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 happy 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 has a strong emphasis on the integration of the wind farm into 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 to supply and service the wind turbines for Hollandse Kust West. With Vestas' extensive experience in offshore wind, we are confident we will be able to develop and operate the Ecowende wind farm safely and on time, while meeting the energy production targets. In addition, we look forward to working together with Vestas to implement the ecological measures that make Ecowende stand out.
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.
