Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Henk Kamp, officially opened the Westermeerwind wind farm yesterday.

Main contractor Siemens, together with its subcontractors and Westermeerwind project team, has erected the 48-turbine wind farm with 65 ships and barges in nearly one million man-hours. Mammoet and Van Oord were in charge of working on foundations and turbines, and VBMS was responsible for the installation of electrical cables between the wind turbines and to the substation on the mainland.

Siemens will maintain the wind farm for a minimum period of 15 years.

Westermeerwind, the largest nearshore wind farm in the Netherlands, is located in the waters of the IJsselmeer. The 48 Siemens 3MW wind turbines are divided into two rows along the dikes of the Noordoostpolder.