Dutch Offshore Grid Gets Its Own Website

Today, TenneT launced a special website where relevant stakeholders can provide feedback on the development of an offshore electricity grid.

For some time, TenneT has been consulting stakeholders on technology and planning.

The overall goal of this process is to optimize, together with stakeholders, the offshore grid configuration and realization against minimum societal cost. By collaborating from the start with energy producers, suppliers, NGO’s, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and other parties, TenneT ensures transparency and a feasible concept for an offshore electricity grid that can be used to connect future wind farms to the onshore grid.

TenneT recently engaged consultancy firm Ecofys to provide support during the consultation process, in order to facilitate a successful first call for tenders by the end of 2015.

Relevant stakeholders can register via a dedicated website in order to keep informed on the consultation process.

The website will also be used to post information about the topics currently on the agenda, the choices made, and the considerations underlying them. Stakeholders can also consult the website for an overview of scheduled expert meetings.

All feedback and information submitted will be documented anonymously and used in the decision-making process.

TenneT will organize monthly meetings on topics relevant to the development of wind farms, such as technology and planning. A limited number of experts will be invited to attend these meetings to facilitate a detailed discussion of key issues related to the development of the offshore electricity grid.

The list of invitees has been coordinated with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Netherlands Wind Energy Association (NWEA). All information, reports and position papers will be published on the website after the expert meetings have been held.

There are three zones where new offshore wind farms are planned to be constructed:

• Borssele
• South Holland Coast
• North Holland Coast

The coordinated construction of the offshore grid means that TenneT will prepare and execute these three projects.

Image: TenneT