The Ecowende offshore wind farm at Hollandse Kust West has been connected to TenneT’s offshore grid and has started generating electricity from the Dutch North Sea project.
The wind farm is located 53 km off the Dutch coast and is being developed by Ecowende, a joint venture of Shell, Chubu and Eneco. It will have 52 wind turbines, each rated at 15 MW, with a total installed capacity of 760 MW.
Offshore construction began in December 2025 with the installation of the first monopile. Full commercial power delivery is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Once fully commissioned, the wind farm is expected to generate 3.3 TWh of renewable electricity per year, equal to about 3% of the Netherlands’ total electricity demand.
Power from the project is transmitted to the Dutch onshore grid through TenneT’s offshore high-voltage infrastructure. TenneT developed the offshore grid connection in coordination with Ecowende, relevant ministries and coastal authorities.
Operations and maintenance will be handled by Eneco Wind Offshore Operations and Vestas Services.
The project includes several ecological measures. Seven Vestas turbines are being fitted with one red-painted blade to test whether stronger color contrast can reduce bird collision risk. Other above-water measures include a bird corridor, wider turbine spacing, elevated nacelles, adaptive curtailment and AI-assisted radar monitoring for birds and bats.
Below the waterline, specially designed scour protection creates rock crevices and bays intended to provide shelter for fish and other marine species. Fish holes in the monopile foundations are also being trialed as additional fish habitat.
Electricity trading is handled by Next Kraftwerke, together with SEEL and EET. Next Kraftwerke began marketing the wind farm’s electricity on 4 July and acts as Balancing Service Provider and Congestion Service Provider for the project.
The wind farm also provides balancing energy, including automatic frequency restoration reserve, by adjusting power fed into the grid to help manage frequency fluctuations.
