The Dutch government on Thursday said it had received multiple bids in a tender to build an offshore wind farm in the Dutch part of the North Sea with a total capacity of 4 GW.
The government said it expected to announce the winning bid in June, while the wind farms were expected to be operational by early 2030.
The farms will be built at two locations, with a capacity of 2 GW each, around 60 kilometers (37 miles) off the Dutch coast.
Earlier on Thursday, Dutch energy firm Eneco said it had reversed its decision to participate in the tender, as it said the business case had been eroded due to rising raw material costs, uncertainty over electricity prices and demand, high interest rates and supply chain problems.
The government said it would weigh the bids on price, environmental impact, sustainability and guarantees the project will be finalized.
It offers no subsidies for construction and the electricity produced by the wind farms, although the connection to the onshore grid will be delivered by state-owned grid company TenneT.
The Netherlands currently has wind farms with a capacity of almost 5 GW in the North Sea. It aims to increase this to almost 21 GW by 2031.
(Reuters - Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
