Minister Hermans, Climate and Green Growth: “In various places around the world and in Europe, the sector is struggling with rising costs, increasing interest rates, and uncertainty about sufficient demand. This means that the pace of the rollout of offshore wind farms is slower than in previous years. Without intervention, the rollout of wind farms is at risk of coming to a standstill. The Action Plan for Offshore Wind Energy provides extra support for the sector in the coming period and outlines several additional measures. This allows the next cabinet to make quick decisions.”
The Action Plan contains two solution directions to continue the rollout of offshore wind energy: 1. stimulating the construction of offshore wind farms (supply stimulation) and 2. stimulating the development of electricity demand (demand stimulation). In the short term, in addition to the subsidy for next year, the cabinet has also worked on the demand side and extended the Indirect Cost Compensation (IKC-ETS) scheme for industry by a year until 2028 to make electricity costs competitive. €150 million will be made available for this. This improves the future business case for offshore wind farms.
For the longer term, the cabinet is preparing a legislative proposal to make Contracts for Difference (CfD) possible: wind farm owners will receive subsidies when revenues are low and pay back to the state when electricity prices are high. The action plan further describes the development of a guarantee fund to support the conclusion of long-term power contracts, and it is being explored whether wind farm builders can be given more time for completion. The cabinet is also investigating whether the future wind farm North of the Wadden Islands can be added to the offshore wind energy area Doordewind – which would lead to higher yields per turbine and better utilization of the infrastructure. Finally, the Action Plan offers options for consideration for the next cabinet.
