Dutch Offshore Wind Tender Pushed to January 2019, Zero-Subsidy Round Goes First

The tender for the Hollandse Kust (zuid/south) Sites III and IV will be opened for applications in January 2019 with a zero-subsidy opening round, according to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl).

It appears that the tender will be slightly delayed compared to a plan to open the tender for applications by the end of 2018. The initial plan was laid out earlier this month in a letter the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy Eric Wiebes sent to the Dutch Parliament.

RVO.nl has also issued a draft Ministerial Order for permitting offshore wind energy at the sites. Public comments and consultation on this draft order will be open until Wednesday, 10 October, 17:00 CET.

Similarly to the Hollandse Kust (zuid/south) Sites I and II, the draft order stipulates that potential developers may submit a bid for the realisation of the wind farm without subsidies. In the event this tender procedure fails to yield an acceptable bid, a tender procedure including subsidies will be initiated, RVO.nl said.

A final publication of the Ministerial Order for permitting Offshore Wind Energy 2018 is expected by the end of October 2018.

On 15 November 2018, the RVO.nl will organise an information session to share an update on the Ministerial Order for permitting Offshore Wind Energy 2018, the subsidy and permit, the application forms and model for operational calculation.

Following the successful completion of the zero-subsidy round for the Hollandse Kust (zuid) I and II sites earlier this year, Minister Wiebes said that the upcoming tenders would not necessarily follow suit as cost factors and market conditions change, and that this was the reason why he had started the process of amending the Offshore Wind Energy Act.

However, according to the information released by the RVO.nl, it seems that the same tendering blueprint is being used for the new sites, with the exception of certain rule changes with regards to the selection criteria in order to improve transparency.