With a delay of three months, the Dutch government has finally been given the green light by both houses of parliament for a plan to develop five mega offshore wind parks within the next five years.
On 22 March, the Senate agreed on a law to make the production of electricity in the Netherlands more sustainable by stimulating the use of energy form solar and wind.
Five 700 MW Offshore Wind Parks
With the political agreement, the Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp can now go on with the tendering of the five projects that each has to result in an offshore wind park with a capacity of 700 MW. The five wind parks are planned on three locations off the coast of the provinces of Zeeland and Holland.
Expected Bidders
According to insiders and the Dutch financial newspaper Het Financieel Dagblad (FD), there is a lot of interest from contractors and investors in developing the wind park. According to the FD (22 March), one of the expected bidders on the tenders would be oil- and gas giant Shell as it is preparing a return in the production of sustainable energy.
Dutch Offshore Wind Industry in SWZ Maritime
On page 6 and 7 (“Maritieme Markt”) of this month’s issue of SWZ Maritime, our editor Antoon Oosting gives his view on the significance of the decision about the five wind parks for the Dutch offshore wind industry.
Subscribers can read the issue online now.
