The Dutch Senate has approved a law that will allow the government to move ahead with an offshore wind tender.
A government statement today said the law allows transmission operator TenneT to start construction of grid infrastructure required for the new wind farms off the country’s coast and at Borssele.
It also clarifies for wind farm developers the damage liability from delays and disruptions to the grid.
The law could lead to the Netherlands generating 3.45GW of electricity from offshore wind by 2020 and 6GW on land, the Dutch economic affairs department said.
Economic affairs minister Henk Kamp said: “Now the Senate has approved this law, TenneT can start with the construction of the electricity network for offshore wind farms. Also bottlenecks to achieve onshore wind farms removed.”
He added that the decision means the Netherlands could still meet its 15% renewable energy goals by 2020.
The Netherlands Wind Energy Association said the Senate decision meant the last hurdle for the construction of large-scale, sustainable offshore wind farms had been removed.
TenneT chief executive officer Mel Kroon said: “We are very pleased with the Senate’s decision, which avoids any risk of delays right at the start of the tendering process.
“The adoption of this amendment to the Electricity Act means that TenneT can now apply the knowledge and expertise gained in Germany in connecting OWFs to the onshore grid.”
Image: the Prinses Amalia offshore wind farm in Netherlands (Eneco)