The Dutch government has reduced its offshore wind targets and removed one of the zones set for offshore wind development to give more room to the fishing sector.
The authorities decided to amend their North Sea Programme and, with it, reduce the offshore wind energy target from 50GW to 21GW.
This also comes with the removal of the Lagelander wind energy area, located west of Texel and Vlieland, from future offshore wind plans due to its great value for fishing. As a result, the area is no longer considered a wind energy area.
The removal of the wind energy area opens a zone between 1,520 to 1,620 sq km free of wind turbines. According to the amended plan, this will preserve a catchment area for the Norwegian lobster known as langoustine and allow the current fishing activities in this area to continue.
The previous target of 50GW of wind energy has been postponed to the next North Sea Programme in 2028.
