The three new zones are located offshore from Borssele, Zuid-Holland and Noord-Holland, and are expected to host a total of five wind projects with a capacity of 700MW each.
The sites chosen are relatively close to shore in order to keep down costs, the government said. It selected a smaller number of large projects in order to reduce the visual impact of the developments, added a government spokesperson.
The government had previously been planning to allow the development of nine projects further from the coast. It has now scrapped this plan and all applications to develop projects in these areas have been deemed void.
The plan was agreed by the Dutch cabinet last week after being proposed by the minister of economic affairs Henk Kamp and minister of infrastructure and environment Melanie Schultz van Haegen.
Dutch grid operator Tennet will be responsible for constructing the transmission network to carry the power from the projects to shore.
Timing for tendering of the zones has not been announced.
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