Vattenfall has commenced construction on the 1.5GW Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm in the Netherlands.
It will be located nearly 18km off the coast of The Hague and Zandvoort and would be built over the next two years.
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The first vessel transporting foundations to the construction site departed, marking the start of construction works.
Hollandse Kust Zuid will produce fossil-free energy which will be beneficial for both households, businesses and industrial partners in the country.
Vattenfall Netherlands CEO Martijn Hagens said: “With the construction of the first subsidy-free offshore wind farm in the world we are starting a new chapter, demonstrating that this market is becoming mature.”
Works related to the wind farm construction started with the installation of monopile foundations, each of which have been designed specifically for the location where they will be installed.
The monopiles installation will take place in water depths ranging from 17 to 28m.
After the foundations are transported to their offshore location and positioned at the exact location by an installation vessel, the ship’s crane lifts the monopile into the water and lowers it until it reaches the seabed.
During the winter, construction will be paused and would resume in the spring of 2022. At that time, the remaining foundations will be installed followed by inter array cables and turbines.
The initial turbines are scheduled to be commissioned in 2022, with all turbines expected to become operational by summer 2023.
Vattenfall and its recently announced partner BASF are building the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm.
BASF will use a portion of the clean energy generated by the wind farm to implement new, low-emission technologies at various production sites in Europe.
The monopiles installation will take place in water depths ranging from 17 to 28m. Credit: Vattenfall AB.
