Dutch offshore wind farm tenders are delayed due to low interest

The Netherlands has decided to postpone the tenders for offshore wind farms totaling 2 gigawatts due to lack of interest among potential bidders. The Dutch government announced this on Friday.

Originally, the tenders were scheduled for September. The government announced that it would only be opening a tender in September for a single location with a 1 GW capacity.

In March, the Dutch Climate ministry announced that there was little interest in three of its sites after Eneco and Orsted said they could not see a viable business case for them without subsidies.

The government is still investigating ways to reintroduce subsides in its offshore wind farm tenders, since prospective bidders have withdrawn from the current "zero-subsidy" model.

After missing her mid-April deadline, Climate Minister Sophie Hermans announced that detailed plans for future tenders will be presented in the third quarter.

The Netherlands pushed back its plans last year to increase offshore wind power from 4.7 GW up to 21 GW by the end of 2032, instead of 2030. The Netherlands cited costs, supply-chain difficulties, and "challenges with timely decision making". (Reporting and editing by Bart Meijer)

(source: Reuters)