Despina going greener at IJmuiden Ver

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) and Fugro are taking steps to make seabed research at the IJmuiden Ver offshore wind farm zone more sustainable.

According to the parties, Fugro’s research vessel Despina will blend biofuels with existing fuel during the survey work and thus save approximately 400 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

Despina is in charge of conducting geotechnical research of the seabed at the Dutch wind farm area, which will run from the end of January to April.

Approximately 20% of the fuel used consists of advanced biofuels, produced from residual flows such as oils and fats from the industry, RVO said, adding that saving 400t of CO₂ emissions represents a reduction of approximately 17%.

IJmuiden Ver is one of three sites identified by the Dutch Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap 2030, which have a combined capacity of 6.1 GW and are expected to help the Netherlands reach the target of 11.5 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

Located some 62km off the west coast of the Netherlands, the 400 km2 zone is divided into four sites – IJmuiden Ver I, II, III, and IV.

The government will issue two tenders for the permits to develop the sites, in 2023 for IJmuiden Ver I and II, and in 2025 for IJmuiden Ver III and IV.