Offshore projects Netherlands

The energy transition is the biggest challenge facing the Netherlands. In the future, we want to fundamentally change our energy supply. We are on the way to a sustainable energy supply. This means that we no longer want to use fossil fuels in the future and are therefore relying on renewable energy sources. Wind energy, generated at sea (=offshore), is an essential building block for this.

In the Climate Agreement it was agreed to make the Dutch energy supply more sustainable. This will reduce CO2 emissions and combat climate change. Energy generated at sea plays an important role in this. To get the green energy on land, an electricity connection is needed from an offshore wind farm to the land.

TenneT Nederland has been the grid operator at sea since 2016. The offshore grid transports generated wind energy from the sea to the onshore electricity grid. This takes place from wind energy areas in the North Sea. The government has designated these areas to generate renewable energy. We connect wind farms to our national high-voltage grid via standard connections of 700 megawatts (MW) of alternating current and 2,000 megawatts (2 GW) of direct current for wind farms located further offshore.

The share of renewable energy in the energy mix must increase to 80 percent by 2030. To achieve this ambitious goal, the Dutch government has decided that some 21 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy must be connected to the high-voltage grid by 2030. This is equivalent to three quarters of the current total electricity consumption in the Netherlands.

In the European Green Deal, the European Union has set itself the ambition of realising around 300 gigawatts (GW) of offshore generation capacity in Europe by 2050. As a cross-border grid operator, we are making a significant contribution to this. In Germany and the Netherlands, we have realised more than 8.5 GW (status January 2022) of connection capacity for offshore wind energy. No other grid operator in the European Union has yet connected so many wind farms to the electricity grid.

In order to meet the ambitious energy targets, the expansion of the offshore grid must be accelerated. TenneT has developed technical solutions and new concepts based on many years of experience.

In the Netherlands, TenneT will complete seven standard alternating current (AC) connections, each with a capacity of 700 MW, by 2026. From 2028, wind farms further offshore will be connected to 2,000 MW (= 2 GW) of standard direct current connections. Because of the large capacity (2 GW per connection) and in order to limit the loss of power during transmission, TenneT will implement this connection as a direct current (DC) connection. Standardisation of these grid connections will substantially reduce the costs of development, construction and maintenance.

The government wants to achieve its climate targets even faster. In order to achieve the desired acceleration in the roll-out of offshore grid, TenneT sees great potential in a meshed grid. At present, offshore wind farms are so-called point-to-point connections. They are, in fact, green power plants with a cable connection to land. In a meshed grid, certain grid connections at sea are connected to each other.

See below an overview of the Dutch offshore projects.

Project	Capaciteit (MW)	Aanlandlocatie	Inbedrijfname
In bedrijf
Borssele Alpha	700 (AC)	Borssele	2019
Borssele Beta	700 (AC)	Borssele	2020
Hollandse Kust (zuid) Alpha	700 (AC)	Maasvlakte	2022
Hollandse Kust (zuid) Beta	700 (AC)	Maasvlakte	2022
Ʃ in opertation	2.800 MW
In realisation
Hollandse Kust (noord)	700 (AC)	Wijk aan Zee	2023
Hollandse Kust (west) Alpha	700 (AC)	Wijk aan Zee	2024
Hollandse Kust (west) Beta	700 (AC)	Wijk aan Zee	2026
Ten Noorden van de Wadden	700 (AC)	Eemshaven Oude Schip	Rond 2030*
Hollandse Kust (west), kavel VIII	700 (AC)	Nog vast te stellen: Noordzeekanaalgebied	N.t.b.
IJmuiden Ver Alpha	2.000 (DC)	Borssele	2029
IJmuiden Ver Beta	2.000 (DC)	Amaliahaven (Maasvlakte)	2028
IJmuiden Ver Gamma	2.000 (DC)	Amaliahaven (Maasvlakte)	2029
Nederwiek 1	2.000 (DC)	Nieuw Station (Borssele)	2030
Nederwiek 2	2.000 (DC)	Amaliahaven (Maasvlakte)	2030
Nederwiek 3	2.000 (DC)	Geertruidenberg of Moerdijk	Rond 2030
Doordewind 1	2.000 (DC)	Eemshaven Oude Schip	Rond 2030*
Doordewind 2	2.000 (DC)	Nieuw Station (Eemshaven)	Rond 2030*
Ʃ in realisation	19.500 MW
Added up Ʃ	22.300 MW

*PAWOZ programme part: 2 x 2,000 MW (DC) grid connections and 1 x 700 MW AC grid connection.