Green Energy
Ecowende’s wind farm Hollandse Kust West is now connected to TenneT’s offshore grid and has produced its first carbon-free energy.
The wind park, one of the most ecological offshore wind farms in the world, is being developed 53 km off the Dutch coast by Ecowende, a joint venture of Shell, Chubu and Eneco.
It consists of 52 wind turbines, each with a power output of 15 MW, for a total installed capacity of 760 MW.
Reaching first power is a significant milestone for Ecowende and for the Dutch energy transition. Once fully commissioned, the wind park will generate 3.3 TWh of renewable electricity per year; enough to meet approximately 3% of the Netherlands’ total electricity demand.
“We are delighted to produce the first green electrons from the Ecowende wind farm. We often talk about milestones along a project’s journey, and Ecowende has many firsts to date, but to see the turbines spinning and to have reached first power safely and successfully, is a great achievement for everyone involved in the project. While this is an important moment to remember, our focus remains on safely commissioning the remaining assets and delivering a reliable offshore wind farm that will generate clean electricity for decades to come,” said Ekansh Aggarwal, Commissioning Manager, Ecowende.
The Ecowende wind farm is connected to the Dutch onshore grid via TenneT’s offshore high-voltage infrastructure.
What sets the Ecowende wind farm apart is not only its scale but its pioneering approach to ecological integration. At Ecowende’s initiative, Vestas is fitting seven turbines with a single, red-painted blade to test whether the colour contrast reduces bird collision risk during rotation. Other above-water measures include a dedicated bird corridor, wider turbine spacing, elevated nacelles, adaptive curtailment, and AI-assisted radar monitoring for birds and bats.
Below the waterline, specially designed scour protection creates rock crevices and bays that shelter fish and other marine species, while fish holes in the monopile foundations are being trialled as additional fish habitat. These are just a few of the ecological innovations, as part of Ecowende’s ambition to set a new standard for offshore wind in harmony with nature.
The day-to-day operations and maintenance of the wind farm will be carried out by Eneco Wind Offshore Operations and Vestas Services.
Electricity trading is handled by Next Kraftwerke, together with SEEL and EET. Next Kraftwerke began marketing Ecowende’s electricity on 4 July and acts as Balancing Service Provider (BSP) and Congestion Service Provider for the wind farm, managing system integration and congestion across day-ahead, intraday and balancing energy markets on behalf of Ecowende.
The wind farm actively supports grid stability by providing balancing energy, particularly automatic negative frequency reserve (aFRR). This balancing energy product compensates for frequency fluctuations in the power grid by flexibly adjusting the power fed into the grid and balancing out excess electricity.
