BP has submitted bids for two individual offshore wind leases in the Netherlands – HKW sites VI and VII –  which could see it significantly boost its standing as a producer of sustainable aviation fuel.

The bid could see the production of 50,000 tonnes a year of green hydrogen to meet BP’s Rotterdam refinery demand and support 10,000 barrels a day production of sustainable aviation fuel, it said.

Success in the bids will enable a series of additional integrated clean energy investments in the Netherlands of up to EUR2 billion in line with the company’s strategy – including integrating offshore wind with electrification of industry and mobility and green hydrogen production, supporting decarbonisation of refining, aviation and transportation.

BP said the bids for Site VI will be evaluated on eco-innovation criteria, where it proposes creating innovative solutions to enhance the Dutch North Sea ecosystem.

The bid includes a supposedly unprecedented scale of innovation with nearly EUR75 million of committed spend to create a positive impact on the marine habitat, supporting advanced ecosystem data analysis and in establishing a new Netherlands’ North Sea Offshore Wind Ecological Innovation Hub to enable further research and collaboration.

It added that bids for Site VII will be evaluated on systems integration criteria, and its bid focuses on coupling offshore wind power generation with new, flexible demand with focus on the Rotterdam region.

Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, BP’s executive vice president 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.”

“We will apply BP’s integrated energy company strategy to integrate green energy supply and demand across the energy system. This includes using offshore wind power to electrify industry and mobility. And also using renewable power to produce green hydrogen, to help to decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors such as aviation, refining and heavy-duty mobility. These clean energy developments support the Netherlands’ ambitious emissions reduction aims.”

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