Dutch King Willem-Alexander officially inaugurated wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid. To mark the occasion the king celebrated the completion of Vattenfall’s largest offshore windfarm to date together with executives of Vattenfall, BASF and Allianz on the beach of IJmuiden in front of a life-sized human turbine. The fossil free electricity generated from Hollandse Kust Zuid is expected to equal the consumption of 1.5 million households.
Hollandse Kust Zuid is located in the North Sea, 18-36 kilometers off the Dutch coast between the towns of Scheveningen and Zandvoort. The 139 turbines have a total capacity of 1.5 GW, making it one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world. Its annual electricity production is expected to equal the consumption of 1.5 million households. Hollands Kust Zuid is owned by Vattenfall, BASF and Allianz. The wind farm is expected to be fully operational in 2024 and will be serviced out of the port of IJmuiden.
“Vattenfall aims to be a leader in the energy transition and offshore wind is essential for energy security and to achieve Net Zero. The realization of a project of this magnitude makes me really proud and today is a great example of what we can achieve when partnering with industry. Hollandse Kust Zuid will not only contribute to reduce BASF’s caron footprint but will also help meet local businesses and households demand for fossil free electricity,” says Helene Biström, Head of Business Area Wind at Vattenfall.
“Around half of the electricity from Hollandse Kust Zuid will be used to reduce the carbon footprint of our products at BASF sites in Europe. It is the first major investment of BASF in facilities for renewable power. To be part of making that happen makes me also personally very proud and happy. This marks another milestone on our way to climate-neutral production of chemicals,“ says Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board ofExecutive Directors of BASF SE.
BASF aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by the year 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Replacing fossil-based electricity with fossil-free electricity is an important lever to further bring down emissions.
“Allianz invests policyholder funds in renewable energy and owns more than 100 wind and solar farms. I am delighted that today we are opening our first direct investment in an offshore wind farm, together with BASF and Vattenfall. This underlines the ability of partnerships to catalyse action and bring climate solutions to life,” says Oliver Bate, CEO of Allianz
Allianz is committed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 in its proprietary investment and Property & Casualty underwriting portfolios and already by 2030 within its own operations
Biodiversity at heart
Several innovative techniques were used during the construction of Hollandse Kust, like a double bubble screen to dampen underwater noise during pile driving to limit the impact for harbor porpoises. Enlarged water replenishment holes in the foundations offer shelter for marine life inside the turbines, the first time the structure of a turbine itself is included in nature inclusive wind farm design. Boulders and rocks of varying sizes were used during the construction of scour protection. At several scour protection sites artificial rock reefs were added to make them more attractive to a wider number of fish, crabs and crustaceans.
Circularity – recyclable blades
Three turbines are fitted with recently developed recyclable blades. The resin used to ‘glue’ blades together will be easier to dissolve after the working life of the turbines, making it easier to disseminate the blades and reuse the different elements.
Hollandse Kust Zuid is a key project in the ambitious goals that Dutch government has set to combat climate change and to provide the Netherlands with renewable energy for the next generation. In 2018, Hollandse Kust Zuid was awarded as the first subsidy-free wind farm in the world. The wind farm is expected to be fully operational in 2024 and will be serviced out of the port of IJmuiden.
Grid connection
Two offshore substations connect Hollandse Kust Zuid to the Dutch grid. These grid connections have been developed and will be operated by the Dutch TSO TenneT. As part of the Dutch offshore wind policy grid connections are publicly funded, which ensures standardisation and subsequent cost savings. It gives wind farm developers certainty that they will not have to adjust their designs later.
Facts about Hollandse Kust Zuid:
- Each wind turbine has a capacity of 11 MW. The tip height is 225 meters above sea level.
- Rotor diameter is 200 meters.
- Each blade is 97 meters long.
- Weight of foundation:735-955 tons.
- Length of foundation:62-75 meters.
- Diameter foundation: 7-8 meter.
- Seabed at a depth of 17-28 metres.
- 315km of 66kV inter array grid cables.
- HKZ covers an area of 225 km2.
Vattenfall
Vattenfall is a leading European energy company, which for more than 100 years has electrified industries, supplied energy to people’s homes and modernised our way of living through innovation and cooperation. We now want to make fossil-free living possible within one generation. That’s why we are driving the transition to a sustainable energy system through initiatives in renewable production and climate smart energy solutions for our customers. We employ approximately 20,000 people and have operations mainly in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the UK. Vattenfall is owned by the Swedish state. For more information: group.vattenfall.com
Allianz Group
The Allianz Group is one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers with more than 122 million* private and corporate customers in more than 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 714 billion euros** on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage about 1.7 trillion euros** of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are among the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2022, over 159,000 employees achieved total revenues of 152.7 billion euros and an operating profit of 14.2 billion euros for the group***.
* Including non-consolidated entities with Allianz customers.
** As of June 30, 2023.
*** As reported – not adjusted to reflect the application of IFRS 9 and IFRS 17.
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 111,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €87.3 billion in 2022. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com.
