Shell and Eneco joint venture company Ecowende is going to build an offshore wind farm with various innovations that will decrease its effects on birds, bats and marine mammals.
The aim is to enable offshore wind farms to have a net positive impact soon. This is a key condition for eventually achieving the ambition of 70GW of offshore wind energy by 2050 without exceeding the ecological limits of the North Sea.
The firm will increase the height of the lowest tip of the rotor blades, create a corridor to the Natura 2000 area by placing the turbines extra far apart, and have the 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.
The JV company also aims to implement ecological measures that could contribute to the development of wind farms that have a net positive impact. One of these measures will look to enable the underwater world to reflourish.
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.
“Our wind farm will develop into a diverse living environment that functions as a habitat and nursery for many species, including hopefully even sharks and rays,” says Hermione van Zutphen, ecology programme manager at Ecowende.
“Our wind farm will be one of the largest offshore field labs in the world, where we will experiment with new techniques. In this field lab, we will also give other researchers and startups room to test their innovations in an offshore environment,” Folkert Visser, CEO and project director of Ecowende, added.
Ecowende’s wind farm at Hollandse Kust West lot VI will be located some 53 kilometres off the Dutch coast at IJmuiden. With an installed capacity of about 760MW, the company can ‘green’ about 3% of the current Dutch electricity demand. The wind farm is planned to be commissioned in 2026.
