All 52 wind turbines have been installed at the 760 MW Ecowende offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea, bringing the project into its final construction phase ahead of planned full operation by the end of 2026.
The final turbine was installed on October 30, completing a campaign that began on May 30, with Van Oord deploying its Boreas offshore installation vessel to transport and install the turbines, according to an announcement issued on November 2.
Located approximately 53 kilometers off the coast of IJmuiden in the Hollandse Kust (west) wind farm zone, Lot VI, the project comprises 52 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines.
Vestas is supplying the turbines and is responsible for commissioning, while Van Oord previously installed the project's monopile foundations, inter-array cables and seabed scour protection.
The Boreas, equipped with a 3,310-tonne crane, was purpose-built for the installation of large offshore wind turbines.
First electricity was generated in July 2026, and the wind farm is expected to supply approximately 3% of current Dutch electricity demand once fully operational.
Ecowende is being developed by a joint venture between Shell, Eneco and Chubu Electric Power, with a series of measures incorporated into the project to reduce impacts on wildlife and support marine biodiversity.
These include a bird corridor with wider turbine spacing, elevated nacelles at selected locations, adaptive curtailment and radar systems with AI-based species recognition to reduce risks to birds and bats.
One rotor blade on each of seven turbines has also been painted red to assess whether improved visibility can reduce bird collisions. The effectiveness of the measure has not yet been demonstrated and is being studied through monitoring systems including bird radar, thermal and daylight cameras, and impact sensors.
Underwater measures include different scour protection designs, additional water-exchange holes in four monopiles to provide shelter for fish, tree reefs at four cable crossings and oyster nurseries intended to support the recovery of European flat oysters in the Dutch North Sea.
"With the final turbine in place, the offshore wind park is largely complete, but the real learning begins now. Ecowende is designed to gain knowledge on how to build and operate a wind park in harmony with nature. We will share that knowledge, so that researchers, governments and wind park developers can build on it," said Tjalling de Bruin, CEO of Ecowende.
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