Completion of the park brings the Dutch installed base of wind power in the North Sea to 4.5 gigawatts, in line with a plan drafted a decade ago and enough to supply about 15% of national electricity needs.
The offshore wind sector has faced cost increases due to inflation, slowing projects in the United States and Britain. But outgoing Dutch Energy Minister Rob Jetten said construction costs in the Netherlands have declined with growing expertise and standardization and "we have started to work more and more efficiently".
Under the Dutch system, private companies, such as Swedish-owned Vattenfall(VATN.UL), bid for concessions to build wind farms while the state ensures proper grid connections. The CrossWind consortium, which includes Mitsubishi-owned energy company Eneco NV (ENECO.UL), is not receiving any subsidy.
However, Jetten warned parliament in October that costs to finance grid construction at state-owned grid company TenneT would be higher than expected due to rising interest rates.
The Dutch government has planned to continue building quickly in the North Sea, adding additional larger farms at 2GW each to reach 21GW in total installed capacity by 2030-2031.
It is not clear whether the country's next government will continue those plans after a Nov. 22 national election in which the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), which opposes investment in green energy, made major gains with around a quarter of the total vote.
Tenders for 2GW concessions at the "IJmuiden Ver" Alpha and Beta sites are currently planned for 2024.
