The wind turbines on the North Sea can now deliver one Gigawatt in Netherlands. 60 Gigawatts should be achievable in 2050, the target for Europe being 450 Gigawatts.
This is according to Netherlands Wind Energy Association (NWEA).
Hans Timmers, chairman of the NWEA thinks that the Netherlands is facing a huge challenge. A recent report shows that when it comes to generating sustainable energy, the Netherlands is the worst performer of all European countries.
"In the Netherlands we now have 1 Gigawatt at sea, which should increase to 60 Gigawatt in 2050. Wind energy is the holy grail of sustainability in our country. Offshore wind in particular," he added.
Ultimately, around 20% of the Dutch section of the North Sea will be used for wind farms.
The port of Rotterdam, together with the companies in the port area, is in an excellent position to take advantage of the opportunities that construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms offer. The North Sea, with a large amount of wind turbines in the near future, is literally on its doorstep.
In order to provide Rotterdam port’s business sector with knowledge and to support them in setting up services in areas like offshore wind, the Port of Rotterdam Authority set up the Offshore Community Rotterdam together with RPPC, which now has 80 members.
Elsewhere in Europe, major construction is also taking place at sea. Ultimately, this should increase to a capacity of 450 Gigawatt in 2050, to be generated using offshore wind farms.