Borssele Wind Farm Zone Wind Farm Sites III & IV Project and Site Description
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Borssele Wind Farm Zone Wind Farm Sites III & IV Project and Site Description Final version, August 2016 >> Sustainable. Agricultural. Innovative. International. Contents 2 | Netherlands Enterprise Agency Contents 2 1 Objectives and reading guide 6 1.1 Objectives 7 1.2 Reading guide 7 2 Background 8 2.1 Offshore wind farms in the Netherlands 9 2.2 The roadmap towards 4,500 MW offshore wind power 9 2.3 Wind farm zones 10 3 Borssele Wind Farm Site III and IV – site description 12 3.1 General description of the Borssele Wind Farm Zone 13 3.2 Layout and coordinates of BWFS III and IV 14 3.3 Existing infrastructure 15 3.4 Nearby Belgian wind farms 16 3.5 Exclusion zones 18 3.6 TenneT offshore grid connection system 19 3.7 Cable Entry Zone BWFS III and IV towards TenneT offshore substation Beta 20 4 Site data 22 4.1 Geological desk study 23 4.2 Morphodynamical desk study 23 4.3 Archaeological desk study 25 4.4 Unexploded ordnance (UXO) assessment 27 4.5 Geophysical survey 28 4.6 Archaeological assessment 32 4.7 Geotechnical survey 33 4.8 Meteorological and oceanographic (Metocean) desk study 38 4.9 Meteorological and oceanographic (Metocean) measurement campaign 40 4.10 Wind resource assessment 41 4.11 Site investigation QA-QC procedures 43 5 Legal framework and specific requirements of the BWFS III and IV tender 46 5.1 SDE+ grant and permit tendering 50 5.2 Enforcement 50 5.3 Connection to the TenneT offshore substation 51 6 Specific requirements and relevant information from the legal framework 52 6.1 Boundaries and coordinates 53 6.2 Design and operation requirements 54 7 Next steps preparing a bid 64 8 Applicable documents 66 8.1 Bibliography 67 Appendices 68 Appendix A: Applicable Law 68 Appendix B: Summary Environmental Impact Assessment 68 Appendix C: Boundaries and Coordinates Borssele Wind Farm Zone 68 Project and Site Description Borssele Wind Farm Zone - Wind Farm Sites III & IV | 3 Foreword 4 | Netherlands Enterprise Agency With this Project and Site Description for Wind Farm Sites III and IV of the Borssele Wind Farm Zone, the Netherlands is taking the second step towards fulfilling its goal for 4,500 MW of offshore wind power. Last year we started the process with 700 MW of development offered up to tender across Borssele Wind Farm Sites I and II. We are delighted to now be taking the next step in achieving our ambitions as set out in the nation's Energy Agreement for Sustainable Growth by offering up a further 680 MW across Borssele Sites III and IV. (An additional 20 MW at Borssele Site V will be tendered under a separate regime to accommodate new offshore turbine innovations). Overall, our five-year programme aims to work with industry to boost offshore wind capacity in the Netherlands by end 2024 by adding 3,500 MW of new capacity to the 1,000 MW already operating or under construction, while reducing costs. Following our discussions with the industry, we are confident this can be achieved. As well as meeting our commitment under the Energy Agreement for Sustainable Development, our offshore wind power programme will also help towards meeting long term targets for 2050 as agreed at the Paris climate conference in 2015. The Netherlands has an excellent offshore wind resource, good seabed conditions in the North Sea that are ideal for wind farm development and maintenance, well-equipped ports and a strong existing offshore industry. The government is actively helping to drive down costs. We have introduced a stable market framework under which subsidies, project consents and grid connection are streamlined. National grid operator TenneT is already progressing well on grid connection infrastructure development and transmission network requirements. Meanwhile RVO.nl is providing all the relevant data regarding site conditions to ensure companies can prepare strong competitive bids, as it did for the previous tender round. Again, with all else being equal, the lowest tender bid to develop project sites III and IV of the Borssele Wind Farm Zone will be awarded the associated subsidies and permits. There are, however, some key differences for this year's tender that companies should be aware of when preparing their bids. The price cap for this tender round has been set at 11.975 Eurocent/kWh, down from 12.400 Eurocent/kWh last year, in line with our stated aim to reduce costs. Meanwhile, to reduce potential impact on birds, as of this round turbines used for projects must have a nominal capacity of 6 MW at least, in line with market trends. We fully expect companies to rise to the challenge we have set in a socially responsible manner. That means helping to safeguard the local ecosystem while bringing economic benefits to the local and regional economy as part of the project development and operational process. To that end, before the construction starts the winner should include two plans: one outlining how its project proposal will actively contribute to enhancing the local sea ecosystem and the other detailing how the project will benefit the local economy in terms of job creation and so forth. With our strong port infrastructure and existing skilled offshore workforce, we expect local job creation to be high. Both plans are not part of the final assessment criteria when it comes to ranking bids. Nonetheless, ensuring these two plans are as robust as possible will, of course, serve the industry well in fostering a higher level of social and political support for these specific projects and for further offshore wind development generally. We are determined to make the Netherlands a leading force in offshore wind power and together with industry we are confident we can make that happen. With this launch of the next round of project development, we look forward to working with the industry in taking the next steps to making that a reality. Project and Site Description Borssele Wind Farm Zone - Wind Farm Sites III & IV | 5 1. Objectives and Reading Guide 6 | Netherlands Enterprise Agency 1.1 Objectives This Project and Site Description (PSD) is designed to help • Chapter 4: Site data - a summary of all the studies and any party with an interest in participating in the planned measuring campaigns performed to date on the BWFZ, SDE+ grant and permit tender for Borssele Wind Farm Sites covering the following: III and IV (BWFS III and IV) in the Borssele Wind Farm Zone • Morphodynamic characteristics (BWFZ) in the Netherlands. • UXO risk assessment • Geophysical survey BWFS V was originally included as part of BWFS III. Site • Archaeological assessment investigations conducted prior to the separation of the sites • Geotechnical survey included BWFS V and therefore all information gathered for • Metocean characteristics this site is included in this PSD. • Metocean measurement campaign • Wind resource assessment This document summarises: • Chapter 5: Legal framework - an overview of the legal • A description of the site, surroundings and characteristics framework that is and will be implemented to facilitate of BWFS III and IV. the Dutch offshore wind programme rollout. • All data collected by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency • Chapter 6: Specific requirements - an overview of the (RVO.nl) regarding the physical environment of the most relevant design parameters, coordinates, permit Borssele area. requirements found in the various acts, decrees, • A selection of constraints, technical requirements and ministerial orders and Wind Farm Site Decisions, grant related issues that are deemed to be most relevant described in chapters 3 and 5. It also provides an overview for development of the Borssele area. of the status of the SDE+ framework. This overview is not • The process for the SDE+ grant, permit and the legal complete and does not replace any legal documents, but framework. it aims to provide information that is relevant to prepare a tender bid submission by September 2016. This document has been produced for information • Chapter 7: Steps preparing a bid - an overview of the purposes only and is not intended to replace any legal or process for granting a subsidy and permit, including key formally communicated rules, regulation or requirements. dates. More information on the site studies, including all reports • Chapter 8: Applicable documents. and other deliverables mentioned in this PSD, can be found at offshorewind.rvo.nl. This PSD contains three appendices, which can be found as separate documents; 1.2 Reading guide • Appendix A: Applicable Law • Appendix B: Summary of Environmental Impact This is the final version of the PSD for BWFS III and IV. It Assessment presents an overview of all relevant information for parties • Appendix C: Boundaries and coordinates Borssele Wind interested in preparing a bid for an SDE+ grant and permit Farm Zone. to build and operate wind farms at these sites. This PSD covers the following aspects in the different chapters: • Chapter 1: Objectives and reading guide. • Chapter 2: Background - a general introduction to the history and current state of Dutch offshore wind development, including an outline of the process and approach towards the rollout of offshore wind. • Chapter 3: Borssele Wind Farm Site III and IV - site description - general information on the BWFZ, the location, surroundings, its bathymetry (submarine topography), existing cable and pipeline infrastructure, nearby Belgian wind farms and TenneT grid connection system. Project and Site Description Borssele Wind Farm Zone - Wind Farm Sites III & IV | 7 2. Background 8 | Netherlands Enterprise Agency 2.1 Offshore wind farms in the Netherlands The Netherlands’ existing offshore wind farms and those The road map sets out a schedule of tenders offering 700 currently under construction have a combined capacity of MW of development each year in the period 2015 – 2019, approximately 1,000 MW.