ROTTERDAM, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A consortium led by RoyalDutch Shell beat 26 other bidders to win a contract to build 700megawatts of offshore wind capacity, offering a strike price of54.50 euro cents per megawatt hour, Dutch economic affairsminister Henk Kamp said on Monday.
Contractors Eneco, Van Oord and Mitsubishi were Shell'spartners in the consortium to build in the Borssele III and IVwind areas, Kamp said, adding that low interest rates, highexisting capacity and intense competition were the main reasonsfor the relatively low strike price.
Kamp said the government would award contracts for a furtherseven 1,000 MW offshore wind power stations from 2023.
Earlier this year, the Dutch government awarded a contractto build 700 megawatts of capacity in the Borssele I and II windareas to Denmark's Dong Energy, offering a strikeprice of 72.70 euro cents. (Reporting By Toby Sterling; writing by Thomas Escritt; editingby David Clarke)