Van Oord has installed the first monopile at the 760-megawatt Hollandse Kust West offshore wind farm, marking the start of foundation construction for the project being developed by Ecowende, a joint venture between Shell, Eneco and Chubu, the company said on Thursday.
The installation is the first of 52 monopiles planned for the site. Van Oord is responsible for a broad scope of work, including transporting and installing all foundations, laying and connecting inter-array cables, transporting turbine components and designing and installing scour protection.
The initial monopile was installed by Boreas, Van Oord’s new offshore wind installation vessel, which is equipped with a 3,310-tonne crane and designed to operate on methanol. The project will use monopiles in two diameters — 8.8 metres and 9.3 metres — both manufactured by SIF.
Tjalling de Bruin, CEO of Ecowende, said the first installation marked significant progress for the development. “Installation of the first monopile is a major milestone for Ecowende,” he said. “Not only does it bring us a step closer to the wind farm’s realisation, it also allows us to test innovative installation techniques minimising underwater noise.”
“We are proud to work with partners such as Van Oord who fully embrace our ambition to build a wind farm in harmony with nature and accelerate the large-scale roll-out of offshore wind in the Netherlands and beyond,” he added.
