05/23/2023

The Netherlands on track with approach to offshore wind energy

The Netherlands will meet its targets for offshore wind energy in 2023. By the end of the year, it will have 4.7 GW of offshore wind farm capacity operating in the Dutch North Sea. These projects meet approximately 15.8% of total current electricity demand in the Netherlands, according to the Dutch Offshore Wind Market Report 2023, published by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) in April 2023.

Emelie de Wagt, senior offshore wind policy officer at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, presented the market update report to WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson on Tuesday 25 April. WindEurope is an organisation that promotes the use of wind energy throughout Europe and organises an annual event for the European wind industry. RVO produced the 2023 market report on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.

Offshore wind farms

The market update presents an overview of the key facts and figures of the Dutch offshore wind sector. Several offshore wind farms have been realised in recent years, thanks to good cooperation between the Government, the business community and other stakeholders. An achievement the Dutch are proud of.

Roadmap and subsidy-free

The Dutch Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap 2023 aimed for an installed offshore wind capacity of 4.5 GW by the end of 2023. This will be achieved within time and budget. Through its proactive policy, the Netherlands has also been able to significantly reduce offshore wind costs. For example, € 7 billion has already been saved at the Borssele I-IV wind farms (2016). Prices fell from around € 0.17/kWh in 2019 to € 0.04/kWh in 2018, with the first subsidy-free wind farm in the world: Hollandse Kust (zuid) I and II. Development time of offshore wind farms has also been reduced, down from 7-10 years to 3-4 years.

New goals

“Thanks to our work on the 2023 Roadmap, we have learned to do things better. Our current goal is to achieve approximately 21 GW of installed offshore wind energy capacity in 2030-2031. We will also soon be agreeing new targets for offshore wind energy for 2035, 2040 and 2050 in the National Energy System Plan,” said Rob Jetten, Minister for Climate and Energy.