Vestas wins order for Ecowende’s Hollandse Kust West offshore wind farm in the Netherlands

Dutch wind farm developer Ecowende, a joint venture between Shell and Eneco, has placed an order for 52 V236-15.0 MW wind turbines for the Ecowende wind farm at Hollandse Kust Site VI (west). Once installed, Vestas will service the wind farm under a 15-year service contract designed to ensure optimized performance of the assets.

“We are happy to announce yet another project with Shell and Eneco, to work on Europe’s energy security and contribute to the energy transition in the Netherlands,” said Nils de Baar, President of Vestas Northern and Central Europe. “This project places a strong emphasis on the integration of the wind farm into the local ecology, which is essential to underline the social value of wind energy.”

Ecowende adheres to the high qualitative criteria established in the Dutch government’s non-price-focused tender. This includes creating a bird corridor within the wind farm design, increasing the shaft height to create more vertical space for birds, as well as integrating bird and bat deterrent and detection systems into the turbine design. .

Folkert Visser, CEO and Project Director of Ecowende: “We are pleased to announce this agreement with Vestas for the supply and maintenance of Hollandse Kust West wind turbines. With Vestas’ extensive experience in offshore wind energy, we are confident that we will be able to develop and operate the Ecowende wind farm safely, on time and meeting energy production targets. Additionally, we look forward to working together with Vestas to implement the green measures that make Ecowende stand out.”

The project has a grid connection capacity of 760 MW and excess capacity of 20 MW to use the connection capacity as efficiently as possible, even when production is lower. The wind farm will be built about 53 kilometers off the Dutch coast, near IJmuiden.

Installation of the offshore wind turbines is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2026. The plan is to put the wind farm into operation at the end of 2026. With its renewable electricity production of 760 MW, Ecowende can cover approximately 3 percent percent of the current electricity demand of the Netherlands.