AI answer written only from the numbered passages below
A kavelbesluit (site decision) is the ministerial decision that designates a specific plot in the Dutch North Sea where an offshore wind farm may be built, and it fixes the conditions for that plot: location, maximum capacity, environmental conditions and construction deadlines 13. It is based on an environmental impact assessment (MER) covering effects on marine life, the seabed and other users of the sea 3. It is created by the Wet windenergie op zee (Offshore Wind Energy Act, in force since 2015), which allows wind farms only on a plot designated by kavelbesluit, and only inside a wind energy area designated in the national water programme 1. Since 1 January 2024 the kavelbesluit also carries considerations under the Omgevingswet, where before that date these fell under the Wet natuurbescherming 2. After the kavelbesluit, the minister runs a tender and issues the permit to build and operate to the winner 3.
Cited passages
Passage 1: What the Act does
The Wet windenergie op zee (Offshore Wind Energy Act, in force since 2015) is the legal framework for building and operating wind farms in the Dutch part of the North Sea. It centralises site selection with the state instead of leaving it to individual developer applications: wind farms may only be built on a plot (kavel) that the minister has designated by a kavelbesluit (site decision), and plots are only designated inside a wind energy area that is itself designated in the national water programme (Nationaal Waterprogramma).
Wet windenergie op zee (Offshore Wind Energy Act), BWBR0036752wetten.overheid.nl · wetten.overheid.nl · retrieved 18 Sep 2026
Passage 2: Preparation steps
Noordzeeloket, the government's North Sea information portal, describes how a wind farm site is prepared before it is tendered: the site is first designated inside a wind energy area in policy documents (the North Sea Programme / national water programme), studies then assess grid connection, ecology, shipping safety, defence radar, fisheries and other sea-use conflicts, an environmental impact report (MER) is produced, and the outcome is fixed in a kavelbesluit under the Wet windenergie op zee, which since 1 January 2024 also carries considerations under the Omgevingswet (before that date, the Nature Protection Act, Wet natuurbescherming).
How a kavelbesluit (offshore wind site decision) is preparedNoordzeeloket (Rijkswaterstaat / RVO / EZK North Sea information portal) · noordzeeloket.nl · retrieved 18 Sep 2026
Passage 3: Kavelbesluit and permit
A kavelbesluit fixes the conditions for a specific plot: location, maximum capacity, environmental conditions and construction deadlines, based on a environmental impact assessment (MER, milieueffectrapportage) covering effects on marine life, the seabed and other users of the sea. After the kavelbesluit, the minister runs a tender (subsidy or comparative/financial-bid tender) and issues the permit to build and operate to the winner; the Act also fixes obligations during construction and operation and grounds for withdrawing a permit.
Wet windenergie op zee (Offshore Wind Energy Act), BWBR0036752wetten.overheid.nl · wetten.overheid.nl · retrieved 18 Sep 2026
Sources consulted
- Wet windenergie op zee (Offshore Wind Energy Act), BWBR0036752wetten.overheid.nl · wetten.overheid.nl · retrieved 18 Sep 2026 · cited
- How a kavelbesluit (offshore wind site decision) is preparedNoordzeeloket (Rijkswaterstaat / RVO / EZK North Sea information portal) · noordzeeloket.nl · retrieved 18 Sep 2026 · cited
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