Sif has completed the manufacturing of all 52 monopile top sections for the Ecowende offshore wind farm in the Netherlands at its Roermond facility and dispatched the structures to Smulders in Hoboken, Belgium, where secondary steel will be added.
Once equipped with secondary steel by Smulders, the top sections will return to the Netherlands for the next stage at Sif’s Maasvlakte 2 facility, according to a social media post by the Ecowende consortium.
“We would like to congratulate SIF on the achievement of completing the work on the top sections – the part which contains the majority of the interfaces to the monopile – at Roermond. We look forward to seeing them being integrated into the full monopile at Maasvlakte 2” , said Folkert Visser , Project Director at Ecowende.
Ecowende, a joint venture between Shell, Eneco, and Chubu Electric Power, has already kicked off the offshore construction at the project site, located approximately 53 kilometres off the Dutch coast near IJmuiden, where scour protection work started this month, ahead of foundation installation.
According to the developer, the 760 MW offshore wind farm being built at the Hollandse Kust West Site VI, which Shell and Eneco secured in December 2022 , will be built in harmony with nature.
The scour protection currently being placed at the site is said to be eco-friendly and specially designed to provide shelter for fish and other marine species and extend the length of available habitat. The wind farm will also feature Tree Reefs and Oyster Hubs, developed by Van Oord Ocean Health, which aim to naturally enhance biodiversity in the North Sea.
Ecowende will comprise 52 Vestas V236-15.0 MW wind turbines, some of which will feature red blades as part of a trial to assess whether increased visibility reduces bird collisions.
The 760 MW offshore wind farm is expected to be fully operational and commissioned by the end of 2026.