The final monopile for CrossWind’s Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm was successfully installed by Van Oord this week, bringing the total to 70, according to the company's release. The offshore wind farm is located 18.5 kilometres off the coast of the Netherlands, near the seaside resort of Egmond aan Zee. Once finished it will have a total installed capacity of 759 MW, generating at least 3.3 TWh per year. This is enough renewable electricity to meet 2.8% of the Netherlands’ electricity demand. The monopiles are the foundations for the wind turbines. The first monopile was installed less than four months ago, on October 17th 2022.
Van Oord installed all 70 monopiles in a short period of time despite strong wind and cold weather. As a Balance of Plant contractor of CrossWind, Van Oord activities encompass the design, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the wind turbine foundations. Van Oord engaged DEME to deploy the jack-up vessel Innovation to install the monopiles.
Van Oord is also involved in the design, engineering, procurement and installation of the inter array cables, as well as the transport and installation of the wind turbines themselves. Meanwhile Van Oord’s offshore installation vessel MPI Resolution is installing secondary steel to complete the foundations. The secondary steel sets consist of boat landings, main access platforms (with davit cranes) and internal platforms. The platforms will be used for maintenance activities once the wind farm is operational. Van Oord will deploy cable-laying vessel Nexus to install the cables starting in March this year.