Vestas secures a firm order for Ecowende’s Hollandse Kust West offshore wind farm in the Netherlands
News release from Vestas Northern and Central Europe
Hamburg, 22 December 2023
The Dutch wind farm developer Ecowende, a joint venture between Shell and Eneco, has placed an order for 52 V236-15.0 MW wind turbines for the Ecowende wind farm at Hollandse Kust (west) site VI. Once installed, Vestas will service the wind farm under a 15-year service contract designed to ensure optimised performance of the assets.
“We are happy to announce yet another project with Shell and with Eneco, to work on Europe’s energy security and to deliver for the energy transition in the Netherlands,” said Nils de Baar, President of Vestas Northern & 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.”
Ecowende adheres to the high qualitative criteria set out in the non-price focused tender from the Dutch government. This includes the creation of a bird corridor within the wind farm layout, increasing the hub height to create more vertical space for birds as well as integrating bird and bat detection and deterrence systems into the turbine design.
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, on time and meeting the energy production targets. In addition, we look forward to working together with Vestas to implement the ecology measures that make Ecowende stand out.”
The project has a grid connection capacity of 760 MW and an excess capacity of 20 MW to use the connection capacity as efficiently as possible, even when production is lower. The wind farm will be constructed about 53 kilometres off the Dutch coast, near IJmuiden.
Turbine installation at sea is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2026. The plan is to commission the wind farm by the end of 2026. With its renewable electricity output of 760 MW, Ecowende can make about 3 percent of the current Dutch electricity demand greener.
For more information, please contact:
Yannick Kramm
External Communications Specialist, Vestas Northern & Central Europe
Mail: yankr@vestas.com
Tel: +44 (0)77 9528 4694
Marnix Heijboer
Spokesperson Eneco, on behalf of Ecowende
Mail: Marnix.heijboer@eneco.com
Tel: +31 (0)6 5157 9851
About Ecowende
A sustainable future for offshore wind that positively contributes to the North Sea’s ecology. An ambition that Ecowende hopes to bring to life through collaboration with their partners, research and progressive innovations. Ecowende is teaming up with nature to develop, build and operate the Ecowende wind farm and lead the way for affordable, sustainable and responsible offshore energy. Go to www.ecowende.nl for more information about Ecowende, including the full overview of innovations and ecological measures.
About Vestas
Vestas is the energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service onshore and offshore wind turbines across the globe, and with more than 173 GW of wind turbines in 88 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and unparalleled more than 151 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas’ more than 29,000 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.
For updated Vestas photographs and videos, please visit our media images page on: https://www.vestas.com/en/media/images.
We invite you to learn more about Vestas by visiting our website at www.vestas.com and following us on our social media channels: