Name: Princess Amalia Wind Farm (also known as Prinses Amaliawindpark in Dutch and previously as Q7 Wind Farm).
Location: Approximately 23 km off the coast of IJmuiden, Netherlands, on the Dutch Continental Shelf at block Q7.
Owner: Eneco Holding N.V..
Operator: Eneco.
Specifications
Total Nominal Power: 120 MW.
Number of Turbines: 60 Vestas V80-2.0 MW wind turbines.
Turbine Details:
Power: 2 MW each
Rotor Diameter: 80 meters
Hub Height: 60 meters
Tip Height: 100 meters.
Foundation:
Type: Monopile foundations
Diameter: Approximately 4 meters
Length: Over 50 meters
Weight: 320 tonnes
Installation Depth: 30 meters into the seabed at water depths of 19-24 meters.
Construction and Development
Project Initiation: The project began in 1998 with firms such as E-connection, Vestas, Mammoet van Oord, Smulders, and Fabricom involved.
Permission and Agreements:
Permission to construct and operate was issued in February 2002.
An agreement for the takeover of the rights was signed by Econcern and Energy Investments Holding in October 2004.
Eneco joined the project in March 2005.
Construction Phase: Started in 2005-06 and completed by April 2008.
Key Activities:
Installation of onshore sea cables and offshore foundations began in October 2006.
Installation of wind turbines was carried out from May 2007 to November 2007 by Vestas.
The wind farm was connected to the Dutch grid by December 2007.
Operational Details
Commissioning: Officially opened on June 4, 2008.
Annual Production: Approximately 435,000 MWh (or 422 GWh as per some sources), sufficient to power around 125,000 households.
CO2 Emissions Reduction: The wind farm avoids CO2 emissions by about 225,000 tonnes per annum.
Maintenance and Operations:
Vestas is contracted for operations and maintenance services.
The maintenance port is located at IJmuiden.
Infrastructure and Contractors
Main Vessels Used: Jumping Jack and Sea Jack.
Contractors:
Van Oord: Engineering, procurement, and construction services for foundations, electrical infrastructure, and scour protection.
Vestas: Turbine supplier and installation of towers and nacelles.
Smulders: Monopile foundations and transition pieces.
ABB and Van Oord: Installation of sea cables.
Grid Connection
Grid Operator: TenneT.
Substations:
Offshore substation on a monopile foundation with the topside by Bladt Industries & SEMCO (DK) and monopile by Smulders (BE).
Onshore substation located at Wijk aan Zee.
Environmental Considerations
The turbines were installed at a depth of 19-24 meters to reduce the impact on migrating birds, and a distance of 550 meters is maintained between the turbines.