The letter sent Thursday last week by the Dutch Minister for Climate and Green Growth, announcing that no applications were submitted for the tender of the Nederwiek I-A (1 GW) offshore wind farm, is a disappointing outcome. Not only for the development of offshore wind energy, but also for progress in multi-use solutions on the North Sea.
Offshore wind farms increasingly serve as anchors for innovation that promote the combined use of the North Sea. In many cases, wind farms provide space for new applications such as nature restoration, aquaculture, or other renewable energy sources including floating solar or wave energy. Moreover, such multi-use initiatives are sometimes even part of the evaluation criteria in offshore wind tender procedures.
The absence of applicants therefore represents not only a delay in the energy transition, but also a missed opportunity to develop projects that contribute to the climate and food transitions, in which the North Sea plays an essential role.
The Netherlands has set ambitious offshore wind targets. In July, these were revised downward to 21 GW by 2032 (previously 2030), and 30 – 40 GW by 2040 (previously 50 GW). This capacity remains crucial for achieving the country’s climate goals and strengthening national energy autonomy.
The lack of applications for Nederwiek I-A reflects the significant pressure facing the offshore wind sector. Rising financing and material costs, an uncertain investment climate, and growing social complexity within tender processes are all making participation increasingly challenging.
Turning delay into opportunity
Within this delay lies an opportunity. For innovative projects focused on sustainable multi-use, such as offshore energy storage or marine nature restoration, this period provides valuable time to validate innovations before scaling them up in future wind farms.
Initiatives that now invest in knowledge development, collaboration, and small-scale field trials will be better positioned to integrate into new wind projects once tenders reopen. That is why maintaining and expanding test facilities, such as the Maritime Testing Ground and Offshore Test Site off the coast of Scheveningen, as well as the Innovation Sites in Wind Farm Borssele, is of great importance.
This recent outcome also offers an opportunity to critically review how mulit-use activities have been included and implemented in previous wind tenders.
Activities such as nature enhancement have sometimes been listed as mandatory or as scoring criteria but not always carried out where they would have the greatest ecological or societal impact. In some cases, these initiatives were only partially implemented.
A new tender provides the opportunity to take these lessons on board, to ensure that co-use activities are applied where they can be most effective. The focus should be on practical feasibility and measurable added value, rather than symbolic commitments. This would allow multi-use development to become a meaningful and integral part of future offshore wind farms.
The situation around Nederwiek I-A also highlights the need for a broader approach to energy generation at sea.
In addition to offshore wind, solar and wave energy can provide valuable contributions to the sustainability of the national energy mix. To accelerate this development, future tenders should create more flexible space for such real-world applications and allow for scalable innovation.
Looking ahead
Although the lack of applications may seem like a setback, this period also offers time to reflect, rethink, and build better. By supporting innovation, improving regulatory frameworks, and keeping testing capacity available, the Netherlands can take the next step toward a resilient, multi-use North Sea.
The Campus@Sea field lab in the Scheveningen harbour acts as an innovation community and testing environment where entrepreneurs, research institutes, and public authorities work together on offshore solutions. This ensures that, by the time the next wind farms are realised, these offshore innovations will have reached a sufficiently high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to be applied directly within wind park developments.
📄 Source: Parliamentary Letter “Outcome of the Tender Procedure for Offshore Wind Energy: Nederwiek I-A (1 GW)” – 30 October 2025
🔗 Read the full document (in Dutch)
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