With CrossWind winning the fifth and final tender the Roadmap Offshore Wind 2023 has officially been closed successfully. This succes has been reached due to the good cooperation with the government, and on behalf of them we kindly share below letter with everyone which has been involved in reaching this succes.

Dear Colleague,

 

As we move forward to the next stage of our country’s offshore wind programme, I would like to take an opportunity to personally thank everyone involved for the success we have achieved together so far.

On 29 July 2020, we announced the winner of the fifth and final offshore wind power tender in our five-year (2015-2020) schedule under the Energy Agreement. The award of the Hollandse Kust (noord) Wind Farm Zone project to the CrossWind C.V consortium is a momentous occasion for the Netherlands and the global wind power industry alike.

The Dutch approach is one of proactive participation, working closely with the industry along the entire supply chain and other stakeholders to ensure a successful offshore wind industry. It is an approach proven to work.

In working together, we have not only achieved our Energy Agreement goals, but we have surpassed them. Key highlights include:

  • five years of consecutive competitive tender rounds for a combined total of at least 3450 MW of new offshore wind projects to be operating by end 2023 – the reality will be around 3800 MW of new capacity installed;
  • a new legislative framework which provides a stable policy environment and de-risks projects for developers;
  • the Government has taken on much of the pre-development work, risks, and costs for projects (Wind Farm Zones, site decisions, offshore grid connection planning, tenders, studies, and research) whilst transmission system operator Tennet is responsible for the offshore grid network;
  • the industry has become cost-competitive – with the third tender in this programme, for Hollandse Kust (zuid) Wind Farm Sites 1 and II, we ushered in the start of the subsidy-free offshore wind era.

 

We are delighted that the first two wind farms in this five-year programme, located in the Borssele Wind Farm Zone (totalling 1500 MW), are already partially operational and will soon be fully operation. The final investment decisions have all also been made for the remaining three wind farms (in Hollandse Kust (zuid) and Hollandse Kust (noord).

 

I very much look forward to working with you all again in the future. Together, I am confident we will achieve our longer-term offshore wind goals.

 

 

Best wishes,

 

René Moor
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
Programme manager Offshore Wind