Ecowende, a joint venture of Shell and Eneco, has confirmed Van Oord has been contracted for the construction of its 760MW Hollandse Kust (West) lot 6 offshore wind farm.
Van Oord will be responsible for transporting and installing the foundations and will also lay, connect and bury the cables between the turbines. Finally, the company will transport and install the machines, sited 53km off the Dutch coast.
Ecowende and Van Oord will collaborate on implementing various innovations, large-scale mitigations and stimulating ecological measures aimed at making the site the most ecological wind farm yet. In addition, the parties will join forces in various feasibility studies and solution developments added Ecowende.
Van Oord will deploy its brand-new offshore installation vessel Boreas (pictured), currently being built, for the transport and installation of the foundations and hardware.
To minimise the noise of the construction of the wind farm, it will deploy a vibro hammer, using vibrations will drive the monopiles to their required depths. This will be the first large scale implementation of this innovative technique at a Dutch offshore wind farm.
Van Oord’s cable laying vessel Nexus will be deployed for the installation of the connecting inter-array cables between the turbines.
The partners will also utilise eco-friendly scour protection. This is required to avoid the effects of erosion and is achieved by high precision rock installation around the foundations.
Van Oord has advised Ecowende on nature enhancing components in the design of the protection to help stimulate a diverse habitat for marine life.
One of Van Oord’s flexible fallpipe vessels will be deployed to accurately and efficiently install the eco-friendly scour protection.
Ecowende plans to have the wind farm fully operational and commissioned in 2026.