The village is the site of the Netherlands' only commercial
nuclear power plant, the 485 MW
Borssele nuclear power plant. A nearby area in the
North Sea contains the
Borssele Offshore Wind Farms, and is scheduled for more
offshore wind farm development. The first two stages for a combined 700-760
MegaWatt capacity was awarded to
DONG Energy (among 36-38 bidders) in July 2016 at a price of 7.27
euro cent per
kilowatt hour for 15 years, after which it would produce at market conditions. The price will not be adjusted for inflation.
TenneT receives a further €14/MWh (1.4 c/kWh) for transmission, giving a total price of €87/MWh (8.7 c/kWh). Experts view the price as unusually low (the lowest price was 10.3 c/kWh), and consider finance, high wind of 9.5 m/s and scaling as main drivers for the decreased price. Proximity to shore also means the project can use
alternating current transformer and cables to shore, instead of
direct current, decreasing the cost. The wind farm operators only handle the farms, as TenneT handles the transmission. The 752 MW Borssele 1 & 2 was
commissioned in late 2020. In April 2021, Ørsted agreed to sell half of the facility to
Norges Bank Investment Management. One turbine caught fire in October 2021. Most of the wind farm continued operating. The facility is serviced by a
surface effect ship. Two more stages with a further 680-740 MW went on auction on 29 September 2016 with 26 bids from 7
consortia. The auction was won by the Blauwwind II c.v. consortium with
8MW Vestas-Mitsubishi turbines, at a price of 5.45 c/kWh. The total subsidy is estimated at €300 million, down from the expected €5 billion. == Gallery ==