Delay for offshore wind

Last week, The Netherlands saw relatively low renewable generation. Germany, on the other hand, had a week with relatively more wind. Wind generation increased significantly from Wednesday onward. Because Wednesday was a public holiday in most European countries, power demand was much lower, leading to very low day-ahead prices. In The Netherlands, prices outside of the afternoon hours hovered around the variable costs of gas- and coal-fired power plants, while prices in neighboring countries were much lower. During the solar hours, The Netherlands was briefly the cheapest country as prices dropped to -200 €/MWh. During these hours, The Netherlands had limited export electricity, particularly to Denmark, because the COBRA interconnector was unavailable. The average Dutch spot price was 61.5 €/MWh. Gas prices for the coming months edged up slightly. June and July became one and a half euros more expensive, closing at 30.5 and 30.7 €/MWh, respectively. In Norway, several production facilities were unavailable. CO2 prices rose by 5 euros, reaching 72 €/EUA by the end of the week. Dutch power contracts for June and July rose to 65 and 69.4 €/MWh, respectively.

Last week, it was announced that the Dutch government’s target of having 21 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2031 would be delayed by at least one year. One of the reasons for the delay is that some cable routes cross protected nature areas, lengthening spatial planning procedures. In 2022, the government announced its intention to achieve over 21 GW of installed wind capacity instead of the previously planned 11 GW. At that time, several offshore companies expressed skepticism about the feasibility of this goal. For 2025, gas became one and a half euros more expensive, with TTF closing at 35.2 €/MWh. CO2 increased by 5 euros, closing at 74.8 €/EUA. Dutch electricity rose by 5 euros to 86.8 €/MWh. The clean spark spread for next year was -7 €/MWh.