Ecowende chooses Vestas wind turbines for Hollandse Kust West wind farm

Friday 22 December 2023

Wind farm developer Ecowende has chosen Vestas as the supplier of the wind turbines for its future offshore wind farm. The Shell and Eneco partnership will build this wind farm on Hollandse Kust (west) site VI, some 53 kilometres off the coast of IJmuiden. The Danish wind turbine manufacturer will supply 52 wind turbines of type V236-15.0 MW for this purpose. Vestas will also maintain the wind turbines for 15 years. The cooperation agreement was signed on 19 December.

"We are pleased to announce yet another project together with Shell and Eneco to work on Europe's energy security and the energy transition in the Netherlands," said Nils de Baar, President of Vestas North & Central Europe. "This project puts strong emphasis on embedding the wind farm in the local ecology, which is essential to underline the societal value of wind energy."

A new ecological benchmark

Together with its partners, Ecowende is aiming to set a new ecological benchmark for wind farms in the North Sea. This new benchmark should allow the government's ambitions for offshore wind to be realised with a net positive impact on nature. The wind farm developer is therefore building the wind farm in harmony with nature.

The starting point is to minimise impact on birds, bats, and underwater marine life. Part of this will involve creating a bird corridor between the coast and the Natura 2000 site Brown Ridge. In this corridor, the wind turbines are set further apart. Along the corridor, all the wind turbines have been raised to give seabirds more room to fly under the blades of the turbines.

Extensive experience with offshore wind

Folkert Visser, CEO and Project Director at Ecowende: "We are pleased to announce this agreement with Vestas for the supply and maintenance of the wind turbines on Hollandse Kust West. Thanks to Vestas' extensive experience with offshore wind, we are confident that we will be able to develop and operate the Ecowende wind farm safely, on time and in compliance with all energy production targets. In addition, we look forward to working with Vestas to implement the ecological measures that make Ecowende so special."

Greening 3% of power demand

Installation of the wind turbines is scheduled to start in the first half of 2026. The wind farm could then be commissioned before the end of that year. Ecowende will then be able to supply 760 MW to the Dutch power grid, enough to green about 3 per cent of the current power demand in the Netherlands.

Vestas

Vestas is the energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions. Vestas designs, manufactures, installs, and services onshore and offshore wind turbines across the globe. With more than 173 GW of wind turbines in 88 countries, Vestas has installed more wind power than anyone else. Through industry-leading smart data capabilities and unparalleled more than 151 GW of wind turbines under service, Vestas uses data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with customers, Vestas’ more than 29,000 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.