The Port of Rotterdam has welcomed the announcement that the Dutch government identified the port’s Maasvlakte North zone as the most suitable landfall location for onshore cables which will connect four 350MW offshore wind farms in the Hollandse Kust (zuid) zone to the grid.
The offshore grid at Hollandse Kust (zuid) will consist of two offshore substations with two subsea power cables exporting the electricity to the shore, underground land cables, and an onshore transformer substation which will be built at Maasvlakte. TenneT is the developer and operator of the offshore grid.
For businesses in the port, the large-scale generation of wind energy offers opportunities for new revenue models in the long term, the port said.
In case of a surplus of wind energy, for instance, the price will be low making it attractive to convert electricity into hot water or fuels for transport such as power to gas or power to liquids. The production thereof may vary depending on the price of electricity, according to the port.
The announced TenneT’s cable between the wind farm and the Maasvlakte will contribute to a positive investment climate for this kind of new activities, the port said.
Sustainable electricity will also become increasingly important for the Port of Rotterdam in the coming decades as a substitute for fossil fuels in production processes, according to the port.
The four wind farms at the Hollandse Kust (zuid) zone are expected to be connected to the grid between 2018 and 2021.
The subsidy and permit tender for sites Hollandse Kust (Zuid) I & II is planned to open in 2017, with the tender for the zones III and IV following a year later.
The Maasvlakte connection will contribute to achieving the objectives for wind energy in the North Sea as agreed in the Dutch National Energy Agreement, namely the aim to realise 3,450 MW of additional wind energy at sea by 2023.