Westermeerwind

Westermeerwind Wind Farm Profile

Location and Overview

The Westermeerwind wind farm is located in the shallow waters of IJsselmeer, the largest lake in the Netherlands. It is part of the country’s largest wind farm, Noordoostpolder, situated along the dikes of the IJsselmeer.

Project Details

• Capacity and Output: The wind farm has a total capacity of 144 MW, generated by 48 wind turbines. It produces approximately 500,000 MWh of electricity annually, which is enough to power around 160,000 households and offset about 230,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
• Turbine Specifications: The wind farm uses 48 Siemens SWT-3.0-108 turbines, each with a 3 MW nameplate capacity. These turbines are from the Siemens D3 platform, featuring a rotor diameter of 108 meters, 53-meter-long B53 quantum blades, and a hub height of 79.5 meters.

Development and Ownership

• Developers and Owners: The project was developed by Ventolines and is currently owned by Westermeerwind BV, a special purpose company founded in 1996 by farmers Pieter Meulendijks and Tjitte de Groot.
• Financial Closure and Funding: Financial closure was achieved in July 2014. The funding for the €320 million project was provided by a consortium of banks including Rabobank, ING, ASN Bank, and Triodos Bank, with part of the funding guaranteed by Denmark’s export credit agency EKF.

Construction and Installation

• Construction Timeline: The construction began in 2015, and the project entered commercial operation in June 2016. The turbines were commissioned in phases between the end of 2015 and the start of 2016, with the last turbine installed in March 2016.
• Foundation and Installation: The wind turbines are installed on fixed foundations using monopile foundations. The foundations were placed at depths ranging from 3 to 7 meters in the lake water. The installation was facilitated by special floating barges due to the shallow water depth. Mammoet adapted onshore equipment to work in the offshore environment, preassembling turbine components on land to minimize offshore construction work.

Contractors and Suppliers

• Main Contractors: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy was awarded the turnkey contract for the project, including engineering, procurement, construction, and 15 years of operation and maintenance services. A consortium of Ballast Nedam and Mammoet provided construction services, with Ballast Nedam responsible for the design, delivery, and installation of the turbine foundations, and Mammoet handling turbine transportation and installation. Visser & Smit Marine Contracting provided the cabling from the wind farm to the onshore electrical substation. SIF Group and IHC Hydrohammer supplied the monopiles and the pile driver, respectively.

Power Purchase Agreement

• Power Purchase Agreement: The power generated from the project is sold to Eneco Holding under a 15-year power purchase agreement, which commenced in 2016.

Environmental Impact and Benefits

• Carbon Offset: The wind farm offsets approximately 230,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
• Job Creation: The project created around 150 jobs during the construction phase.

Operational Status

• Current Status: The project is currently active and has been in commercial operation since June 2016.