The 1.5-GW Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm in the Netherlands was officially inaugurated by Dutch king Willem-Alexander on Friday.
The wind farm is owned by Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall AB, along with German companies BASF SE (ETR:BAS) and Allianz Capital Partners.
Awarded as the world’s first subsidy-free wind farm in 2018, Hollandse Kust Zuid is expected to be fully operational in 2024. The 139-turbine facility, located 18-36 km into the North Sea, between the towns of Scheveningen and Zandvoort, generated first power in August 2022.
Vattenfall said the occasion marks the completion of its largest offshore wind farm so far.
“Around half of the electricity from Hollandse Kust Zuid will be used to reduce the carbon footprint of our products at BASF sites in Europe. It is the first major investment of BASF in facilities for renewable power,“ commented Martin Brudermueller, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF SE.
Allianz chief executive Oliver Bate said that Allianz, which owns more than 100 wind and solar farms, is opening its first direct investment in an offshore wind farm.
Vattenfall highlighted that the project incorporated biodiversity measures such as teh use of a double bubble screen to dampen underwater noise during pile driving and the addition of artificial rock reefs at several scour protection sites. Also, three of the turbines are equipped with recyclable blades.
In a setback to the sector earlier this year, Vattenfall decided to stop the development of the 1.4-GW Norfolk Boreas wind project offshore the UK due to a sharp rise in costs.
