RWE enters Netherlands’ offshore wind tender

RWE has promised ‘unique concepts’ in offshore wind in response to a requirement from the Netherlands for innovation in the tender for two sites at Hollandse Kust West (HKW).

The two HKW sites up for grabs – VI and VII – are each expected to deliver capacities of 760MW towards the country’s current target of 21GW of offshore wind by 2030. But the Netherlands has specified that tenders must include innovations to benefit the Dutch energy system and provide ecological benefits.

RWE said that at site VI it would build on its experience elsewhere in the North Sea and specifically at 342MW Kaskasi Kaskasi (342MW) Offshoreoff Heligoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Europe Click to see full details, which is under construction in the German North Sea. In operation, site VI’s design will allow birds and bats to safely traverse the wind farm between the turbines and below the rotor swept area. It will rewild the area with artificial reefs and floating gardens, and proposes an ecology ‘multi-technology monitoring system’ that will be open to third parties to create a ‘living lab’.

RWE also plans to connect the new wind farm in site VII to a 300MW onshore electrolyser for green hydrogen production but will also integrate battery storage, allowing the power to be used for electric vehicle charging, and heating via e-boilers. 

The company said that the Netherlands is “one of the key markets where RWE wants to further expand its renewable energy portfolio” – it already operates seven Dutch onshore wind farms totalling 330MW. It noted that to deliver the innovations planned for the Hollandse Kust West offshore sites it would work with more than 40 Dutch organisations including innovators and start-ups, as well as local universities. 

RWE’s competitors in the tender include three partnerships: Ørsted and TotalEnergies; Vattenfall and BASF; and Shell and Eneco. It will also compete with single-party bidders BP and SSE Renewables.