Stilo Share News (STL)

SCHIEDAM, March 19 (Reuters) - Swedish utility Vattenfallhas won the right to build a 700 megawatt (MW)subsidy-free wind farm in the Dutch part of the North Sea, theDutch Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Monday.

The Netherlands' government is among the first to offer aso-called zero subsidy tender for wind power, in which only bidsthat required no government support could compete for the two350 MW slots known as Hollandse Kust I and II.

Vattenfall beat Norway's Statoil and Germany'sInnogy in the tender. Its Dutch subsidiary Nuon willbuild and operate the wind farm, with expected completion by2022.

The wind farm in the Dutch North Sea will provide enoughsustainable electricity for one million households, the ministrysaid in a statement.

"Thanks to drastically lower costs, offshore wind farms arenow being constructed without subsidy," Minister of EconomicAffairs Eric Wiebes said. "Innovation and competition are makingsustainable energy cheaper and cheaper, and much faster thanexpected, too.”

The Hollandse Kust tender was the third of five tendersbeing held by the Dutch in a push to create 3,500 MW of offshorewind power by 2023.

The first two projects, for 700 MW each, were awarded in2016 to Danish energy company Orsted and aconsortium including Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shelland Dutch energy provider Eneco.(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Toby SterlingEditing by Alexander Smith and David Goodman)