The Dutch government has received zero bids for the Nederwiek offshore wind farm. Outgoing Minister Sophie Hermans of Climate and Green Growth informed Dutch Parliament of this on 30 October, stating this confirms that ‘we have reached a market situation in which government support is crucial to prevent the realisation of offshore wind energy from coming to a standstill.’
Minister Hermans writes to Parliament that European market conditions have changed significantly. Where offshore wind farms have been licensed without subsidies since 2018 thanks to innovation and upscaling, costs for wind farm developers have now risen to such an extent, that they are now unwilling to invest. In addition, she points out that the transition to sustainability in industry, among other areas, is progressing more slowly than anticipated.
Hermans: ‘This has made it more difficult for wind farm developers to conclude long-term power purchase agreements with the right volumes and prices prior to the construction of the wind farm, thereby reducing their willingness to invest. This is also evident in other European countries, such as Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Belgium, where tenders have also failed or been postponed due to limited market interest.’
Action plan wind energy at sea
The Dutch government still sees offshore wind as essential for the Netherlands to become more energy independent and to have sufficient green energy to make the energy system more sustainable.
‘For this reason, the government recently drew up the Offshore Wind Energy Action Plan,’ states Hermans. ‘With this plan, the government is taking short-term measures to ensure that the roll-out of offshore wind energy does not come to a standstill and is preparing more structural measures so that the next government can continue to work on this energetically.’
The Minister says that the failed tender shows that the government has to help the sector through this phase. As a result, the government wants to award subsidised licences for wind farms totalling 2 GW in 2026.
Hermans: ‘In addition, the government is taking measures to reduce bottlenecks for companies that want to electrify. In the short term, the government is doing this by extending the Indirect Cost Compensation (IKC-ETS) scheme until 2028, which will reduce electricity costs. This will stimulate demand for electricity.’
Structural measures
From 2027 the government wants to deploy more structural measurs, such as the development of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) for the supply of renewable electricity and an exploration of CfDs for the demand for renewable electricity. Application of CfDs still requires decision-making by the next Cabinet.
‘In addition, the government is developing a PPA guarantee fund with Invest-NL. Once the PPA guarantee fund has been developed, decisions will be made about the deployment and financing of the instrument. By preparing these measures now, the next government will have the option of deploying these new instruments,’ writes the Minister.
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Delayed wind farms and roadmap
The failed tender will inevitably delay the realisation of the Noordwiek I-A wind farm and that a new tender will have to be conducted at a later time. The wind farm was originally scheduled to become operation before the end of 2030 and was to have a capacity of 1 GW.
Lot I-A in the Nederwiek wind energy area begins approximately 95 km off the west coast of Texel. The total area of this lot is approximately 149.2 km2, including maintenance and safety zones. A second plot, I-B, was also planned and would add another 1 GW to the wind farm.
As yet, it is likely the delay will also impact the government’s roadmap for offshore wind (21 GW of offshore wind by 2030). In addition to the delay with Nederwiek, earlier this year, the government also decided to postpone the tenders for IJmuiden Ver Gamma-A and Gamma-B due to the deteriorating market conditions. The originally planned 5 GW capacity of this wind farm has been reduced to 2 GW for which tenders will be launched with subsidies in 2026.
The extent of the delay and whether the roadmap is still feasible will depend on the measures taken by the new government.
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