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Wind Energy in The Netherlands

2021 wind energy numbers

Compared to last year, the onshore wind capacity increased faster. Now 5.3 GW is installed, which is 1.2 GW more than last year, which means the Netherlands is 0.7 GW away from the 6 GW onshore target. For the Netherlands, 7 GW of onshore wind power seems to be the maximum onshore, mainly due to spatial and social issues.

However, this may change because of the growing awareness concerning climate change, high energy prices, and dependency on fossil fuels originating from countries having autocratic regimes.

The rollout of the current offshore wind road map for 2030 is progressing steadily. In 2020 1.5 GW of offshore wind power was added, and 2.2 GW of wind power on this road map is under construction and is expected to be operational in 2023. Last year around €12.5 million subsidy was awarded for nine innovative offshore R, D&D projects. The research and development of the rewarded projects concerned, amongst others: offshore foundations developments, storage, and flexibilization of electricity production, installation techniques, precipitation atlas, and improved installation of wind turbines.

To learn more about wind energy in the Netherlands, please read their chapter in the IEA Wind TCP 2021 Annual Report.

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Megawatt

Total wind power capacity is 7,800 MW.
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Megawatt

Wind power capacity in The Netherlands increased by 1,280 MW in 2021.
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Terawatt-time

The Netherlands produces 19.058 TWh from wind energy, which accounts for 15.6% of the country’s electricity consumption.

National Targets

The original goal of the climate agreement was to have 11 GW of offshore wind power installed in the Netherlands part of the North Sea in 2030. These wind farms can generate 49 TWh of electricity, which results in a 49% CO2 reduction compared to 1990. In Q1 2022, the government decided to realise 10.7 GW extra in three new areas: Nederwiek, Lagelander, and Doordewind. The reason for this is the ambition to reduce the CO2-emission even further in 2030 by 55%. Together these offshore wind farms can generate around 90 TWh of electricity. Compared to the original goal of 2030, now 125 TWh more electricity will be generated from renewable sources instead of 84 TWh. When designating the wind energy areas, careful consideration was given to the other interests in the North Sea, such as shipping, fisheries, nature, and defence. At the end of 2021, the minister of Economic Affairs and Climate initiated the exploration for bringing the extra electricity ashore. The local energy demand, environmental impact, costs, and social acceptance play a role in the choice of routes.

According to the Dutch climate agreement, the energy system must be completely CO2-free by 2050. All fossil electricity sources have to be replaced by renewable sources. The big challenge is to match the growing production of renewable energy and demand. For that reason, storage and conversion solutions for electricity will be developed, and the industry has to electrify.

Progress & Operational Details

High increase in generation in 2021, surpassing 19TWh and 15 % share of demand.

Capacity factors in 2021 were 39% offshore and 23% onshore.

Vattenfall is now installing the offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid (1.5 GW). It is expected to be commissioned in 2023 and is the first offshore wind park without subsidy. HKZ will consist of 140 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, each 11 MW.

In 2020 the permit for Hollandse Kust Noord (HKN) offshore wind farm (759 MW) was awarded to Crosswind, a consortium of Shell, Eneco, Siemens Gamesa, and Van Oord. In the tender for HKN, innovations were required. The following innovations will be developed and tested in HKN: intelligent wind turbine control, steering the wake, floating solar, and energy storage. HKN is expected to be operational in 2023.

After two years, a new tender for a new offshore wind farm, the Hollandse Kust West, is under a new law. Next to the qualitative ten[1]der criteria, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate asks for a financial offer from the tenderers. This tender will close on 17 May 2022, and a decision is expected in October 2022. The capacity is 1.5 GW.

National RDD Priorities and Budget

The Netherlands has several subsidy instruments to stimulate the practical development of innovation related to the energy transition toward implementation. These instruments are open to all kinds of innovations in reducing CO2 emissions and making them cheaper. Wind energy is one of them. The main subsidy instruments are the DEI+, HER+, and MOOI, together with a budget of €120 million per year. The DEI+ stimulates higher TRL demonstration projects, the HER+ mid-level TRL projects, and the MOOI is a two-yearly subsidy scheme in which the focus is on the mission, cooperation, and market implementation of the innovations. RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency) is responsible for the execution of these subsidy schemes.

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Alternate Member Ruud Oerlemans

ruud.oerlemans@rvo.nl