**4. Summary**

The extensive integration of renewable energy and HVDC that is yet to grow in the coming years is already changing the dynamics of the grid and pushing it to its limits, which necessitates the advent of a new class of converter-based power modules, namely grid forming. It is foreseen that such modifications will not only enable them to participate in supporting grid stability but also allow them to contribute more actively in providing essential services to ensure reliable and secure operation of future decarbonized electric network. Offshore wind power plants are deemed to play a key role in achieving this reality, but there are many obstacles yet to overcome. However, a dialog between system operators, developers and manufacturers to

facilitate the development of required technology and market for a faster uptake of the responsibilities conventionally targeted to large thermal power plants by renewable sources and aggregated non-traditional technologies is already gaining momentum.

Recent studies and demonstrations have shown that grid forming wind turbines can not only provide blackstart and islanding capabilities but also support conventional grid following wind turbines while maintaining complete control over voltage and frequency with a desired response to transient events that contributes to stability of the grid. However, there are limits to the capabilities both at the individual turbine level and the aggregated system/farm level. In addition to the need of additional energy storage and new revenue streams along with potential re-design of the protection scheme, adverse control interactions in the resonance-rich offshore network make harmonic and transient stability critical to assess for ensuring reliable and secure operation. Thus, there is still a long way to go to make self-reliant wind farms a reality, but their potential to yield significant operational cost benefits while also reducing the carbon footprint over the project's lifetime makes them an unavoidable player in helping meet our climate goals while ensuring high reliability and resilience of electricity supply with the most cost-effective and efficient usage of grid infrastructure.
