Dutch offshore wind legislation: preparatory site decisions Borssele I, II, III & IV

Today, the preparatory decisions for the offshore wind sites Borssele I, II, III and IV were published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Government Gazette. In order to avoid that a final site decision will be taken for a location within a designated wind area that has become less suited, the Offshore Wind Energy Act provides for the possibility of a preparatory site decision. The preparatory decisions block other uses for the designated areas, are not open for objection or appeal, and are followed by the draft site decisions.

On 7 August 2015, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will publish the draft site decisions for Borssele I and II, on which, during 6 weeks, views can be expressed. At the end of November 2015, these first two final decisions will be published, which will be subject to appeal.

The decisions state the exact areas by referring to the map and coordinates as contained in the respective annexes 1 and 2. Furthermore, the decisions contain the prohibition to perform certain work within the site and 500 meters around the site, in order to protect the realisation of the wind farm. An exemption from the prohibition is provided for works such as maintenance and management of the cables situated in the areas. The decisions contain provisions regarding the due date and the entering into force. The preparatory decision enters into force the day after publication and will remain into force until a safety zone is declared for the site, as described in the Water Act, or if, a year after entering into force, the procedure for expressing views on the draft site decision has not started. The four preparatory site decisions are almost identical, except for the explanatory part of the decisions for sites III and IV, which refer to the possibility of an innovation site within each site, to research new engineering techniques.

Please find below, the map of each site and the link to the preparatory site decision: