Shell And Eneco's Joint Venture Firm Acquires Dutch Offshore Wind Tender for 756 MW

The 700 MW Hollandse Kust West 6 site in the Dutch North Sea, one of two locations designated in the 1400 MW HKW offshore wind farm zone, has been given to Ecowende, a joint venture firm between Shell and Eneco. The developer's plan featured a "nature-inclusive" section with wind turbines that are spaced far enough for birds to safely fly around them. According to a statement from the Dutch government, the Ecowende will use a range of piling techniques to assess and decrease its impact on underwater habitats.

To increase undersea biodiversity, this includes erecting reef structures on the ocean floor. By 2026, the Hollandse Kust West wind farm zone, which is about 28.6 nautical miles (53 kilometers) off the west coast of the Netherlands, is anticipated to be operational.

"The Ecowende plan illustrates what we can do to build wind farms that complement the environment. Together, they may work well. And it is essential because there will need to be a lot more offshore wind farms to be able to offer enough green energy," said Rob Jetten, Minister of Climate and Energy Policy, Netherlands. "We are launching a movement to construct offshore wind farms with the least possible negative impact on the environment with the 40 novel experiments and applications in this proposal," he revealed. 

Back in November of this year, Germany energy firm RWE was awarded the contract for the 700 MW Hollandse Kust West 7 complex. Both wind farms will be built without receiving any subsidies, and they should be operational between 2025 and 2026. The tender applications were accepted between April 14 and May 12, 2022.

Earlier, A joint venture between Shell and Hexicon AB called MunmuBaram chose Vestas as its turbine supplier for a project. The said project is a floating offshore wind project in South Korea and boasts of 1.3 GW capacity.