Dutch Offshore Grid Connection Open for Comments

TenneT and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) are inviting the public to provide comments on the infrastructure for connecting the North of the Wadden Sea Islands offshore wind project to the grid.

The parties said that by gathering feedback on the 700MW Ten Noorden van de Waddeneilanden (TNW) project now, most promising routes are included in the research phase and potential dilemmas are known in advance.

The deadline for submitting the comments is 18 April.

Beginning from spring, governmental meetings, as well as meetups with interest groups and the public will be held.

Initial research of possible cable routes was already carried out in 2018, resulting in three possible connections in Eemshaven, Burgum and Vierverlaten, near Groningen. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) process will start after the summer.

The North of the Wadden Sea Islands zone is part of the government’s Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap 2030 which sets out plans for the development of 7GW of offshore wind capacity in the 2024-2030 period.

In addition to this 700MW zone, the wind farms to be prepared in the coming years will be located at the 1.4GW Hollandse Kust (west) and the 4GW IJmuiden Far Offshore (IJmuiden Ver) zones.

The tenders for the zones will be opened from 2021 onward, starting with the Hollandse Kust (west), with the projects expected to be commissioned between 2024 and 2030.