All foundations in at world’s largest freshwater wind farm

Van Oord has installed all of the 89 foundations at the Windpark Fryslân nearshore wind farm in the IJsselmeer Lake, the Netherlands.

Van Oord installed the first monopile at the site in the Frisian part of the IJsselmeer near Breezanddijk in September.

Due to the shallows in the IJsselmeer and the width of the locks, Van Oord engineered a special method to install the wind farm’s foundations – the Sarens Soccer Pitch.

The unique work platform, the size of half a football field, houses a large crane with which the foundations were installed.

The work platform will also be used for the installation of the wind turbines, expected to start in March 2021.

The 382.7 MW Windpark Fryslân will comprise 89 Siemens Gamesa 4.3 MW wind turbines.

Siemens Gamesa and Van Oord are constructing the wind farm through the Zuiderzeewind consortium on behalf of Ventolines.

Once fully commissioned in the summer of 2021, Windpark Fryslân will become the largest wind farm in the world installed in inland fresh water.