EIB approves financing for 740-MW Borssele III and IV wind projects in Netherlands

The consortium Blauwwind II C.V., comprising Shell, Eneco, Van Oord, and Diamond Generating Europe, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi has secured project financing from the  European Investment Bank (EIB) for the up to 740 MW Borssele 3&4 offshore wind farm in the Dutch part of the North Sea.

As we reported, the consortium won the tender for the construction and operation in December 2016. The consortium bid €54.5/MWh (US$56.85/MWh). By comparison, DONG Energy Borssele 1 BV won the previous tender with a price of €72.7/MWh. In total, 26 bids from seven parties/consortia were received in the tender. 

In early July, the development consortium applied for a loan with the EIB to support the development of the wind farms. EIB did not disclose the amount of financing it will provide for the project. 

The Borssele III & IV wind farms, located some 22 kilometres off the Dutch province of Zeeland, will feature MHI Vestas wind turbines. In October 2017, Blauwwind and TenneT signed grid connection agreements for the wind farm. The project is expected to generate more than 3.200 GWh per annum, the equivalent of the electricity used by approximately 825,000 households. 

The Borssele II offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea is expected to be constructed and operated with a subsidy of just €300 million (US$313 million). The originally anticipated subsidy was €5 billion (US$5.21 billion). 

The Borssele II, III and IV pare part of five planned wind farms off the Netherlands, which are all expected to be operational by 2023.

We have informed about other offshore wind projects in the Netherlands:

• 20 MW offshore wind site in the Netherlands, Borssele V
• 350 MW Borssele II wind farm in Zeeland
• 350 MW Borssele I wind farm in Zeeland
• 430 MW Noordoostpolder wind project on IJsselmeer lake
• 320 MW Friesland offshore wind farm in Netherlands
• 600 MW Gemini offshore wind farm