Shell and Eneco Joint Venture Looks to Build Greener Offshore Wind Farm

June 16, 2023, by Adnan Memija

Ecowende, the joint venture (JV) of Shell and Eneco, has unveiled plans for building an offshore wind farm that will be in harmony with nature, with minimal impact on birds, bats, and marine mammals.

Shell and Eneco Jointly Submit Hollandse Kust (noord) Bid — Shell/Illustration

Ecowende, which presented its holistic approach at WindDay 2023, said it is going to implement various innovations, large-scale mitigating and stimulating ecological measures, and an extensive above and under-water monitoring and research programme.

“Some of the measures will have an immediate impact, while many other are intended to try out new methods and fill knowledge gaps. The knowledge that we possess on the effects of wind farms on nature is not yet complete,” said Folkert Visser, CEO and project director of Ecowende.

“This knowledge is indispensable if we want to expand offshore wind energy in the Netherlands in a responsible manner.”

Specific measures include increasing the height of the lowest tip of the rotor blades, creating a corridor to Natura 2000 area by placing the turbines extra far apart, and an option to bring the turbines to a standstill that adapts to the flight movements of birds in the wind farm.

This way, Ecowende expects to minimise the number of bird and bat collisions.

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Ecowende also aims to implement ecological measures that could contribute to the development of wind farms that have a net positive impact.

The company is going to apply several innovative techniques that will help the underwater world to reflourish, Ecowende said.

Biodegradable reef structures are being constructed using fruit trees sourced from Dutch fruit farms. These tree reefs offer a place for fish to shelter and reproduce, according to the press release.

Ecowende said it will also install various forms of eco-friendly erosion protection and the oyster larvae network will be expanded to spread the native flat oyster population.

“The North Sea is an ecosystem, in which everything is interconnected. Measures can therefore not be seen in isolation. Although the effects of measures differ per species and we therefore adapt the measures for each species, we expect synergy to emerge between different measures,” said Hermione van Zutphen, ecology programme manager at Ecowende.

Ecowende also added that it will implement various innovations at its 760 MW Hollandse Kust West lot VI offshore wind farm, located 53 kilometers off the Dutch coast of IJmuiden.

The joint venture won the permit for the second Hollandse Kust West site in December 2022.