Successful kick-off of InterOPERA Horizon Europe offshore electricity grids project

On 17-19 January 2023, the “Enabling interoperability of multi-vendor HVDC grids” InterOPERA project was officially launched in Lyon, France.

The €69 million project will define the future interoperability standards of the multi-terminal high voltage direct current (HVDC) grids in offshore electricity.

Europe wants to build around 450 GW of offshore wind by 2050. The EU alone wants to have 300 GW by then. The hybrid offshore wind farms will play an increasingly important role in delivering this target. In the future, offshore wind farms will not only transmit electricity directly to shore. They will also serve as interconnectors between countries and transmit electricity between different wind farms.

The project’s main aim is to make future HVDC systems mutually compatible and interoperable by design, and to improve the grid forming capabilities of both offshore and onshore converters.

InterOPERA unites more than 20 European partners to accelerate the integration of renewable energy in line with the European Union strategy and to pave the way towards multi-terminal multi-vendor multi-purpose HVDC grids in Europe. 

With €50 million in EU funding, InterOPERA receives one of the highest amount of project funding from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation with a total budget of EUR 95.5 billion.

Project duration: 52 months

More information

InterOPERA is a joint initiative involving eight TSOs, three offshore wind developers, four HVDC equipment manufacturers, two wind turbine manufacturers, two sector associations, two universities under the coordination of a research and innovation institute.