TenneT Completes Grid Connections for Hollandse Kust (West Beta)

Source: Tennet

Grid operator TenneT has completed the standardized 700MW grid connections for the Hollandse Kust (West Beta) offshore wind farm and has received the grid readiness certificate from DNV.

The project was completed five months ahead of schedule.

Under the Electricity Act, the Dutch government designated TenneT as the operator of the offshore grid in 2016. The task: to connect the offshore wind farms to the national high-voltage grid and to transport sustainable electricity. To this end, TenneT has built "offshore sockets," which are connected to the onshore high-voltage grid via electricity cables buried in the seabed.

"In just under 10 years, with the rollout of the 700MW program, we have demonstrated, together with our partners and the market, that we can move mountains," says Marco Kuijpers, Director of Offshore at TenneT. "With grid readiness for Hollandse Kust (West Beta), we have now delivered all seven projects on time and budget, entirely in accordance with our plan. A great milestone for the energy transition."

In 2026, operator RWE and TotalEnergies will begin construction of the OranjeWind wind farm, with an installed capacity of 795 megawatts. Upon full commissioning, the wind turbines are expected to produce approximately 3 terawatt hours annually—enough green energy to supply a city the size of Amsterdam with electricity for almost a year.

TenneT constructed the last three 700 MW power outlets for the Hollandse Kust (North), Hollandse Kust (West Alpha), and Hollandse Kust (West Beta) wind zones off the coast of North Holland. This was done in close collaboration with, among others, the contractor consortium Equans/Smulders, which built the platforms in the Netherlands and Belgium.

With these 700 MW connections, there will be a total installed capacity of 6.1GW in the Dutch part of the North Sea by 2028. The national government aims to expand this capacity to 21GW by 2032.

To this end, TenneT, in collaboration with the market, developed the 2GW program as a new standard. These new offshore wind farms will be connected via direct current (DC) connections, as they are located further offshore. Direct current connections ensure lower energy losses over longer distances than alternating current connections.

“The new 2GW standard enables us to transport large amounts of sustainable energy more efficiently from sea to land, using fewer cables and platforms. This saves time and resources and minimizes the ecological impact. Between now and 2032, we will build thirteen of these new connections in the Dutch and German North Sea. This way, we are continuing our journey towards a clean, stable, and independent energy supply for the future.”