The Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm, built by CrossWind, a joint venture between Shell and Eneco, has started operating in the Dutch North Sea.
The Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm, located 18.5 kilometers off the coast, became operational on December 20.
It will add 759 MW of renewable energy to the Dutch electricity grid after final commissioning, and will also help the Netherlands achieve its target of more than 4.5 GW of offshore wind by the end of 2023.
With Hollandse Kust Noord, CrossWind has built a subsidy-free offshore wind farm that is expected to produce at least 3.3 TWh of electricity, corresponding to 2.8% of electricity demand in the Netherlands.
The project, together with other offshore wind farms Borssele and Hollandse Kust Zuid, will meet 15.8% of the Dutch electricity needs.
Tjalling de Bruin, director of CrossWind, said: "Our philosophy is: 'We deliver, we innovate, we share,' and that's what we did. I am proud of the team and all the partners with whom we have safely developed this wind park in record time.
“We look forward to realizing the innovations within the park that will help future wind parks always deliver electricity, even when the wind is not blowing. And we look forward to sharing this knowledge to accelerate the energy transition."
Rob Jetten, outgoing Minister for Climate and Energy of the Netherlands, added: "The completion of the Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm marks a highlight in the Dutch and European wind industry.
"With 10 years of offshore wind, we have made great strides in the Netherlands with nature-focused and technical innovations, costs have gone down, and we have started to work more and more efficiently. We can be proud of that."
In 2022, Shell and Eneco also won the bid to build an offshore wind farm at Hollandse Kust (west) lot VI.
The project will have an installed capacity of approximately 760 MW, and will be located 53 kilometers off the Dutch coast.