Ecowende is going to build a wind farm that will be in harmony with nature, with minimal impact on birds, bats and marine mammals, and with a thriving underwater world.
Ecowende’s wind farm at Hollandse Kust will be located some 53 kilometres off the Dutch coast at IJmuiden. With an installed capacity of about 760 MW, Ecowende can ‘green’ about 3% of the current Dutch electricity demand. The wind farm is planned to be commissioned in 2026.
The aim is to enable offshore wind farms to have a net positive impact in the near future. This is a key condition for eventually achieving the ambition of 70 GW of offshore wind energy by 2050 without exceeding the ecological limits of the North Sea.
Ecowende aims to reduce the negative effects of its offshore wind farm through various innovations. These include increasing the height of the lowest tip of the rotor blades, creating a corridor to Natura 2000 area the Brown Bank by placing the turbines extra far apart, and an option to bring the turbines to a standstill that adapts to the flight movements of birds in the wind farm. This way, Ecowende expects to minimise the number of bird and bat collisions. Ecowende will be using different technologies to monitor, investigate and adjust the effectiveness of this approach.
Biodegradable reef structures are being constructed using fruit trees sourced from Dutch fruit farms. These tree reefs offer a place for fish to shelter and reproduce. Ecowende will also install various forms of eco-friendly erosion protection and the oyster larvae network will be expanded to spread the native flat oyster population.