London-listed developer SSE and its joint venture partner APG have confirmed they will move forwards with a project to build what will become the biggest offshore wind farm in the North Sea.
The companies, working under the joint name Noordzeker, won the tender to construct the IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Site Alpha last month and had until the end of July to confirm they would be going ahead with the project.
In a statement published this morning SSE boss Stephen Wheeler said he was “pleased” the project was progressing, with the wind farm expected to be commissioned by 2030.
He added: “Our successful bid is testament to the work the consortium and its partners have undertaken to put forward a compelling set of proposals to sensitively develop our proposed offshore wind project in a manner which will positively contribute to the marine environment while delivering a cleaner and more secure energy system for the Netherlands.
“We now look forward to collaborating with our consortium partners, Dutch authorities, supply chains and other stakeholders as we progress the project.”
The proposed offshore wind project would be located about 62 kilometres off the Dutch coast off IJmuiden and have an installed capacity of around 2GW, enough to meet around 7 per cent of the current Dutch electricity demand.
The wind farm’s sister site, IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm Site Beta, is due to be constructed by Zeevonk II – a joint venture between Vattenfall and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
Once completed the two sites will be the biggest wind farms in the North Sea to date, providing a combined 4 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy capacity.