Charging ahead: The need for interoperability across offshore wind farms

The North Sea is fast becoming the beating heart of Europe’s clean energy transition. With dozens of wind farms either operational, under construction, or in planning stages across UK and European waters, an era of offshore density that was almost unthinkable just a few decades ago is being entered.

Insights suggest that offshore wind developments will occupy more than 60 000 km² of the North Sea by 2025, equating to almost 9% of the entire sea basin area of 700 000 km². Additionally, according to DNV, operational offshore wind capacity in North Sea will rise from 33 GW today to 214 GW in 2050, representing a six-fold increase over the next 25 years.¹

This dense clustering of projects presents a rare and valuable opportunity for the future of offshore wind – not just to generate more renewable electricity, but also to rethink how offshore infrastructure is built, operated, and supported.

Wind farms have historically been developed as standalone entities, with supply chains, transport vessels, and grid connections bespoke to each development. But, as turbine density soars, this fragmented approach is no longer economically, logistically, or environmentally sustainable.

Instead, the industry should look to move on from competition to collaboration, with a logical starting point being the consideration of how the vessels that keep wind farms running are electrified and the necessary infrastructure needed to make this possible.

Shared infrastructure: The smarter approach

Offshore wind farms require a fleet of operations and maintenance (O&M) vessels, generally categorised as crew transfer vessels (CTVs) and service operation vessels (SOVs), to move technicians, spare parts, and equipment between ports and turbines. Though traditionally powered by diesel, advanced electric propulsion, energy storage, and charging technologies are quickly entering the market, making these vessels now prime candidates for electrification.

The benefits are obvious. Indeed, electric and hybrid models that utilise alternative fuels (like green methanol and hydrogen) can drastically reduce emissions, water pollution, and operating costs, all while improving crew safety and comfort.

However, there is a catch. Offshore charging infrastructure is not yet ready to support the widescale adoption of electric O&M fleets. For operators looking to decarbonise their fleets, this creates a major barrier, one that threatens to slow progress in the transition to electrification.

The solution lies in shared offshore charging infrastructure. With wind farms increasingly located within close proximity to one another, there is a clear opportunity to install charging hubs, whether on offshore substations or dedicated platforms, that can serve multiple operators and vessel types. This would eliminate duplication, reduce capital expenditure, and help accelerate the rollout of electric vessels.

Vessel charging in practice

Wind farm operators looking to plan in charging solutions for future developments should consider ‘in-air’ systems, such as Charge Offshore's Aquarius Eco and Aquarius Plus. These two systems, which are deigned to charge a range of vessel sizes and battery capacities, are installable on turbines, offshore substations, and both floating and fixed foundations and structures.

In-air systems are durable and easy to maintain because they are positioned out of the water well clear of splash zones, therefore offering more cost-effective long-term charging. What is more, these systems offer the very high safety levels for users. The Aquarius range, for example, offers hands-free connection, disconnection, and overload release protection, which guarantees a high standard of safety, speed, and reliability in all-weather operating conditions.

A path towards interoperability and standardisation

Utilising shared charging infrastructure can only work if it is interoperable. This means standardised connectors, charging protocols, safety systems, and power levels that work across vessel types, manufacturers, and operators. Without these, shared infrastructure becomes a technical headache – forcing each user to retrofit or modify equipment to suit incompatible systems.

How this plays out on land has been seen. The electric vehicle (EV) sector in the UK and Europe came together around the combined charging system (CCS) standard, which now underpins fast-charging networks across the country. The Megawatt Charging System (MCS) standard delivered similar impact, enabling rapid charging for large vehicles with high energy demands. These standardisation measures proved essential to making EV adoption viable at scale, and no doubt a contributor to the growing popularity of EVs – the market share of which has more tripled over the past three years alone.

It stands to reason, then, that offshore wind needs its own CCS equivalent.

If the industry fails to plan, it may risk locking in a fragmented, inefficient offshore ecosystem. Retrofitting standardisation onto incompatible systems a few years from now will be far more expensive than getting it right from the outset.

To avoid that outcome, governments, developers, OEMs, and vessel operators should collaborate on common offshore charging standards, backed by policy and incentive frameworks. Setting out a formal initiative could co-ordinate efforts across borders and companies, with the overall goal to ensure that every electric vessel can charge at any compatible station, regardless of who built or operates it.

Looking ahead

Ultimately, while interoperability will go a long way towards accelerating the transition to electrification, there is a myriad of additional benefits it can offer. Such co-ordination will also pave the way for future shared systems, from subsea power connections and meshed grids to logistics and data infrastructure, communications systems, and maintenance planning. As offshore density increases, so too does the case for deeper interconnectivity.

The offshore wind sector has always prided itself on engineering innovation. Now it has the opportunity to turn that same ingenuity to integration. The North Sea is no longer a collection of isolated projects. If expanded as one interconnected network, with shared, smart, and sustainable infrastructure, operators and utilities can reap the rewards in lower costs, faster decarbonisation, and greater operational resilience for decades to come.

Importantly, what is developed here in the North Sea could soon be the blueprint to what happens worldwide. It is a pivotal time for the industry and these opportunities should be seized.

References

¹ ‘North Sea Forecast’, DNV, 9 April 2025, www.dnv.com/publications/north-sea-forecast/

² ‘EV market stats 2025’, Zapmap, 27 May 2025, www.zap-map.com/ev-stats/ev-market

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Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/special-reports/04062025/charging-ahead-the-need-for-interoperability-across-offshore-wind-farms/