Joint venture partners SSE and APG (acting on behalf of Dutch pension fund ABP) have confirmed their ‘Noordzeker’ consortium (50:50 joint share) is moving forward with the 2GW Alpha offshore wind tender site in the IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Zone in the Netherlands.
Located about 62 kilometers off the Dutch coast off the port town of Ijmuiden, the IJmuiden Ver Alpha project would be capable of generating enough offshore wind energy annually to meet around 7% of the current Dutch electricity demand. Subject to reaching a Final Investment Decision (FID), expected by late 2025, the wind farm would be commissioned by the end of the decade. SSE Renewables would build the project on behalf of the SSE-APG consortium.
Last month the Dutch Government awarded the Noordzeker consortium the rights to a pre-developed and fully consented offshore wind site in the Dutch North Sea.
The consortium is entering into the 40-year lease period for the Alpha site for an annual payment of around EUR 1 million. As part of the tender conditions, a performance bond has been posted, linked to on-time delivery of the wind farm. The consortium will reimburse the EUR 20 million cost for the environmental impact assessment and the offshore site characterisation studies which were completed by Dutch authorities ahead of the tender. The consortium will use the data from the site studies to further progress the final design of the wind farm. In addition to being fully consented, the awarded site also benefits from a confirmed grid connection to the Netherlands’ national grid which will be separately developed and constructed by Dutch grid operator, TenneT.
