Princess Amalia Wind Farm

Princess Amalia Wind Farm
Location of the Princess Amalia Wind Farm off the coast of the Netherlands
Country Netherlands
Location offshore of Egmond aan Zee
Coordinates 52°35′24″N 4°13′12″E / 52.59000°N 4.22000°E / 52.59000; 4.22000Coordinates: 52°35′24″N 4°13′12″E / 52.59000°N 4.22000°E / 52.59000; 4.22000
Status operational
Commission date 2008
Owner(s) Eneco Energie
Power generation
Units operational 60 Vestas V80-2.0MW
Nameplate capacity 120 MW
Close-up of the wind farm

The Princess Amalia Wind Farm (Prinses Amaliawindpark in Dutch) is an offshore wind farm in the Netherlands. Prior to its official opening, it was known as the Q7 Wind Farm.[1]

Specifications

The wind farm lies approximately 23 km west of the village of Egmond aan Zee, in the North Sea. (Note that between it and the coast lies another wind farm, OWEZ.) It consists of 60 Vestas V80-2.0MW[2] wind turbines and has a total nameplate capacity of 120 MW. The wind turbine towers rest on steel monopile foundations, in water depths of 19 to 24 meters.[2] Each monopile is a steel tube with diameter of about 4 meters, length of over 50 meters, weighing 320 tonnes, and driven 30 meters into the seabed. The construction barge Sea Jack required about 2 hours to drive in each monopile after positioning it.[2]

Development

Building this wind farm was an initiative of Eneco and Econcern. Upon completion, Eneco CEO Jeroen de Haas complained that the required procedures took seven years. By contrast, it only took two years to actually build.[1] Project manager Bernard van Hemert stated that the long delay to obtain approval led to the project using a model of wind turbine (the Vestas V80-2MW) which was state-of-the-art at the start of project planning, but no longer the largest-capacity wind turbine on the market by the time of construction.[1] (For example, the Thorntonbank Wind Farm off the adjacent Belgian coast uses larger 5 MW wind turbines from REpower.) However, the V80-2MW is considered a proven design with over 2700 units installed globally by 2008, thereby reducing the project risks.[2]

The Princess Amalia Wind Farm was officially opened on June 4, 2008. It is named after Princess Amalia, Hereditary Princess of Orange.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Maurits, Peter (June 5, 2008). "Energieconcerns wijken uit naar België". Trouw (in Dutch). p. 12. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Johnstone, Heather (May 2008). "Q7 breathes new life into offshore wind financing". Power Engineering International. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  3. ↑ "Princess Amalia (Q7) Offshore Windfarm". Mott MacDonald. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
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