Abstract
This paper presents a framework to find optimal offshore grid expansions using a transportation model of the power grid. The method extends the standard mixed-integer linear programming approach to the solution of the transmission expansion planning problem to account for fluctuations in wind power generation and load; this makes the method especially suited to identify optimal transnational offshore high-voltage direct current grid structures for the integration of large amounts of offshore wind power. The applicability of the method is demonstrated by a case study of the North Sea region. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.