The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has selected Vattenfall as the winning bidder in the country’s first non-subsidized offshore wind tender – the 700MW to 750MW Hollandse Kust Zuid I & II.
The Netherlands opened the first phase of the tender for sites I and II in the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind zone on 15 December 2017. The zero subsidy tender round attracted major offshore wind players such as Vattenfall and Statoil.
The grid connection was not part of the scope of the application and will be provided by the Dutch grid operator TenneT.
“This is excellent news for Vattenfall and the Netherlands. It is a significant step for us in view of our ambitions to grow in renewable energy production. We have previously announced that we intend to invest SEK 13 billion (EUR 1.5 billion) in growth investments in wind power for the period 2017-2018. The Netherlands is an important market for us and this will be our second offshore project there. It’s a great honor for us to get the opportunity to contribute with this project to the transformation of the Dutch energy system”, said Magnus Hall, Vattenfall’s President and CEO.
According to the tender rules, the wind farm needs to be fully operational within 5 years after an irrevocable permit. Vattenfall will now make the final preparations for this project including the design of the wind farm, continuation of the internal planning and finalizing the tender process for major components.
“Winning the bid for Hollandse Kust Zuid is a result of our continuous cost reduction efforts along our entire value chain and the solid track record and portfolio approach of our company. We are very happy to enlarge our contribution in making the Dutch energy system more sustainable and support our customers, large and small, on their way to become climate smarter,” said Gunnar Groebler, Vattenfall’s Senior Vice President Business Area Wind.