Swedish firm Vattenfall has been awarded a permit for a zero-subsidy offshore windfarm in the Nertherlands.
The Hollandse Kust Zuid development in the Dutch North Sea will produce between 700 and 750 Megawatts of electricity, enough to power up to 1.5 million homes.
The Netherlands’ government is among the first to offer a so-called zero subsidy tender for wind power.
Only bids which required no government support could compete for the tenders.
Vattenfall beat Statoil and Innogy of Germany to the award, with its subsidiary Nuon to build and operate the windfarm.
It is expected for completion in 2022.
Vattenfall is also behind the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre off the coast of Aberdeen.
Magnus Hall, Vattenfall’s president and CEO, said: “This is excellent news for Vattenfall and the Netherlands. It is a significant step for us in view of our ambitions to grow in renewable energy production.
“We have previously announced that we intend to invest SEK 13 billion (EUR 1.5 billion) in growth investments in wind power for the period 2017-2018.
“The Netherlands is an important market for us and this will be our second offshore project there. It’s a great honor for us to get the opportunity to contribute with this project to the transformation of the Dutch energy system.”
Gunnar Groebler, senior vice president business area wind, said: “Winning the bid for Hollandse Kust Zuid is a result of our continuous cost reduction efforts along our entire value chain and the solid track record and portfolio approach of our company.
“We are very happy to enlarge our contribution in making the Dutch energy system more sustainable and support our customers, large and small, on their way to become climate smarter.”