First Borssele III & IV wind turbine installed

The first of 77 MHI Vestas 9.5 MW wind turbines is now standing tall at its designated location at the Borssele III & IV offshore wind site in the Dutch part of the North Sea.

The load-out of the first batch of wind turbine components onto Van Oord’s installation vessel Aeolus started on 24 May. The vessel arrived at the project site the next day, according to AIS data, and the offshore installation began on 26 May.

On 27 May, the installation of the second wind turbine was already nearing completion, according to a statement from Blauwwind.

All wind turbines are expected to be in place before the end of the year, subject to weather and some technical conditions.

Installation works are being carried out in line with government guidelines for taking precautions during the pandemic, according to the developer. The implemented measures have not affected the project’s construction timeline so far.

The 731.5 MW Borssele III & IV is scheduled to be built this year and to be fully operational in 2021.

Total expected energy production from the Borssele III & IV is 3,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year. The offshore wind farm will supply clean, renewable energy to 825,000 households, accounting for up to 2.3 per cent of the total Dutch electricity demand, according to MHI Vestas.

The Blauwwind consortium comprises Partners Group, Shell, DGE, Eneco Group, and Van Oord.