Metocean Data Gathering Needed for Hollandse Kust (Zuid) WFZ

Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland or RVO.nl) has invited tenders for the collection of meteorological and oceanographic data obtained through real time field measurements at the Wind Farm Zone Hollandse Kust (Zuid).

The objective of this tender is to conclude an agreement with 1 or 2 suppliers to provide the metocean data by means of 2 individual floating devices equipped with a LIDAR system to measure wind properties, and dedicated instrumentation to measure wave and current properties.

The work concerns organising metocean field measurements at HKZ WFZ. The measurements are intended to take place at a location with undisturbed wind conditions in the HKZ WFZ.

The measurement campaign should provide a continuous metocean dataset with a minimum duration of at least 12 months, starting Q2 2016.

The objective of these measurements is to reduce the uncertainty of the metocean data at the HKZ WFZ through real time field measurements. The resulting measurement data will be added to the offshore wind measurements database of ECN which is publicly available.

The new dataset should allow developers to carry out more accurate calculations of the annual energy yield, and calibrate and/or validate metocean models available for the wind farm design.

It is anticipated that more accurate metocean data will lead to a lower risk surplus and therefore lower cost of capital in the business case of an offshore wind farm, thereby reducing the project costs and resulting in a lower SDE-grant.

For this purpose, the contracting authority requires a consistent and validated dataset disclosed before the opening of the SDE + tender.

The short available time frame will imply that quality measures like redundancy and validation during data collection campaign will be of great importance. An information meeting is anticipated to be organised on 22 February, as part of the tender procedure.

Wind farm zone Hollandse Kust (Zuid), 356 km² in total, will be divided into 4 sites. Each site can accommodate 350 MW. TSO TenneT will build grid connections and construct two offshore substations in the wind farm zone.

The grant and permit tender for sites I & II (2×350 MW) is planned to open in 2017.

Additional background information can be found here.