Danish developer Orsted will bid for the right to develop the 700MW Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm off the Netherlands at an ongoing subsidy-free auction for the site.
Orsted chief executive of offshore wind Martin Neubert said: “The Netherlands has ambitious climate targets for both the energy and industrial sectors and is an important market to us.
“We deliver a strong bid with a high degree of risk mitigation.”
Orsted praised the Dutch government for going ahead with the auction despite disruption caused by Covid-19.
The company said: “We commend the Dutch government for holding on to its tender timelines and its renewable energy targets during a time of global uncertainty.
“We urge governments worldwide to continue the transition from black to green energy at full speed in order to fight climate change and promote sustainable investment in economic growth and job creation.”
Orsted said the bid includes “innovative technologies” that it hopes can integrate larger amounts of offshore wind into the Dutch energy system.
The Orsted board of directors has already approved a final investment decision for the project if the company wins the auction, which closes tomorrow.
Late last month, Swedish developer Vattenfall said it would not bid for the site, citing uncertainty in energy prices driven by the Covid-19 pandemic as its motive for pulling out. German developer EnBW has also declined to bid.
The auction result will be published in August.
Meanwhile, Orsted’s 752MW Borssele 1&2 offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea has delivered first power.
The project’s first 8MW Siemens Gamesa turbine has been connected to TenneT’s onshore grid in the Netherlands and is generating electricity.
Borssele 1&2 senior programme director Flemming Thomsen said: “This is a big milestone for Borssele 1&2.
“Orsted is doing its utmost to allow the construction of the offshore wind farm to continue during the Covid-19 crisis.
“We do this in a way that puts the health and safety of our contractors and our own employees first.
“For the time being, this is succeeding, and construction is on schedule. We’re helped in this by good cooperation with our contractors and a constructive dialogue with national and local authorities.”
Borssele 1&2 engineering, procurement and construction director Henrik Egholm said: “The design and construction teams and our suppliers have put in a lot of effort in the past years and will continue to do so until the wind farm is completed.”
Orsted Netherlands country manager Steven Engels said: “It’s been a long, but satisfactory journey since we started developing the Dutch offshore wind market in 2013.
“After having won the Borssele 1&2 tender in 2016 with an industry breakthrough price of €72.7 per megawatt-hour, it is great news that we’ve reached another major milestone today with the first supply of wind energy to the Netherlands.”
Borssele 1&2 is located 22 km off the coast of the Dutch province of Zeeland in water depths ranging from 14 to 39.7 metres.
Construction started in January with the installation of the first foundation.