Dutch Government to Open 4 GW IJmuiden Ver Tender on 29 February 2024; Specifies Ecological Criteria

November 3, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

The Dutch government will open the application period for the IJmuiden Ver Alpha and Beta tender on 29 February 2024 and will accept proposals until 5 p.m. on 28 March. On 3 November, the government also informed about the additional criteria that will be part of the tender requirements.

In the first quarter of 2024, the Netherlands will grant two offshore wind development permits, one for the IJmuiden Ver Alpha site and one for the IJmuiden Ver Alpha Beta site, each of which can house approximately 2 GW of installed offshore wind capacity.

The IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Zone contains three sites, with IJmuiden Ver Gamma, the third site, expected to be put out to tender in 2025. The three sites have been created by pairing the former sites IJmuiden Ver formerly I and II (now Alpha), IJmuiden Ver III and IV (now Beta), and IJmuiden Ver V and VI (now Gamma). The preparations for the now-decided tendering timeline were put in motion last year.

According to the update from the Dutch government on 3 November, the IJmuiden Ver Alpha and Beta tender will comprise ecology-related stipulations, similar to the previous tender(s) for Hollandse Kust West sites VI and VII that have been awarded to a consortium of Shell and Eneco (site VI) and RWE (site VII).

For IJmuiden Ver Alpha and Beta, aside from the financial offer and assurance the projects will be realised, the government will also take into account the extent to which a proposal takes circularity, environmental impact and value retention into account in the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of the offshore wind farm.

The additional criteria now added include, for IJmuiden Ver Alpha, the contribution of the wind farm to the ecosystem of the Dutch North Sea and, for IJmuiden Ver Beta, the developer’s contribution to the integration of the wind farm into the Dutch energy system and measures that contribute to reducing porpoise disturbance days in the construction phase of the offshore wind farm.

According to the information about the changes made after the draft regulations released earlier this year, “overplanting” will be allowed at both sites and, for IJmuiden Ver Beta, the government has detailed requirements regarding an integrated (floating) solar park.

The 6 GW IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Zone (IJVWFZ) is located 62 kilometres off the west coast of the Netherlands.

Grid operator TenneT will build three grid connections in the area, with three platforms that will have a 2 GW direct current connection to a land station. These are the first offshore wind farms in the Netherlands to be connected with a direct current connection.