Over the next 15 years, some €80 billion will be spent on building infrastructure for wind farms in the North Sea and those costs could be passed on to consumers, according to broadcaster NOS.

Last year, an average household paid €400 per year in electricity grid charges. This threatens to increase to €1,100 by 2040, NOS said.

Energy companies currently receive no subsidy for the construction of wind farms and the costs related to expansion and maintenance show up directly in household utility bills.

New wind farms in the areas IJmuiden Ver, Nederwiek, Ten Noorden van de Waddeneilanden and Doordewind are much larger and are much further from the coast the previous installations. To connect them to land requires new technology, longer cables, larger platforms and this makes it much more expensive.

By 2033, the aim is to ensure three quarters of all electricity in the Netherlands comes from offshore wind.