First Monopile In At ‘Most Ecological Offshore Wind Farm Yet’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Van Oord, using its installation vessel Boreas, installed the first monopile at the Ecowende offshore wind farm on 3 December. The project, a joint venture between Shell, Eneco and Chubu Electric Power, is being built off the coast of the Netherlands and is said to become the most ecological offshore wind farm to date.
These four paragraphs add more details.
The offshore wind farm, located approximately 53 kilometres off the Dutch coast near IJmuiden, will have 52 monopile foundations produced by Sif and Smulders supporting 52 Vestas V236-15.0 MW wind turbines.
The offshore wind farm is dubbed “the most ecological to date” since it incorporates several technologies and methodologies that are nature-inclusive, including monopiles coming in two diameters, 8.8 metres and 9.3 metres, to support varying turbine tower heights, as research indicates that higher turbine tip heights may allow birds to fly more safely between the structures, reducing collision risks.
Some of the wind turbines will feature red blades as part of a trial to assess whether increased visibility reduces bird collisions.
Offshore construction on Ecowende (Hollandse Kust West Site VI) offshore wind farm started in September with the installation of eco-friendly scour protection.
Note.
- It looks like its a 780 MW wind farm.
- They’re certainly looking after the birds.
- Scour protection is mainly to protect the wind farm, but at least it’s eco-friendly.
But then the Dutch must know a bit about building windmills, that last a long time.
Shell And Eneco Joint Venture Looks To Build Greener Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Ecowende, the joint venture (JV) of Shell and Eneco, has unveiled plans for building an offshore wind farm that will be in harmony with nature, with minimal impact on birds, bats, and marine mammals.
This is the first paragraph.
Ecowende, which presented its holistic approach at WindDay 2023, said it is going to implement various innovations, large-scale mitigating and stimulating ecological measures, and an extensive above and under-water monitoring and research programme.
This is all good stuff.
These two paragraphs outline some ideas that will be tried.
Specific measures include increasing the height of the lowest tip of the rotor blades, creating a corridor to Natura 2000 area by placing the turbines extra far apart, and an 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.
The Natura 2000 areas are described in this web site.
Other innovative ideas are described in these two paragraphs.
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, according to the press release.
Ecowende said it 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.
It certainly looks like Ecowende are making sure, that Just Stop Oil’s offshoot; Just Stop Wind doesn’t take root!
The Anonymous Widower 