A step-change for offshore wind: Securing onshore grid stability

The INCENTIVE project is a joint industry project funded through Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) and the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator. The project aimed to develop industry-wide consensus on how offshore wind could contribute to the electrical stability of the onshore transmission network.

A step-change for offshore wind: Securing onshore grid stability report front cover

Overview

In April 2025, the INCENTIVE project published a summary report of its findings up to the Beta phase of the project. As detailed in the report, the project found that both the INCENTIVE BESS and INCENTIVE STATCOM, in conjunction with offshore wind installations, could provide cost-effective stability services to the grid.

Key findings:

  • INCENTIVE has found that offshore wind in conjunction with an INCENTIVE STATCOM or INCENTIVE BESS can provide necessary and cost-effective stability services to the onshore grid. The technical testing of the devices found that they could stabilise the onshore grid. However, the testing also found that the Grid Code requirements and the current testing best practices do not give a full picture of all the system strength benefits provided by the INCENTIVE solutions, with the tests rating other technologies more highly. The INCENTIVE project derisked the regulatory model. However, there is remaining work to be done, and a ‘pipe-cleaner’ project is recommended to ensure the pathway to business-as-usual is clear in the case of developer ownership.
  • The project proved the economic benefits of the INCENTIVE Solutions in providing cost-effective stability services to the onshore grid. However, incentives were determined to be unclear. By potentially undervaluing the system strength contribution of grid-forming devices, and placing onerous requirements on inertia contribution, the current stability market may undervalue novel inverter-based stability assets. Additionally, it is unclear if these services will become mandatory in the future. 

 

 

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