The federal government has reached an agreement on the criteria for the tender for the second zone for wind energy in the North Sea. By 2030, 3.5 gigawatts of renewable electricity must be added, a tripling of the current capacity of offshore wind energy off our coast.
The Thornton Bank already has 2.2 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity. By 2030, another 3.5 GW will be added in the so-called Princess Elisabeth zone, the second zone reserved for the development of wind energy off our coast. Today, the federal government reached an agreement on the rules for tendering the three wind farms that are to be located in the zone.
An important part of the tender is the financing mechanism. To this end, a so-called ‘two-sided contract for difference’ will be used as a price stabilization mechanism. The government guarantees a certain price for the electricity produced. When the producer receives less, the government steps in. At the same time, the tender mechanism ensures that excess profits are not possible, because revenues that exceed the set price flow back to the government.
In addition, citizen participation is included as a mandatory criterion in the tender. For example, prospective investors must give citizens and SMEs direct access to the wind energy produced, for example through a cooperative. Up to half of the electricity production in the newly to be operated zone is reserved for industry in our country.
After an approval process at the European Commission, the candidate investors are given 9 months to submit an offer. After which the administration is given three months (extendable by 3 months) to assess the projects. The winning investors will have up to 48 months to be fully operational. In this way, the first wind turbines should be operational before the end of 2028. The full capacity of 3.5 GW should be up and running by 2030.
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