Green light for large wind farm far out to sea

Arnhem, 9 November 2009 - Energy company Essent will be building a sizeable wind farm a good way off the coast. The final permit has been granted to Essent through RWE by the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. With the merger of RWE and Essent, all wind power activities in the Netherlands will be carried out under the name of Essent. This reinforces Essent's position as the largest producer of sustainable energy in the Netherlands.

The first step on the road to completing the 'Tromp' wind farm will be the installation of a measuring mast far out to sea. Through RWE, Essent has the necessary permit for this as well. The measuring mast will be installed in 2010 and will supply information on wind speeds and patterns. The measurement data is important for the completion and optimisation of the wind farm. The measuring mast will be sited 85 kilometres off the coast of IJmuiden and will lie 500 to 1,000 metres to the southwest of Tromp, the planned wind farm. At this distance, the wind farm cannot be seen from the coast. Work will probably commence on building the farm in 2013/2014.

The intention is that the Tromp wind farm will have a capacity of 300 megawatts (MW) and comprise 59 wind turbines 150 metres in height. In order to safeguard the stability and safety of the (until now) largest wind turbines in the North Sea, the turbines will be supplied with a heavy concrete base structure. This construction is a first for the Netherlands. Essent is building the first wind farm in the Netherlands for which piling is not required. Investments in the wind farm come to around 1 billion Euros. The final decision on the investments will be made as soon as there is clarity on the subsidy from the government. The subsidy application will begin in the first quarter of 2010. The allocation of the subsidies will be announced in the second quarter of 2010.

Sustainability covenant

With the completion of the Tromp wind farm, Essent and RWE will be fulfilling the sustainability covenant signed by both energy companies on 12 May 2009. In the sustainability covenant, agreements were made on sustainable energy production in the Netherlands. During the 2009 - 2013 period, many billions will be invested in wind energy at sea and on land, the building and modernisation of power stations, large-scale co-firing of biomass and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) in the Netherlands.

Published: 10 November 2009