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There is significant interest in developing offshore wind energy in Europe. Offshore wind projects require large transmission and installation investments. Therefore supporting policies are essential to make these project more economically attractive. This paper presents a optimization planning framework to investigate the impact of implementing a support instrument at different stages of planning on the final grid design and installed offshore wind capacities. For a given level of wind support, the optimal plan includes the grid and offshore wind capacities. Optimal capacities are set in such a way that congestion revenue collected throughout the life time of the project pays off the investment cost of building the grid. At the same time the remuneration of the offshore wind farm recovers the initial investment cost. The model is used to investigate the impact of implementing a wind support plan on the development of the …