The study carried out by Senergy, Econnect and National Grid for the Crown Estate, aimed to identify the extent and costs of the work necessary to provide optimised transmission connections for the Round 3 zones.

It is based on assumptions on the distribution of offshore wind across nine potential development zones. Capacity was allocated for the purposes of the grid study only and based on the relative size of the area.

The recommendations of the report are:

• That environmental and planning constraints may affect connection solutions for each zone;
• That the extent of constraints on supply chain may impact delivery of the Round 3 connections;
• The power transfer capacity of the HVAC and HVDC technologies should be raised to improve economies of scale;
• A process to effectively manage the Round 3 grid connection applications should be put in place;
• That ‘no regret’ onshore reinforcement options should be progressed immediately to provide the necessary transmission capacity in a timely manner.