Equinor, Eneco to bid in huge Dutch Ijmuiden Ver offshore wind tender

Norwegian oil giant Equinor and Mitsubishi-owned Dutch utility Eneco have teamed up for two of the three 2GW sites in the Netherland’s massive Ijmuiden Ver (Ijmuiden Far) offshore wind tender.

While the focus is first on taking part in the auctions for the Ijmuiden Ver Alpha and Beta zones, the two companies foresee to further explore opportunities in north-western Europe, Eneco said.

The far-offshore zone 62km off the Dutch coast will be divided into the 2GW Alpha and 2GW Beta sites (formerly sites I to IV) to be auctioned off this year and next, and the 2GW Gamma site that will start the process in 2025.

Eneco is already active offshore in the Netherlands with the operating Borssele 3&4 wind farms, as well as the development of the Hollandse Kust West VI and Hollandse Kust North V projects.

Equinor is currently building the Dogger Bank array in the North Sea, which will be the world’s largest offshore wind complex, and has the ambition to grow its renewables portfolio to 12-16GW by 2030.

The Dutch government will publish the tendering schedule no later than the fourth quarter of this year. The application period for the Alpha and Beta sites will close at the end of the first quarter of 2024.

The Netherlands has some of the world’s most ambitious offshore wind targets with goals of 21GW by the end of the decade and 70GW by 2050.