Van Oord and Siemens Gamesa’s consortium Zuiderzeewind has won a conditional contract to build the 382.7MW nearshore wind farm Windpark Fryslân in Frisian at Ijsselmeer lake in the Netherlands.

Van Oord

Image: Officials of Van Oord and Siemens Gamesa during the signing ceremony. Photo: Courtesy of Van Oord.

Van Oord and Siemens Gamesa consortium was selected as the preferred contractor last August and the final investment decision on the wind project is expected to be taken in the third quarter of this year.

Windpark Fryslân is expected to be built in the IJsselmeer to the south of the Afsluitdijk near Breezanddijk. The wind farm is expected to generate nearly 70% of the Province of Friesland’s 2020 renewable energy target of 530MW.

The wind farm will include 89 of Siemens Gamesa’s wind turbines which will be installed in a cluster. Each of the turbines will have a capacity of 4.3MW, with a rotor diameter of 130m. Construction on the wind farm is expected to begin this year, with completion in 2021.

For its part, Van Oord will design, manufacture and install foundations and cables of the wind project. Siemens Gamesa will manufacture and commission the turbines and the onshore substation at Breezanddijk on the Afsluitdijk.

During the wind farm’s construction, a nature reserve island south of the Afsluitdijk will be created, with a land area of 2 hectares and a submerged area of 25 hectares. The island will be used as a work platform during the wind farm’s construction.

Few days ago, Van Oord formed a consortium with Shell and Eneco and submitted a tender for the construction and operation of Hollandse Kust III and IV offshore wind farms.

The two offshore wind farms will have a capacity 760MW, which will generate enough clean energy to be supplied to about 1 million households with clean technology. They will be built 20km off the coast of the Hague and its operations are expected to be operational in 2023.

Van Oord CEO Pieter van Oord said: “Van Oord has been involved in the construction of all Dutch offshore wind farms so far. Thanks to years of experience and knowledge of our people, the deployment of our own innovative vessels and the valuable cooperation with partners, we succeed in staying ahead and thus efficiently building offshore projects in the future.”