Dynamic thermal rating of offshore cables: An electro-thermal and economic framework for enhanced renewable integration

Dynamic Thermal Rating (DTR) enables real-time adjustment of HVAC submarine export cable capacity based on prevailing operating and environmental conditions, which offers a practical means to enhance offshore wind farm (OWF) export capability. This paper presents an integrated electro-thermal and Optimal Power Flow (OPF) framework, formulated as a binary-free Linear Programming (LP) problem, to co-optimize OWF generation dispatch and cable loading under DTR. The electro-thermal model, validated against high-fidelity finite element method (FEM) in COMSOL Multiphysics, accurately captures steady-state and transient heat transfer within the cable and surrounding seabed. Application to realistic offshore wind farm configurations, including overplanting and hybrid solar–wind scenarios, demonstrates that applying DTR to HVAC export cables can substantially reduce renewable energy curtailment, improve utilization of existing infrastructure, and defer the need for costly reinforcements. The results highlight DTR as a technically robust and economically attractive strategy to increase renewable energy delivery and support higher integration levels in offshore transmission systems.