The first turbine of the Borssele III/IV wind farm project, managed by Blauwwind, has started generating power.
This renewable electricity feeds into the Dutch grid. Eventually the project will power to more than 825,000 households in the Netherlands, with 731.5MW from the wind farm in the Dutch North Sea.
The first power from the Borssele farm was achieved via an alliance between the Blauwwind project partners and the supply chain. Consortium partners for Blauwwind include its Partners Group, Shell, DGE, Eneco Group and Van Oord.
Both Shell and Eneco Group have obtained 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) from the consortium. Under these PPAs, each company will purchase 50% of the power generated by the wind farm.
Borselle III/IV will use 77 V164-9.5MW MHI Vestas turbines. Since the installation campaign began in May this year, 36 of these have been installed.
Following more tests over coming weeks, one will begin its operations every day. Blauwwind expects the wind farm to become fully operational by October this year.
When fully installed, the wind farm is estimated to generate 3,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean renewable energy per year, which is enough to power more than 825,000 Dutch households.
Blauwwind project director and CEO Roeland Borsboom said: “Keeping a project of this scale and complexity on track in these challenging times can only be managed through good collaboration and flexibility.
“The delivery of first power has been achieved in close cooperation with partners Van Oord, MHI Vestas and TenneT, who has provided grid readiness one month ahead of time.”
MHI Vestas also secured a 15-year service agreement to operate and maintain the Borssele III/IV project, after installation and complete commissioning.
