Dutch Borssele 1 and 2 Offshore Windfarms Advance

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Two large Dutch offshore windfarms have moved forward with the awarding of a contract for 94 turbines placed with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (Zamudio, Spain) by project developer DONG Energy A/S (Fredericia, Denmark).

The Borssele 1 and 2 offshore windfarms have generating capacities of 376 megawatts (MW) each and are located 22 kilometres from the coast of the Dutch province of Zeeland in water depths ranging from 14 to 38 metres. The 8-MW turbines will become the largest commercially available turbines in use and are based on the existing Siemens Gamesa offshore direct drive platform, with 200 turbines ranging in power from 6-8 MW currently in use. The nacelles will be assembled in Siemens Gamesa's new factory in Cuxhaven, Germany, while the blades will be produced at facilities in Hull, England. The power supplied by the combined 752-MW Borssele windfarms will be sufficient to cover the annual electricity consumption of 1 million households. It will be fully operational by the end of 2020.

"With the signing of the wind turbine contract, we pass a key milestone in this project, which will be a landmark in the Netherlands' shift to renewable energy," said Jasper Vis, country manager for DONG Energy Netherlands. "This is an important step on our way to reducing the cost of renewable electricity in the Netherlands."

Michael Hannibal, chief executive officer offshore at Siemens Gamesa, commented, "The advanced model of our proven direct drive offshore wind turbine platform and our advanced services will leverage the energy output of this lighthouse project and help to move offshore wind into the energy mainstream in Europe."

The Netherlands has been aggressively pursuing a renewable energy policy in recent years. The country is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, which in 2016 supplied 95% of its electricity. The government has plans to boost the share of renewables in the mix to 14% by 2020 and 16% by 2023, with the eventual goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050. Wind will be the key technology with plans to install 6,000 MW of onshore wind power by 2020 and 4,450 MW of offshore wind power by 2023. In May, Industrial Info reported on the commissioning of the 600-MW Gemini windfarm in Dutch waters, one of Europe's largest offshore projects. For additional information, see May 10, 2017, article - Full Power for 600-Megawatt Dutch Offshore Windfarm.

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