New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm inaugurated with special environmental features
4/10/2023
News
The Hollandse Kust Zuid 1-4 wind farm located off the Dutch coast, in the North Sea, has been inaugurated by King Willem-Alexander. Notably, the wind farm has innovative environmental features.
The wind farm’s 139 turbines have a total capacity of 1.5 GW and will produce enough electricity to power 1.5 million households. The project is owned by Vattenfall, BASF and Allianz and will be fully operational in 2024.
Several innovative techniques were used during the construction of Hollandse Kust for environmental purposes, including a double bubble screen to dampen underwater noise during pile driving to limit the impact for harbour porpoises. Enlarged water replenishment holes in the foundations offer shelter for marine life inside the turbines.
Meanwhile, boulders and rocks of varying sizes were used during the construction of scour protection, and artificial rock reefs were added at several scour protection sites to make them more attractive to a wider number of fish, crabs and crustaceans.
In addition, three of the turbines are fitted with recyclable blades. The resin used to ‘glue’ blades together will be easier to dissolve after the working life of the turbines, making it easier to disseminate the blades and reuse the different elements.
Two offshore substations connect Hollandse Kust Zuid to the Dutch grid and will be operated by the Dutch transmission system operator TenneT.
