RVO awards contracts for metocean campaigns offshore Netherlands

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) has awarded contracts to GEOxyz and RPS advies- en ingenieursbureau B.V. for the execution of metocean campaigns at three offshore wind energy search areas in the Netherlands.

The tender, which was divided into three lots, outlines that the data is obtained by means of two individual floating LiDAR systems and one spare to measure wind, wave, and current properties.

The preferred starting date for Lot 1 was the fourth quarter of 2022, and the preferred starting date for Lot 2 and Lot 3 is the first quarter of 2023.

Lot 1 and Lot 2 for the supply of the metocean data were awarded to GEOxyz with a total value of the contract (excluding VAT) being €3.1 million and €2.3 million, respectively.

Lot 3 was awarded to RPS advies- en ingenieursbureau B.V. with a total value of the contract (excluding VAT) €3,627,335.

In March 2022, the Dutch Government designated three new areas and confirmed previously designated areas in the North Sea for the development of offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 10.7 GW.

The three new wind energy areas were given the following names: Nederwiek, Lagelander, Doordewind. The other two reconfirmed areas are the northern part of IJmuiden Ver and the southern part of Hollandse Kust (west).

The Dutch Government set a target of 70 GW of offshore wind energy until 2050, based on the assumption that 50 GW could be installed by 2040. 

In addition to electricity generation, the Government also plans for some of the country’s offshore wind capacity to be used for large-scale green hydrogen production in the North Sea. 

The Government is currently working towards having 21 GW of offshore wind up and running by the end of this decade, which is about 75 per cent of the current electricity consumption in the Netherlands.