Swedish energy company Vattenfall, the developer of the 1.5 GW Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm in the Dutch North Sea, is joining Amsterdam IJmuiden Offshore Ports (AYOP).
By joining this public-private association which gathers more than 85 companies and organizations active in the offshore energy sector in the port area, Vattenfall wants to increase cooperation with regional companies.
Vattenfall has been located in the port of IJmuiden for more than ten years, from where it operates a wind farm off the coast of Egmond together with Shell.
In 2018 and 2019, Vattenfall won the permits to build Hollandse Kust Zuid via two subsidy-free tenders. Scheduled to be fully operational by 2023, the wind farm will be the largest in the world.
In the run-up to the construction of Hollandse Kust Zuid, Vattenfall will expand its activities in IJmuiden, among other things by developing a new maintenance center in collaboration with Seaport IJmuiden.
Erik Hiensch , Vattenfall’s head of Offshore Operations & Maintenance: “Hollandse Kust Zuid is the world’s first subsidy-free offshore wind farm. This makes it a groundbreaking project, both for Vattenfall and for the Netherlands. Collaboration is essential to successfully build and operate this park. Membership in AYOP is in line with our ambition to collaborate with parties in the region on a project that everyone can be proud of.”
AYOP is an association of companies, regional authorities, and knowledge/educational institutions in the North Sea Canal area that are active in the offshore energy sector.
Vattenfall will collaborate with a large number of companies, including in the Amsterdam-IJmuiden region, for the construction, operation, and maintenance of Hollandse Kust Zuid. In addition, as the largest offshore wind developer in the IJmond region, Vattenfall hopes to contribute knowledge and expertise to the AYOP network, which has the ambition to increasingly focus on the offshore energy transition.
Dorothy Winters , Offshore Wind Program Manager at AYOP, said: “Vattenfall is taking on a special and attractive challenge with the development of Hollandse Kust Zuid. A great opportunity for them, but also for our region and members. We want to position ourselves as a partner with our members and thereby support Vattenfall in the development and maintenance of the wind farm. We are therefore pleased with the membership of Vattenfall. The intensive connection with our members creates a win-win situation for all parties. ”