Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden (TNvdW) is a planned offshore wind development in the Dutch North Sea north of Groningen, centred roughly 30.2 nautical miles (≈56 km) offshore. The designated site is a single ~700 MW kavel within the wider wind-energy zone and covers a large offshore footprint;...
Kamerbrief 'Actieplan windenergie op zee' (16 September 2025) by Minister Sophie Hermans (KGG) sets the policy frame for the TNW I kavel: (i) it initiates a study to merge the TNW kavel into the Doordewind windenergie zone to deliver the same capacity from a larger area with better TenneT-infrastructure utilisation and higher per-turbine yields, (ii) footnote 4 confirms TenneT has NOT entered into grid obligations for the TNW kavel (or Hollandse Kust West 8), so net-op-zee infrastructure for TNW is not contracted, and (iii) the kavel is no longer self-evidently reserved for the offshore hydrogen Demo 2 demonstration after the cabinet decided to pause Demo 2 indefinitely in the Klimaat- en Energienota. The 2026 tender slate prioritises Nederwiek I-A (Oct 2025) plus two 1 GW kavels with subsidy (concept publication uiterlijk januari 2026, tender close September 2026); TNW I is explicitly not in that slate. A ministerial decision on the merger was projected for early 2026.
On 24 April 2025, the Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth and the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning issued a preparatory decision (voorbereidingsbesluit) for the Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden I site, temporarily restricting other developments in the area that could hinder or block construction of the planned 700 MW wind farm.
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TNW, TNW I, TNW Site I, Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden Site I, TNWWFS I
TenneT and contractor NextGeoSolutions started preparatory geotechnical investigations in the Wadden Sea near Schiermonnikoog between 17 and 23 March 2025, using sensors and cone penetration tests to characterise the seabed and subsoil to about 10 metres depth for future power cable routes bringing offshore wind energy to the Eemshaven area.
The Dutch government designated the Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden offshore wind area as the site for a large-scale offshore green hydrogen project, planning around 500 MW of electrolysis connected to the planned wind farm and to Gasunie’s future offshore hydrogen transport network, with a smaller 50–100 MW pilot project to precede it.
The Dutch government identified Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden as one of the new offshore wind areas in the North Sea in 2022, as part of a programme of nine sites totalling up to 13.4 GW, with the TNW site assigned a potential capacity of 700 MW and scheduled for tendering in 2026 or 2027.
RVO released the full geotechnical investigation dataset for the Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden Wind Farm Zone, including Fugro’s borehole, in-situ test and laboratory results, and presented the outcomes during the "Geotechnical Campaign" webinar on 10 March 2022.
Deltares completed morphodynamics and scour protection studies for the Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden Wind Farm Zone, with the reports and associated datasets made available by RVO and the key results presented in a dedicated "Morphodynamics and Scour Protection" webinar on 17 February 2022.
RVO published the geophysical survey results for the Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden Wind Farm Zone, including the main survey report and data from MMT Group, and presented the findings during the "Geophysical Campaign" webinar held on 3 February 2022.
At the end of 2021, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate decided to combine the landing (grid connection) procedure for the Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden wind farm with that of the new 5-east (4 GW) wind energy zone into a single spatial programme under the Environment Act, so that the combined cable routes and landfalls can be assessed integrally.
For the Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden wind farm zone, the Dutch authorities prepared a draft Range and Detail Memorandum (NRD) and made it publicly available for inspection, initiating a formal public consultation phase. Noordzeeloket reports that this draft NRD had been published and that interested parties could review the documents via the Bureau Energieprojecten website. This consultation step forms part of the early development and environmental assessment process for the offshore wind farm zone and occurred around 2021, ahead of later permitting and tendering activities.
The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate selected the Eemshaven West route as the preferred cable route and grid connection point for the 700 MW Ten Noorden van de Waddeneilanden wind farm zone, choosing it over alternatives at Burgum and Vierverlaten and defining a corridor that runs via Schiermonnikoog and comes ashore in Groningen before connecting at Eemshaven.
On 6 November 2020, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) initiated a market consultation for the Ten Noorden van de Waddeneilanden (TNW) offshore wind farm zone, inviting interested companies to apply by 26 November to carry out a seabed morphological and scour study for the 700 MW project area. This consultation was launched to identify potential contractors ahead of issuing proposals for the study, which will support further development of the wind farm zone located about 46 nautical miles off the north coast of the Netherlands.
As part of the Phase 1 environmental impact report for the Net op zee Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden grid connection, multiple alternative cable routes to connect the new offshore wind farm to Burgum, Vierverlaten or Eemshaven were compared, with key ecological and other environmental constraints in the Wadden Sea mapped and evaluated, and the Commission for Environmental Assessment issuing its interim review on 15 July 2020.
RVO.nl-contracted geotechnical site investigation for the Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden Wind Farm Zone commenced in February 2020 under Fugro, comprising a Phase 1 shallow subsurface investigation followed by a Phase 2 borehole drilling and laboratory testing programme. The campaign completed in March 2022 (see paired geotech_survey_complete event).
Swedish survey company MMT began a geophysical soil investigation campaign at the Ten noorden van de Waddeneilanden wind farm zone in the North Sea, collecting seabed data over the following weeks to support future tender preparation by developers.
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