AMSTERDAM, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell,which lost a bid to build a Dutch North Sea wind park in July,is interested in entering a second tender process opening nextweek, an official said on Thursday.
Marjan van Loon, Shell's top executive in the Netherlands,told parliament on Thursday "the potential for wind energy inthe Netherlands is really very attractive."
A Shell spokesman could not confirm that Shell would bid onthe 680 megawatt (MW) Borssele III and IV wind farms, but saidit was studying the option.
The Dutch government awarded the first Borssele I and II 700MW wind farms to Denmark's Dong Energy, which bid ata record low price.
The tender for two additional offshore sites, Borssele IIIand IV, will have combined 680 MW output. It opens next Fridayand runs through Sept. 29.
An additional three wind farm projects, Zone Hollandse Kust,with a combined 2,100 MW, are due to be tendered by 2019.
DONG's winning bid was to produce electricity at 7.27 eurocents per kilowatt hour, excluding costs to connect to gridoperator TenneT.
Van Loon said Shell supported a faster shift to renewablesand less polluting fossil fuels, but that in the meantime gasremained the best option to meet Dutch energy demand.
"Shell sees opportunities for the Dutch to accelerate theenergy shift," she said. While DONG's bid showed the cost toproduce offshore wind energy had fallen sharply, it "needs tocome down more if it is really going to be competitive."
The entire Borssele project, with 1,370 MW capacity, is oneof the biggest European offshore wind tenders in recent years. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Mark Potter)
