This evening, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) announced the winners of the tender for the offshore wind sites IJmuiden Ver Alpha and Beta. Noordzeker was announced winner of IJmuiden Ver Alpha and Zeevonk II of IJmuiden Ver Beta.
The largest licensing round for offshore wind farms in the Netherlands to date has been successfully completed.
Noordzeker – IJmuiden Ver Alpha
Noordzeker, a consortium of ABP, APG and SSE Renewables, is the winner of the permit for wind farm IJmuiden Ver site Alpha. The emphasis here is on nature enhancement. Included in Noordzeker’s plans are turbine and wind farm designs that will help protect birds, and measures that will greatly reduce disturbance to marine mammals during construction and operation periods. Noordzeker will also install several artificial reefs at more than 75% of the turbines.
To achieve these objectives, Noordzeker will work closely with Naturalis Biodiversity Center both during the construction and operational phases of the wind farm. Together with Naturalis, research and monitoring will be conducted at the wind farm to determine how wind farms can best help combat climate change and contribute to biodiversity in the North Sea.
In addition, Noordzeker will build a living laboratory to demonstrate how wind farms can help combat climate change. Noordzeker has made a financial bid of over €1 million per year, which Noordzeker will pay annually throughout the 40-year permit term. Noordzeker is also paying the cost of the environmental impact assessments and site studies of about €20 million.
“With Noordzeker, we have the ambition to operate a large wind farm in the North Sea. Together with
-Harmen van Wijnen, Chair ABP
Naturalis, we want to raise the ecological bar for the development, construction, and management of
wind farms in the North Sea. This will ensure a good financial return for our pension participants and
affordable, clean energy for the Netherlands, for the benefit of people and planet. We look forward to
taking the next steps.”
Zeevonk II – IJmuiden Ver Beta
Zeevonk II is a joint venture in which Vattenfall and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through its Energy Transition Fund I, have joined forces for the purpose of developing, constructing and operating the IJmuiden Ver Beta offshore wind farm and the large-scale electrolyser. CIP will be working with Copenhagen Offshore Partners, it’s exclusive offshore wind development partner.
This wind farm focuses on the smart integration of the wind farm into the energy system. Zeevonk II will build an electrolyser (hydrogen plant) with a capacity of 1 GW in the port of Rotterdam. Because the electricity from the wind farm on the Maasvlakte comes ashore and the electrolyser will be built nearby, the electricity does not first have to go further into the power grid. This relieves pressure on the power grid. Zeevonk II has made a financial offer of €20 million per year, also for a period of 40 years. Zeevonk II is also paying the cost of the environmental impact assessments and site studies in the amount of about €20 million.
“The Netherlands is taking yet another major step forward in the energy transition with IJmuiden Ver. Combining wind, solar and hydrogen, this project will create a state-of-the-art energy system and support further decarbonization of industries and our society. We are extremely proud to have been awarded this permit and look forward to implementing our plans for this energy park together with CIP.”
Martijn Hagens, CEO Vattenfall Netherlands
“The Netherlands is at the forefront of the energy transition with ambitious offshore wind and hydrogen targets and stands out as a pioneer in this field. We at CIP are confident that our strong partnership with Vattenfall will support and contribute to the Netherlands journey towards a carbon-neutral future. The award of IJmuiden Ver Beta is a milestone for CIP’s Energy Transition Fund and an important step in realizing an integrated energy system in the North Sea.”
Felix Pahl, Partner at CIP
At 2 GW each, these future wind farms will be the largest in the history of offshore wind in the Netherlands in terms of capacity, together able to provide for the equivalent of 14% of the current electricity consumption in the Netherlands. And it almost doubles the 4.7 GW of current installed capacity of offshore wind energy.
The tender for each lot was opened on Feb. 29. Wind farm developers could submit an application for permits for the construction and operation of a wind farm in site Alpha and/or Beta until Thursday 28 March 2024. RVO indicates that multiple applications were submitted for both lots, including from Vattenfall and Noordzeker.
Tender criteria
For both sites, the procedure of a comparative test with financial bid was applied. Several criteria were taken into account, including compliance with the principles of international corporate social responsibility and the degree of understanding of raw material consumption, environmental impact and value retention in the design, construction, operation and disposal of the wind farm.
There were also different criteria applicable for the two sites. For Alpha, the contribution of the wind farm to the ecosystem of the Dutch North Sea. For Beta; the contribution to the integration of the wind farm into the Dutch energy system and the contribution to reducing porpoise disturbance days during the construction phase of the wind farm.
The wind farms are expected to be commissioned in 2029.
IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Site
IJmuiden Ver Alpha and IJmuiden Ver Beta sites are part of the IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Zone (IJVWFZ), which also includes the IJmuiden Ver Gamma (formerly V-VI) site. Each site can have around 2 GW of installed capacity. This wind zone is located 62 km off the west coast of the Netherlands in the Dutch North Sea. The wind farms will be connected to land via TenneT’s 2 GW system.
