Dutch offshore solar company Oceans of Energy, in collaboration with NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, has deployed two environmental monitoring landers at the Hollandse Kust Noord (HKN) wind farm, operated by CrossWind.
According to Oceans of Energy, the site is set to host the world’s first integrated offshore solar-wind farm, Nymphaea Aurora.
The eco-landers, large frames placed on the seabed, are said to be equipped with sensors to monitor underwater sound, the presence of marine mammals, fish activity, water quality, and tidal currents. This marks a follow-up to the baseline field survey conducted in March with Rijkswaterstaat and NIOZ.
“By deploying the landers before the offshore solar farm Nymphaea Aurora arrives, we’re establishing a baseline of environmental conditions. This is essential for understanding how offshore solar will interact with the marine ecosystem,” the company said in a social media post.
“With long-term monitoring, we aim to close knowledge gaps and ensure that offshore renewable energy is developed in harmony with nature.”
The long-term monitoring campaign is part of the NS2 project and is supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency and the Ministry of Climate and Green Growth.
CrossWind’s Hollandse Kust Noord project is a 759 MW offshore wind park that will use cutting-edge technologies and engineering solutions to improve the flexibility of offshore wind parks. Once constructed, the offshore wind farm is expected to generate at least 3.3 TWh of clean energy per year.
Described as the “world’s first” offshore solar farm integrated within a wind farm, the project completed assembly at the Port of Amsterdam in June and was said to be ready for deployment at the HKN offshore wind farm in the North Sea.
Oceans of Energy was awarded the contract to install and operate the offshore solar farm within the HKN wind park in April 2023. The first floating units arrived at the Port of Amsterdam in October 2024. In May 2025, the dynamic subsea export cable was tested and delivered , and by the end of the same month, offshore anchoring works were completed .