Netherlands outlines offshore wind plans by 2030

The Dutch government on Friday released an additional roadmap for offshore wind energy by 2030 to deliver on its previously announced ambition of reaching 21 GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade.

The government said that tenders for the additional 10.7 GW of capacity, which is on top of the 11 GW previously planned, will open from 2025. The roadmap includes a timetable with expected tenders for a number of offshore wind areas, with commissionings seen by 2031.

Between 2025 and 2027, the Netherlands will tender 13.4 GW of offshore wind. Here are the details.

Climate and energy minister Rob Jetten said the country wants to make the North Sea its largest green energy source. The 21 GW of capacity represents about 75% of the Netherland’s current electricity consumption.

Transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT Holding BV will be tasked with preparing the grid connections for the additional wind farms. The construction of the extra offshore connections will require an investment of about EUR 16 billion (USD 16.9bn), according to the announcement.

TenneT has been using standardised 700-MW connections and will move to 2-GW links for larger areas located farther offshore. Connections of 2 GW will be first built to link the IJmuiden Ver wind zone.

Recently, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands pledged to pursue a tenfold increase in the installed wind capacity in the North Sea by 2050. The four EU countries will seek to reach at least 65 GW of offshore capacity by the end of the decade, of which 21 GW coming from the Netherlands, and then more than double it to at least 150 GW by 2050.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.058)

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