The Dutch Senate will convene next week to debate draft laws which must be passed before the government can press ahead with an offshore wind tender.
The economic affairs committee will examine the proposal to appoint TenneT as the offshore grid operator on Tuesday.
Recently passed in the House of Representatives, the proposal will also have to be agreed by the Senate plenary, which will next meet on 8 March.
It is going through a fast-track procedure following the Senate’s rejection last year of a bill designating Tennet as the offshore grid provider. The reasons for the rejection were not related to offshore wind energy.
The rejection has already delayed a 700MW offshore wind energy bidding round, which was planned for January this year.
The new grid law will have come into effect by 1 April at the latest in order for the Borssele 1 and 2 tender to be launched in May, the government said.
Further delay would mean the Netherlands is likely to miss its 14% renewable energy goal for 2020.
Image: the Prinses Amalia offshore wind farm off the Dutch coast (Eneco)
