Wind power in the Netherlands
Wind power in the Netherlands reached an installed capacity of 4,341 MW by year end 2017, 1,118 MW of which were based offshore. The 2,294 turbines sited in the Netherlands by the end of 2017 provided the country with 9% of its electricity demand during the year, a figure that is growing but somewhat below the average of 11.6% that wind power provides across the whole of the EU’s electricity consumption. 2015 was a record year for new installations in the Netherlands with 586 MW added of which 180 MW were offshore.
The Dutch are trying to meet the EU-set target of producing 14% of total energy use from renewable sources by 2020, and 16% by 2023.
Windmills have historically played a major part in the Netherlands by providing an alternative to water driven mills.
Many of the numerous smaller and older wind farms in the Netherlands consist of much smaller turbines compared to those typically deployed today. These were often manufactured by lesser known wind turbine manufacturers, sometimes producing innovative products such as the Nedwind 2 blade turbine. Many of these smaller companies were eventually acquired by the larger wind turbine manufactures such as Vestas, Siemens and Lagerwey.
Since 2015 there has been a trend towards the deployment and planning for large wind farms, both onshore and offshore, with a view to the approximate tripling wind power capacity from 2015 levels by 2023. The first of these, the 429 MW Noordoostpolder wind farm was already partially deployed by year end 2015 whilst the 600 MW Gemini offshore wind farm was commissioned in 2017. These newer and larger wind farms are making use of some of the largest wind turbines available, in particular in the case of Noordoostpolder the Enercon E-126 7500 kW wind turbine, the largest onshore turbine available at that time. The Netherlands is also well prepared for a significant rise in the production of intermittent power from wind energy by good linkages to its neighbours via high voltage cables enabling power to be imported or exported as required. These include the 580 km NorNed submarine cable link to Norway, the 1,000 MW BritNed cable link to the United Kingdom and the COBRA cable link to Denmark.
Future targets
The Dutch government has set a target of 6,000 MW of onshore wind power by 2020 and 4,450 MW of offshore wind power by 2023. This will contribute towards the Dutch target of 14% renewable energy use out of total energy use by 2020 and 16% by 2023.For offshore wind a new system of tendering is under development. New wind farm deployment is based on the SER agreement that describes a plan for five years of tendering 700 MW per year. Under this system the government chooses locations and organizes tenders for projects of 350 MW, and project developers can offer bids for each farm. These sites are also surveyed centrally by the government allowing developers to avoid costly and multiple surveys.
| Call for tender | Additional offshore wind power | Becoming operational |
| 2016 | 700 | 2019–2020 |
| 2016 | 700 | 2020 |
| 2017 | 700 | 2021 |
| 2018 | 700 | 2022 |
| 2019 | 700 | 2023 |
| Total | 3,500 |
Turbine manufacturers and repowering
Many small scale wind farms exist throughout the Netherlands which bear testament to earlier models of wind turbines and lesser known manufacturers which provided a range of niche products, ranging in size and power output. There are several Dutch turbine manufacturers that continue to manufacture both large and small installations for domestic and international clients. Smaller turbines are often used for off grid, bespoke and community power internationally.| Manufacturer/ Model | Notes |
| Started operations in 1979. Produced at least 19 models at 250, 750, 1500, 2000, 2300, 2500, 2600, 3000, 3600, 3800, 4000 and 4500 kW. Active 2020. | |
| Established 1983. Produced at least 3 models of outputs 100, 200, 250 kW. Two of the models are still under production. | |
| NedWind | Began operating in 1990. Produced at least 8 models with power outputs of 100, 250, 500, 1000 kW. Acquired by Neg Micon 1998 |
| Windmaster | Produced at least 14 models of 100. 150, 200, 225, 300, 500, 750, 850 and 1300 kW. Acquired by Lagerway in 1998. |
| Started operation in 2001 and is developing a 6,000 kW two blade downwind turbine. Active 2016. | |
| Founded in 2004, Produced at least 12 models at 250, 500, 750, 900 and 2000 kW. Active 2020. | |
| Started operations 2009. Produced at least 12 models of 2000, 4000, 4500, and 5000 kW. Active 2016. |
Some of the newer larger wind farms currently under construction are replacing smaller turbines previously installed at given locations. One such example is the largest wind farm in Holland, Noordoostpolder, which is installing industrial scale wind turbines such as the new Enercon onshore wind turbines, at the time the largest onshore turbines in the world rated at 7500 kW. The turbines have a hub heigh of 135 m and each new turbine can generate as much electricity as all 50 turbines of the old wind farm combined. The wind farm demonstrates the growth in scale in wind power as between 1987 and 1991 was the largest of its kind in Europe with 50 turbines and a total capacity of 15 MW. The new Zuidwester site at the wind farm will have just 12 turbines and a total capacity of 90 MW. A second hand market for turbines also exists, which could grow as older turbines are replaced by larger newer ones.
Timeline of developments
2018In March 2018 the Dutch government announced that it will build between 2023 and 2030 several new windfarms with a total installed capacity of 7 gigawatt. Where the parks will come and how they will be built is still being discussed. However, the government wants 40% of the total electricity used in 2030 in the Netherlands to be supplied by wind.
2016
In the first week of December 2016, all 150 turbines of the new 600 MW Gemini offshore windfarm began producing power, and the project is expected to be fully commissioned by mid 2017. In July 2016, the first two stages of offshore wind farm development for a combined 700 MegaWatt capacity in a water area near Borssele was awarded to DONG Energy at a price of 7.27 Euro cent per kilowatt hour for 15 years. Transmission costs of 1.4 eurocent/kWh is to be added as TenneT is required to take power from sea to shore.Wind power in the Netherlands#cite note-10| Wind power in the Netherlands#cite note-11| Wind power in the Netherlands#cite note-12|
2015
The Dutch government has expressed the aspiration to build 4.450 MW of offshore wind power by 2023 which will have a considerable impact on the Dutch electricity grid, operated by TenneT. Wind power in the Netherlands#cite note-9| As a first step, the government has determined 65 sites for offshore wind farms in the North Sea and IJsselmeer. Wind power in the Netherlands#cite note-ny times-1|
2013
By December 2013, 1,975 wind turbines were operational on land in the Netherlands, with an aggregate capacity of 2,479 MW. An additional 228 MW of capacity was installed at sea.
2011
In November 2011, the Dutch government decided to no longer fund €6 billion per year to maintain subsidized wind kWh at €0.18. It sharply cut subsidies down to €1.5 billion, leaving private sector to carry over wind turbine investments should these be beneficial.Wind power in the Netherlands#cite note-reuters-6|
Onshore wind power
Whilst there are a growing number of large onshore wind farms in Holland, most of the onshore farms in 2015 consisted of a large number of small wind farms, including many single installation turbines as well as farms of between 1–10 turbines. Detailed maps and information about wind farms in the Netherlands can be found from this and list of . In total there were 3,004 MW of onshore wind power at the end of 2015. Most wind power is produced in the province of Flevoland. A few of the larger wind farms are listed here.| Wind farm | Capacity | Notes/Ref |
| Noordoostpolder | 201 | A further 228 MW of capacity to be added when completed Includes three windfarms: -Westermeerwind Wind Farm 144 MW 69 Enercon turbines -NOP Agrowind Wind Farm 195 MW 13 Enercon E126/7500. 13 Enercon E126/7500 and -Zuidwester wind farm'' 90 MW.12 turbines: Enercon E126/7500 |
| Westereems | 213 | , 2019. 34 Enercon E-115 3,000 kW wind turbines |
| GroWind | 63 | Commissioning: 2008. 21 Vestas turbines. |
| Delfzijl Noord | 63 | Commissioning: 2015. 19 Nordex turbines. |
| Delfzijl-Zuid | 43 | Commissioning: 2008. 10 Enercon E70/2000, 10 Enercon E70/2300. |
| Koegorspolder | 42 | Commissioning: 2007/12. 21 turbines: Vestas V80/2000. |
| Delfzijl Zuid | 32 | Commissioning: 2008. 14 Enercon turbines. |
| Rachel Carson | 18 | Commissioning: 1998. 18 NedWind turbines. |
Noordoostpolder
The largest wind farm in the Netherlands is Noordoostpolder with a capacity of 429 MW. The farm consists of three smaller wind farms owned by separate organisations with local community links. The wind farm's 86 wind turbines will produce 1.4 billion kWh of electricity, enough. power for over 400,000 households every day, a figure roughly equivalent to the number of households in the Northern Netherlands.Westereems
The next largest onshore wind farm is the Westereems wind farm located in Eemshaven in Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands.Princess Alexia
Up until the Westereems Wind Park was commissioned the largest onshore wind farm was the Princess Alexia Windpark in Zeewolde, consisting of 36 REpower turbines and a 3.2MW/33MWh battery storage power station of BMW i3 batteries. Other large wind farms are located in Delfzijl-zuid, Lelystad, Terneuzen,, and Biddinghuizen.Rachel Carson
The Rachel Carson wind farm remarkably consists of wind turbines with just 2 blades, manufactured by Nedwind, the 18 turbines have a combined nominal power of 18 MW.Offshore wind power
See also: List of offshore wind farms in the North SeaIn contrast to onshore wind farms, almost all turbines by January 2017 were situated in just a few large wind farms.
| Wind farm | Location | Capacity | Turbines | Commissioning | Build Cost | Cap. fac. | Depth range | km to shore | Owner | Refs. |
| Borssele 1 & 2 | 752 | 94 * Siemens Gamesa 8 MW | Expected 2020 | 14–40 | 22 | Ørsted | ||||
| Egmond aan Zee | 108 | 36x Vestas V90-3MW | 2008 | €200m | 15–18 | 13 | Nuon, Shell | |||
| Eneco Luchterduinen | 129 | 43 × Vestas V112/3000 | 2015 | €450 million | 18–24 | 24 | Eneco, Mitsubishi | |||
| Friesland | 320 | 89 × Siemens SWT-3.6–107 | 2021 | 3–4 | 2 | Windpark Fryslân B.V. | ||||
| Gemini | 600 | 150x Siemens SWT- 4.0–130 | 2017 | €2.8 b | 28–36 | 55 | Northland Power, Siemens, Van Oord, HVC Groep | |||
| Irene Vorrink | 17 | 28x Nordtank NTK600/43 | 1996 | GBP 19m | 2–3 | 1 | Nuon | |||
| Lely | 2 | 4x Nedwind 500 kW/41 | 1994 | GBP 4.4m | 3–4 | 0.8 | Nuon | |||
| Princess Amalia | 120 | 60x Vestas V80-2MW | 2008 | €350m | 19–24 | 26 | Eneco Energie |