Swedish power company Vattenfall said that the first power has been produced from the 1.5GW Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea.
The offshore wind farm is currently in a testing phase. Its first operating turbine has started generating electricity, which is being transferred to shore and fed into the Dutch grid.
Hollandse Kust Zuid, which is located nearly 18-35km off the Dutch coast, is co-owned by Vattenfall, BASF, and Allianz Capital Partners.
Hollandse Kust Zuid project director Ian Bremner said: “We are immensely proud to reach this milestone. The delivery of power to the Dutch grid is an important moment, not just for us but also for all our partners, suppliers, contractors and all other parties who helped us get to this point.”
A final investment decision (FID) on the Dutch offshore wind farm was taken by Vattenfall in June 2020. Around a year later, in July 2021, construction was started.
The Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm is slated to be fully operational in 2023, following which it is expected to meet the power consumption needs of nearly 1.5 million Dutch homes.
The wind farm will be equipped with 140 turbines from Siemens Gamesa with each having a capacity of 11MW and rotor diameter of 200m. The first of the turbines was installed in April 2022, and to date, a total of 33 turbines have been installed.
Hollandse Kust Zuid is claimed to be the world’s first offshore wind farm to be constructed without subsidy.
Vattenfall has a stake of 51.5% in the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm having sold a 49.5% stake in it to German chemicals company BASF in June 2021. Subsequently, in December 2021, BASF sold 25.2% of the stake to Allianz Capital Partners.
