clusters will most likely be AC based. Long distance transmission will be HVDC and nowadays Voltage Source Converter (VSC) technology is applied for offshore projects. However in the future, Line Commutated Converter (LCC) technology could become an interesting option. Hybrid HVDC systems that combine VSC and LCC technology, Multiterminal HVDC systems (MTDC) and parallel HVDC links will gain importance for the development of the NSSG. In this paper an overview over possible technologies is given and it is discussed how these can be utilised to realise the North Sea Super Grid.