The Netherlands is to abandon the country’s 50GW by 2040 offshore wind target following an assessment of electricity demand growth and ongoing challenges in the offshore sector.
Sophie Hermans (pictured), Minister for Climate and Green growth, today told parliament in a letter that slower-than-expected electrification rates, rising capex for offshore wind as well as slow development of hydrogen markets mean that “realism is needed (in) planning the roll-out of offshore wind energy”.
Hermans added: “It does not seem feasible and necessary at the moment to have 50GW of offshore wind … capacity by 2040.”
The decision to roll back the target was presented as part of the North Sea Wind Energy Infrastructure Plan (WIN), which is based on recent market studies and which outlines plans for future decision-making around offshore infrastructure in the Dutch North Sea in the coming years.
Hermans said that analysis in the WIN show that “a bandwidth of 30GW to 40GW of offshore wind energy is the most realistic” for 2040, and that the government would “recalibrate” the target for offshore wind and hydrogen at sea in a Climate and Energy Memorandum in September.
“This creates a more realistic roll-out path that fits the way in which the energy transition is developing,” she said, adding that the Memorandum would also include more information on the changed demand forecasts for renewable electricity and hydrogen as well as an assessment of the continued growth of renewable energy on land.
The WIN focuses on the period from 2033 onwards. In the shorter term, the government is planning to publish an action plan for offshore wind energy later this year, Hermans said.
Dutch wind energy association NedZero said that the plan would also put the previously stated target of 70GW of offshore wind by 2050 at risk.
“This represents a significant step backward in ambition with far-reaching consequences for investment security, energy independence, and achieving national and European climate goals,” it said in a statement.