Next week the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy will start the process of awarding two of the largest offshore wind farms tenders to date, with 4GW of offshore wind energy being licensed in one go.
This as much as the total capacity of the existing wind farms in the country’s waters combined.
These are the Alpha and Beta plots in the the Ijmuiden Ver wind farm area, which is the largest wind energy area in the Netherlands.
The wind farms will be located more than sixty kilometres from the Dutch coast, near Ijmuiden.
They are expected to be commissioned in 2029 and 2030.
The tenders for the two sites will open at the end of February 2024.
Next week, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy will publish the final tender regulations and the final wind farm site decisions.
The ministry is also publishing an amended ‘Offshore Wind Energy Implementation Regulations’ to ensure that safety can be taken into account even more in the permit procedure.
The tenders consist of a so-called comparative test with an additional financial offer.
This method was also used in the tenders for Hollandse Kust (west).
Ecology and integration of the electricity produced into the energy system are important points in the tenders as the government wants to stimulate solution-oriented and innovative bids.
By the end of 2031, the Netherlands aims to achieve approximately 21GW of installed capacity for offshore wind energy.
Minister Jetten for Climate and Energy: “The North Sea will be the supplier of green electricity for Europe and an indispensable part of the sustainable energy system of the future.
“In recent years, the Netherlands has made great strides with nature-oriented and technical innovations, costs have fallen and we have started to work more and more efficiently.
“We can be proud of that. I am also pleased that we can now take an important step forward with the largest Dutch tender round to date.”