News overview

The Hollandse Kust Noord wind park, located 18.5 kilometres off the coast of Egmond aan Zee, became operational on December 20. The wind park was built by CrossWind, a joint venture between Shell and Eneco. It will add 759 MW of renewable energy to the Dutch electricity grid after final commissioning. The completion of Hollandse Kust Noord will achieve a target in the Netherlands of more than 4.5 GW of offshore wind by the end of 2023.

On June 19, the first green electricity from the Hollandse Kust Noord (HKN) wind park flowed into the Dutch power grid. With the commissioning of the first turbines, Eneco and Shell started trading their share of green power on the electricity markets. As a 100% Shell-owned company, Next Kraftwerke's task is to trade part of the electricity production on the short-term power markets – the so-called day-head and intraday market.

Yesterday evening the 69th wind turbine has been installed at Hollandse Kust Noord, at what will be one of the Netherlands' most innovative offshore wind parks. Innovations comprise floating offshore solar and a hydrogen plant.

On June 19 the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind park produced its first megawatt-hours (MWh) of green energy, and delivered it via TenneT’s offshore grid to the Dutch mainland. In coming months production capacity will be constantly increased, so the wind park will eventually generate 3.3 TWh a year. When complete, the Hollandse Kust Noord wind park will have a total installed capacity of 759 MW.

Last weekend, grid operator TenneT and CrossWind organised a number of activities on the beach of Heemskerk/Wijk aan Zee, that were free to attend for everyone.

The first of 69 wind turbines has been installed at the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind park at the North Sea, developed by CrossWind, a joint venture of Shell and Eneco. The wind park is expected to deliver first power to the Dutch grid by summer and to be fully operational by the end of 2023.

The final monopile for CrossWind’s Hollandse Kust Noord wind farm was successfully installed by Van Oord this week, bringing the total to 70. The offshore wind farm is located 18.5 kilometres off the coast of the Netherlands, near the seaside resort of Egmond aan Zee. Once finished it will have a total installed capacity of 759 MW, generating at least 3.3 TWh per year.

"A big thank you for your continuous support!"

The fabrication and construction of offshore wind park Hollandse Kust Noord is in full swing. In October we installed the first monopile, in November Van Oord's installation vessel MPI Resolution sailed-out with the first load of secondary steel that will form the main access platforms of the wind turbines.

The installation of the foundations for the wind turbines for Hollandse Kust Noord is in full effect. An immense operation. These so-called monopiles weigh between 788 tons and 960 tons each. They are being loaded out from the Maasvlakte harbour at our partner SIF onto the installation vessel Innovation. CrossWind colleagues Wybren de Vries (Balance of Plant Package Manager) and Ward Gorter (Balance of Plant Package Engineer) are making sure that all the works and preparations are going according to plan. We had a chat with them.

‘We deliver, We innovate and We share’; these are the mottos of CrossWind. This powerful slogan easily lends itself for the construction of the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind park. ‘Delivery’ of the first foundations has taken place through offshore installation vessel Innovation. One matter which should also not be overlooked, is that we ‘Share’ the offshore wind park area with many marine compatriots such as fish, seals and porpoises.

The installation of the first monopile on Monday 17 October marked the start of the construction of offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust Noord. The 70 monopiles that will be installed by Van Oord over the coming months will form the foundations of the wind turbines in the wind farm, which will be located some eighteen kilometres off the coast at Egmond aan Zee. Wind farm owner CrossWind will be implementing several innovations in the construction of the wind farm, such as offshore hydrogen production and floating solar panels. These innovations will enable this first smart wind farm in the Netherlands to contribute significantly to accelerating the energy transition.

In the past few months a number of important milestones have passed for the CrossWind HKN project in order to be ready for offshore foundation installation in the 4^th quarter of this year.

To constantly monitor and control our upcoming wind park, a complex and redundant OT (Operational Technology) system is required. In addition to the green electricity, an enormous amount of data will be generated and transferred from the wind park to shore. Data from all kinds of sensors will be passing through fiber optic cables to the onshore WPO (Wind Park Owner) control rooms. To control the systems of the wind park, data is also travelling in the opposite direction back to sea. Both the monitoring and the management of the park are crucial for safe and reliable operation, and optimal electricity output to the grid.

For the Netherlands, having the North Sea at the doorstep is a blessing. Not only for generating wind power, as the Shell-Eneco joint-venture CrossWind will show. The site Hollandse Kust Noord will be a testbed for integrated energy solutions for the very near future.

As the first year of the CrossWind project draws to a close, it’s time to look back on where we stand, what we have accomplished and look forward to what’s next. Upon reflection, we can say that this year had it all; many opportunities and considerable challenges!

Combatting climate change is an urgent challenge that calls for an enormous shift in order to limit its effect on future generations. With the ever-increasing number of countries committing to C0₂ neutrality by 2050, there has been a renewed focus on hydrogen as one of the critical links in the energy transition towards a sustainable future.

Together with CrossWind’s Engineering and Interface Manager Ronald van Dijk, we look back at the first year of the CrossWind project.

DOB-Academy (De Oude Bibliotheek) interviewed Maria about her role at CrossWind. What does she love about her job? And what makes working at CrossWind so challenging? In this Q&A you will learn more about CrossWind and how you can get involved in this wonderful project.

Together with TU Delft, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), Shell, Eneco and GROW Foundation, CrossWind has started the work on the “Dynamic Wind Farm Flow Control” project. This project, focused on reducing the wake effect by using real-time data, is one of CrossWind’s five innovations that will contribute to a more constant electricity production. The agreement for the project was signed today.

March 3 2021

TSO TenneT and wind farm developer CrossWind, a consortium of Shell and Eneco, have signed agreements for the construction of the offshore grid connection for the Hollandse Kust (noord) wind farm, which is being built some 18.5 kilometres off the Dutch coast at Egmond aan Zee.

Sif and Van Oord sign Contract for the fabrication and supply of monopiles for the Hollandse Kust Noord Offshore Wind Project

Contract executed for the delivery of the 69 SG 11.0-200 DD offshore wind turbines and 15-year service and maintenance agreement for the 759 MW Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind project.

CrossWind, has awarded Fugro the contract to deliver comprehensive geotechnical site investigation solutions. Ahead of schedule, the seabed survey for the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore windfarm is now complete.

The wake effect describes how wind can slow after hitting a turbine, affecting those situated further afield. In close collaboration with research partner TU Delft, CrossWind is looking at ways of using real-time data to reduce this across the entire wind farm.

TenneT is the operator of the electricity grid in the Netherlands and has the task of constructing an electricity grid at sea to connect the offshore wind farm to the electricity grid on land. Offshore platforms to connect Hollandse Kust Noord are now in production.