The concession for the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm was awarded on Monday evening to Vattenfall, the Swedish state-owned energy company which is the parent of Dutch power group Nuon.

The 30-year, €1.5bn project is the first non-subsidised offshore windfarm in the world, online news service Nu.nl said on Tuesday.

In announcing the news, economic affairs minister Erik Wiebes said: ‘This will be the first to operate on wind and not subsidies.’

Scheduled to be operational in 2022, the 700 megawatt windfarm will generate power for one million homes, or 1% and 2% of total Dutch energy consumption every year, the economic affairs ministry said. The county aims to generate 16% of total energy needs –  roughly 4,500 MW – sustainably by 2023.

The cost of building offshore wind farms has declined substantially in recent years. Vattenfall won the concession against rival bidders which included Innology, parent of Essent and Equinor, the former Norwegian Statoil.

Vattenfall CEO Magnus Hall said: ‘The Netherlands is an important market for us and is our second-largest offshore arena.  We are pleased to be a part of the energy transition taking place now.’