Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone
Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone (HKWWFZ) is located approximately 28.6 nautical miles (53 kilometres) off the west coast of the Netherlands. There are 2 wind farm sites designated within the HKWWFZ: HKW Wind Farm Site VI and VII. Tenders for the permits to develop the sites have been issued by the Dutch Government.
The tender is closed.
The total surface area of the Wind Farm Sites within the zone (including maintenance and safety zones) is approximately 176 km2. Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone will accommodate 1,400 MW of offshore wind power capacity. Transmission system operator TenneT will construct 2 offshore platforms with 2 grid connections within the HKWWFZ.
Winner Hollandse Kust (west) Site VI tender
On 15 December 2022, Minister for Climate and Energy Rob Jetten announced that the permit for Wind Farm Site VI of the Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone has been awarded to Ecowende, a consortium of Shell and Eneco.
We received 49 applications for Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Site VI. Of the 49 applications, 28 met the eligibility requirements to proceed to the comparative assessment. The highest scoring party receives the permit for Site VI to build, operate and decommission the wind farm.
| Applicants (in alphabetical order) | Mother/consortium |
|---|---|
| Ecowende C.V. | Shell Plc and N.V. Eneco |
| GreenBreeze C.V. | Ocean Winds (joint venture of EDP Renewables and ENGIE) |
| Kaapduinen C.V. | Ørsted A/S and TotalEnergies SE |
| Oranje Wind Power C.V. | RWE AG |
| Osprey Offshore Wind Energy B.V. | Luxcara |
| Tulip Offshore Wind Projco C.V. | SSE Renewables and Brookfield Asset Management Inc |
| Vaals B.V. | BP International Limited |
| Vattenfall Hollandse Kust West VI C.V. | Vattenfall AB and BASF SE |
The 28 applications met the following requirements:
- technical feasibility
- economic feasibility
- financial feasibility
- timely realization
- conformity with regulations in the Wind Farm Site Decision
A comparative assessment was then carried out as prescribed in the Ministerial Order. Applications were assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
- Amount of the financial offer;
- Certainty of the wind farm being completed – (knowledge and experience of the parties involved and financial guarantees issued by the parent company(s));
- Contribution of the wind farm to energy supply;
- Contribution to the ecology of the North Sea.
A group of independent experts issued advice for the criterion 'contribution to the ecology of the North Sea. This advice meant that half of the total points available could be obtained, which was decisive for the final ranking. We accepted this advice.
This criterion is split into 2 parts:
- Stimulation of investments to benefit naturally occurring biodiversity (species, populations and habitats) in the Dutch North Sea.
- Stimulation of innovation and the development of solutions to benefit naturally occurring biodiversity in the Dutch North Sea from the wind farm at Site VI and future Dutch offshore wind farms.
Prior to assessment of the applications, the expert committee established an assessment system (information in Dutch).
The HKW Site VI tender applications were assessed, in part, by a committee with expertise in the field of ecology. The committee included:
- Dr. Dorette Corbey (chair)
- Dr. Ingeborg van Splunder
- Dr. Mennobart van Eerden
- Dr. Victor Loehr
- Drs. Martine Graafland
- Drs. René Dekeling
Winner Hollandse Kust (west) Site VII tender
On 10 November 2022, Minister for Climate and Energy Rob Jetten announced that the permit for Wind Farm Site VII of the Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone has been awarded to Oranje Wind Power II, a subsidiary of RWE AG.
We received 48 applications for Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Site VII. Of the 48 applications, 27 met the eligibility requirements to proceed to the comparative assessment where they were ranked. The highest scoring party receives the permit for Site VII to build, operate and decommission the wind farm.
Applications Site VII tender
| Applicants (in alphabetical order) | Mother/consortium |
|---|---|
| Kaapduinen C.V. | Ørsted A/S en TotalEnergies SE |
| Oranje Wind Power II C.V. | RWE AG |
| Osprey Offshore Wind Energy B.V. | Luxcara |
| Schakelwind C.V. | Shell Plc and N.V. Eneco |
| Sunflower Offshore Wind Projco C.V. | SSE Renewables and Brookfield Asset Management Inc |
| Vaals B.V. | BP International Limited |
| Vattenfall Hollandse Kust West VII C.V. | Vattenfall AB |
The 27 applications met the following requirements:
- technical feasibility
- economic feasibility
- financial feasibility
- timely realization
- conformity with regulations in the Wind Farm Site Decision
A comparative assessment was then carried out as prescribed in the Ministerial Order. Applications were assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
- amount of the financial offer
- certainty of the wind farm being completed realisation of the wind farm – (knowledge and experience of the parties involved and financial guarantees issued by the parent company(s))
- contribution of the wind farm to energy supply
- contribution to the integration of the wind farm into the Dutch energy system
A group of independent experts issued advice for the criterion 'contribution to the integration of the wind farm into the Dutch energy system'. This advice meant that half of the total points available could be obtained, which was decisive for the final ranking. We accepted this advice.
This criterion is split into 2 parts:
- Stimulating investments for the integration of the wind farm on Site VII into the Dutch energy system.
- Stimulating innovation to enable integration of Wind Farm Site VII, plus existing and future offshore wind farms into the Dutch energy system.
Prior to assessment of the applications, the expert committee established an assessment system (information in Dutch).
The HKW Site VII tender applications were assessed, in part, by a committee with expertise in the field of system integration. The committee included:
- dr. Sander Lensink (voorzitter)
- prof. Dr. Machiel Mulder
- dr. Alexander Wirtz
- Haike van de Vegte MSc
- dr. Gert van der Lee
- ir. Diederik Apotheker
Letter to Parliament and market consultation
On 13 October 2021, the State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) informed the House of Representatives in a letter to Parliament. The letter concerns the intention to open the tenders for Hollandse Kust (west) (HKW) Wind Farm Sites VI and VII. In this letter, the choice for two comparative assessments, each with a financial bid, was announced. The details of the financial bid were elaborated on in the following weeks, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance. And on the basis of an informal and confidential consultation with the wind sector, and the Afry Report (The business case and supporting interventions for Dutch offshore wind).
Ministerial Orders
On 9 March 2022, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy published the Ministerial Orders for Sites VI and VII of the Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone (Dutch) in the Government Gazette. The final drafts of the Ministerial Orders were translated and can be found in Appendix A of the Project and Site Description Hollandse Kust (west). These translations are unofficial documents and are only provided for convenience. Rights do not apply.
Policy rule amendment
The policy rule amendment of the permit for offshore wind energy for Hollandse Kust (west) Site VI and Site VII, will explain the conditions under which the permit may be amended. The premise is all ranking scores will remain the same or improve as a result of the amendment. Also, no 'exchange' of points between different criteria may take place. A translation of the Government Gazette publication is available. This is an unofficial document and are only provided for convenience. Rights do not apply.
Wind Farm Site Decisions
In the Government Gazette of December 9, 2021, notification was made of the publication of the Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Site Decisions VI and VII. The Wind Farm Site Decisions were available for review until Friday, 21 January 2022. The Wind Farm Site Decisions are irrevocable.
On 25 February 2022 Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Site Decisions VI and VII were published in the Government Gazette. These publications are written in Dutch. English translations are available in Appendix A of the Project and Site Description Hollandse Kust (west). The translations are unofficial documents and only provided for convenience. Rights do not apply.
Development Framework for Offshore Wind Energy
The publication of the Development Framework for Offshore Wind Energy, version May 2021, by the State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, is available in Dutch. An English translation can be found om Appendix A of the Project and Site Description Hollandse Kust (west). This translation is an unofficial document: it is only provided for convenience, rights do not apply.
Available site studies
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency has commissioned various studies about Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone in preparation for this procedure. All available data will be published at offshorewind.rvo.nl.
Description Wind Farm Sites
You can find a description of the Offshore Wind Farm Zone Hollandse Kust (west) Site VI and VII, including a summary of available site characterisation studies in the Project and Site Description Hollandse Kust (west) (June 2021) and appendices:
- Appendix A: Applicable law (pdf - March 2022)
- Appendix B: Environmental Impact Assessment (pdf - November 2020)
- Appendix C: Boundaries and Coordinates and coordinates (excel - March 2021)
Appendix A has English translations of applicable law and application forms. These translations are unofficial documents and are only provided for convenience. Rights do not apply.
Applications for permits
Interested developers and consortia were able to submit applications up to Thursday 12 May 2022 17:00 hours. We received several applications to realise the 2 wind farms in the North Sea in the Hollandse Kust (west) Wind Farm Zone (HKWWFZ). We will assess these applications together with 2 expert committees.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy expects to announce the winner(s) after the summer period. The wind farms will have a combined capacity of at least 1400 megawatt (2x 700 MW). These will produce electricity without government subsidies. Offshore grid operator TenneT will install 2 substation platforms within the area, with 2 grid connections to link the wind farms to the Dutch onshore electricity network.
Questions and answers
We were open for questions about the tenders for the permits until April 7, 2022. The asked questions and answers can be found below.
More information
Do you want to be kept informed? Register for newsletters, invitations for workshops, and webinars by submitting your contact details.
- Bureau Energieprojecten - Hollandse Kust (west) kavels VI en VII (information in Dutch)
- Offshorewind.rvo.nl
- Wet- en regelgeving (information in Dutch)
- Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
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