BP announced the submission of a bid for two offshore wind leases in the Netherlands which have a combined producing capacity of 1.4GW. on Thursday morning.
BP’s bids complement BP’s vast and transformative goals for a range of additional integrated clean energy investments in the Netherlands, using the company’s diverse businesses and expertise to underpin the country’s decarbonization targets.
BP has entered bidding for the rights to build sites VI and VII of the Hollandse Kust Wind Farm Zone (HKW) which is located 53km off the west coast of the nation and has two wind farm sites totalling 176 kmsq.
Bids
Bids for Site VI will be assessed on eco-innovation criteria, with BP suggesting new ways to improve the Dutch North Sea ecology.
The bid contains an “unprecedented level of innovation”, with nearly €75m committed to improving the marine environment, supporting advanced ecosystem data analysis, and establishing a new Netherlands North Sea Offshore Wind Ecological Innovation Hub to facilitate further studies and collaboration.
Bids for Site VII will be assessed on its ability to integrate systems, and BP’s offer emphasizes connecting offshore wind power supply with adaptable demand in the Rotterdam area.
If BP wins the bids, the group proposed the integration of wind farms with 500MW electrolysis which will create 50,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year to fulfil BP’s Rotterdam refinery requirement and 10,000 barrels per day of sustainable aviation fuel generation.
BP’s Rotterdam refinery will get a new electric-powered boiler and superheater, as well as a utility-scale battery to help with asset integration.
BP said it will also equip the wind farms with demand shifting solutions, as well as newly designed flexible electric vehicle charging stations with integrated batteries and low-carbon multi-energy logistics hubs.
Additional advanced digital grid optimisation and stability technologies will be used to match demand for electricity to the HKW wind power production as part of these initiatives and BP will create a skills incubator to help workers obtain the skills they need to work in these new sectors.
BP expects to invest up to €2bn in the decarbonization of flexible demand apart from the additions to the wind farms.
Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, BP’s Executive VP of gas and low carbon energy, said: “Delivering a net zero future demands more than just generating renewable power offshore – we need to create an integrated energy system with renewables at its centre. We plan on doing just that in the Netherlands.”
She said the group will apply its integrated energy company strategy to meet the green energy supply with the demand in the energy system through utilising offshore wind power to electrify industry and mobility and renewable power to produce green hydrogen, to help to decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors.
“In addition, we will deploy innovative technology in support of an unprecedented scale and scope of monitoring and analysis to create a step change in collaborative marine ecology research in line with our aim to have a positive impact on the North Sea’s ecology,” added Dotzenrath.