The Dutch government confirmed its next 700MW offshore wind tender will seek zero-subsidy bidders in a round due to be held in January 2019.

The Netherlands will use the same approach with the Hollandse Kust South 3&4 offshore zones as it did with its last tender for the same development area’s 1&2 zones, which saw Sweden’s Vattenfall scoop all the capacity on offer.

A draft version of the tender rules published by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency says the country will again seek to award a permit to build the wind farm on a zero-subsidy basis after a selection process based on a range of criteria drawn up by officials. If there are no takers for the no-subsidy deal the country will switch to an alternative mechanism with a subsidy element included.

The draft version of the Hollandse Kust South 3&4 process is open for consultation until 10 October. Economics minister Eric Wiebes told the Dutch parliament last week that some tweaking of the selection process will be made in a bid to avoid legal challenges that followed the award of Hollandse Kust South 1&2.

The Hollandse Kust South 3&4 sites will unlock a total of 110 square km of sea for wind development in water depths of 18-25 metres.

The Netherlands now has among the most ambitious offshore wind programme in Europe, with Hollandse Kust South 3&4 the latest in 700MW batches of capacity due to be installed annually up to 2023, to be followed by 1GW a year until 2030.

Wind

Dutch keep zero-subsidy model for next 700MW round