Vattenfall gets the green light for a wind farm in the Netherlands
Vattenfall has made the final investment decision for the 1500MW Hollandse Kust Zuid 1-4 offshore wind farm off the Dutch coast, reNews reports. Construction will begin next year and the wind farm will start operating in 2023. Vattenfall won the rights to build the Hollandse Kust Zuid after the company won two grant-free tenders in 2018 and 2019.
The two projects, Hollandse Kust Zuid 1&2 and 3&4, were combined into one to optimize the process, Vattenfall said. In addition, the wind farm will be connected to two 700MW offshore substations operated by Tennet, HKZ Alpha and HKZ Beta, says reNnews.
Vattenfall CEO Magnus Hall said, “The Hollandse Kust Zuid project underlines our commitment to fossil-free electricity for the Netherlands and Europe. Furthermore, the final decision for this investment shows that despite the krona crisis, we remain committed to our goal of enabling life without fossil fuels within a generation.”
Details of the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm
The Maritime Executive tells us more about the Holadse Kust Zuid wind farm. The facility relies on 140 giant 11-megawatt Siemens turbines to reach its rated capacity. The 11 MW turbine has a rotor diameter of 650 feet with a swept area of over 30,000 square feet – more than the area covered by four soccer fields. (Siemens is already planning a larger turbine with a 730-foot rotor and a capacity of 14 megawatts.)
Vattenfall’s two leases for the Hollandse Kust farm are notably subsidy-free. It will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world, and also the first in Europe to be authorized, planned and financed without state support. However, state policy still plays a facilitating role, as the Dutch government has guaranteed the license and network connections in its tender. According to Vattenfall, this guarantee means that the project’s risks – and therefore its costs – have been significantly reduced.
Vattenfall has partnerships with the following suppliers, Smart Energy unveils:
- Siemens Gamesa for the manufacture and partial installation of the turbines
- Sif Group, based in the Netherlands, for the manufacture of foundations
- TKF, based in the Netherlands, for the manufacture of inter-network cable systems
- Prysmian for the manufacture of inter-network cable systems
- Subsea 7 for the installation of foundation cable systems and inter-network cables
- Swire Blue Ocean for the installation of the turbines.
A big step for the energy transition in the Netherlands
Smart Energy explains that by 2023, the Hollandse Kust Zuid will provide one-third of the total installed offshore wind capacity in the Netherlands, making a major contribution to the Dutch government’s renewable energy goals.
“Hollandse Kust Zuid will not only provide affordable, fossil-free electricity to its private and business customers. It is also an important infrastructure investment that creates important economic activity and jobs in times of economic uncertainty. Thanks to the good cooperation with our national and international partners, we are well prepared to take the next step in the realization of this flagship project,” says Gunnar Groebler, Senior Vice President and Head of Vattenfall’s wind power business.
