Wind energy and the need for energy islands in the North Sea after 2030

The Netherlands is a leader in wind energy in the North Sea. We have strong offshore companies, a good location, a lot of experience and knowledge, and a well-functioning licensing system. Future plans are ambitious. The Netherlands wants to achieve 70 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030, and as much as 100 GW by 2050. After 2030, wind farms will mainly be built in areas of the North Sea, hundreds of kilometers from the coast.

To transport the huge amount of wind energy to land, hubs are necessary where energy from different wind farms is collected, transformed and transported via cables and pipelines to the coast.

The thousands of wind turbines and installations must also be maintained, which means many thousands of technicians, large numbers of installation and maintenance vessels and thousands of ship movements.

This makes an island-shaped base with a port and accommodation for personnel, necessary for safety at sea and the well-being of personnel.

Multi functions

The development of multifunctional energy islands in the North Sea is a crucial step in making our energy supply more sustainable and offers numerous advantages for logistics, environment, economy and co-use such as for seaweed farming and solar energy.

The functions at a glance:

Infrastructure

• Location for electrical infrastructure: space for HVDC station (transmission and interconnection)
• Production (and storage/transport) of hydrogen gas
• Terminal for landing LNG, hydrogen gas.....
• (Flight) port for service vessels and (electric) ferries
• A base camp for navy and coast guard / security towing services
• Heliport
• Facilities for aquaculture (seaweed, mussels, algae ...): for processing after harvesting and for transport to shore (co-use of heat)

Facilities

• Accommodation: (hotel) for maintenance technicians
• Workshops and warehouse for spare parts.
• Research facilities for offshore hydrogen production, marine research, ecology and energy production
• Refueling station (bunker station) electric and hydrogen (ships)
• Datacentre

Great opportunities for the Netherlands

The development of wind energy in the North Sea offers great opportunities for the Netherlands. With the right investments and technology, the Netherlands can continue to play a leading role in offshore wind energy.