Posted on September, 15 2008

Twenty major Dutch companies are piling the pressure on their government to speed up the construction of wind parks in the North Sea.

Ahead of the Dutch parliament re-opening tomorrow, and in conjunction with WWF-Netherlands, the firms took out double-page advertisements in leading Dutch newspapers.

They are calling for the generation of 6,000 megawatts from North Sea wind parks. That would be enough energy to run all trains in the Netherlands and to power six million homes.

“Research undertaken by WWF Netherlands shows that the majority of Dutch people would vote for offshore wind energy,” said Johan van de Gronden, CEO, WWF-Netherlands.

“The support of this group of companies, which represents all of the important sectors from the business community, is a sign that the cabinet cannot ignore.”

In June WWF Netherlands unveiled the “Offshore Wind Energy Initiative Group” which comprised five leading Dutch companies including major energy companies, the national railway company NS, a major bank (Rabo) and a leading company in the field of sustainable energy production and wind farms (Econcern).

The latest push has seen the addition to the campaign of 15 more firms including construction company Ballast Nedam, Siemens, Dutch telecom firm KPN and Delft University of Technology.

“Wind energy and all other forms of offshore sustainable energy represent economic opportunities,” said Ad van Wijk, Chairman of the Board, Econcern. “In the Netherlands sustainable energy is also the answer to climate change and it will create a new industry with thousands of jobs.”