Permit for IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Site Gamma-A
Permit applications for the Gamma-A site in the IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Zone (IJVWFZ) is expected to open in September 2026. This permit will allow the construction and operation of an offshore wind farm with a capacity of approximately one gigawatt (GW). We will run a tender process for the permit and the best application will be awarded the permit.
Amount of subsidy and budget
Permit with subsidy
In the Letter to Parliament sent out on the 16th of January 2026, we announced this subsidy tender round for construction and operation of a new offshore wind farm in the North Sea. An initial budget of € 3.978 billion has been made available to support this. We expect to spend approximately € 2.5 billion of this; this amount is a reserved allocation. Of this, € 0.9 billion is from the Climate Fund and € 1.6 billion from the SDE++ scheme. This subsidy tender follows the Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth’s Action Plan to improve the business model for offshore wind energy.
For more details, read the news article and the full Letter to Parliament (attached below) of 16 January 2026.
Location of the IJmuiden Ver Gamma-A site
Which areas is involved?
IJmuiden Ver Site Gamma-A is located in the North Sea, approximately 53 km off the west coast of the Netherlands. The site covers an area of 129 km² and provides space for a one GW offshore wind farm.
Site Gamma-A is part of the IJVWFZ. This zone consists of 4 sites (Alpha, Beta, Gamma-A, and Gamma-B), with a total area of approximately 609 km² (including maintenance and safety zones). Together, these 4 sites can support around 6 GW of installed offshore wind energy capacity.
Permits for the IJV Alpha and Beta sites were issued in 2024. More information about these sites can be found at Permits for wind farms at IJmuiden Ver Alpha and Beta. Information about the IJV Gamma-B site can be found at Permit for IJmuiden Ver Gamma-B wind farm.
How does electricity get from sea to land?
Transmission system operator TenneT is installing the offshore grid that will connect the wind farms to the onshore high-voltage grid. This is how the wind energy generated is fed into our electricity grid. The wind farm will be connected to a TenneT substation platform for this purpose. The platforms have a 2 GW Direct Current (DC) connection to an onshore substation. This means that two wind farms, each with a capacity of one GW, will be connected to a single platform. The DC connection ensures a constant voltage on the electricity grid.
For more information about the offshore grid, see the Offshore Wind Energy Development Framework in Landfall of offshore wind energy: from sea to land. The Development Framework covers topics such as the design, construction, and lifespan of the offshore grid.
Apply with or without subsidy
In this tender, you can apply for a permit for Site Gamma-A with a subsidy. Alternatively, you can submit a subsidy-free bid in an auction. Both procedures will run simultaneously. You choose which procedure to use when submitting your bid.
What conditions must you meet?
You must meet a number of general conditions and pre-qualification criteria. These are outlined in the draft Ministerial Order. The conditions apply to all applications (with or without subsidy). We will rank your application if it meets the pre-qualification criteria and general terms.
How can your application score higher?
We process auction bids first, followed by subsidy applications. You can find this procedure in the Explanatory Notes accompanying the draft Ministerial Order.
- In the auction, the application with the highest bid ranks first.
- For subsidy applications, the lowest subsidy request ranks first. The highest-ranked application receives the permit—and, in the case of the subsidy procedure, the subsidy.
When can you apply?
You can apply for the Site Gamma-A permit in September 2026 (expected). Once the exact dates are confirmed, we will publish them on this page.
Preparing your application
We will post important documents for your application on this page. This allows you to start preparing your application well before the application period opens. The following documents are already available. An explanation is provided with each document. We will continue to supplement these documents.
Use the Wind Farm Site Decision (WFSD) to prepare your application. It contains site boundaries and the conditions you must adhere to when building and operating the wind farm. These conditions include, among other things, nature conservation. This WFSD for IJV Site Gamma-A (in Dutch) became irrevocable on 28 June 2025.
Together with our partners, we conduct site studies in the IJVWFZ. The data and reports from the site studies are published on offshorewind.rvo.nl (English). With the data from these site studies, you can plan and optimise the design of the offshore wind farm.
Respond to the online consultation
As a wind farm developer, you can review the draft Ministerial Order and submit feedback through our online consultation. The consultation is open from 16 January to 27 February 2026. We will incorporate feedback into the final Ministerial Order. Developers may also be invited for consultations.
Research into national security of offshore wind energy
The Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth is conducting research into risks to national security associated with offshore wind farms. This research specifically focuses on the use of components from 'third countries' (countries that are not members of the European Union). These are countries with offensive (cyber) programmes that continuously carry out offensive intelligence activities. Such activities could pose a threat to the interests of the Netherlands and its allies.
If risks are identified, you may need to comply with strict conditions or restrictions when using these components in wind farm construction.
This research is not yet been complete. If measures are required, they will be included in the final Ministerial Order.
Official announcements about this permit procedure
Questions about offshore wind energy?
If you have any questions about offshore wind energy, feel free to email us at woz@rvo.nl
Stay updated
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- Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth
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