Eneco's Dutch near-shore wind farm begins power generation

A number of Dutch government's ministries will power their operations from the Maasvlakte 2 wind farm.

Dutch energy company Eneco's Maasvlakte 2, a near-shore wind farm located within the Maasvlakte municipality in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, has commenced power generation.

The power will be supplied to the Rijkswaterstaat (the department of public works) under the Netherlands' ministry of infrastructure and water management, to help it transition completely to renewable energy.

The application for the wind farm was submitted by Eneco in 2020 and construction began early in 2022.

The wind farm is powered by 22 turbines and generates 416GWh of clean energy annually, equivalent to supplying 152,000 households with clean energy.

Half its power will be used by the ministry to supply its offices, 20 tunnels, 1143 bridges and 5500km of highway lighting.

From 2024 onwards, the remaining half will be supplied to other ministries such as the National Property Agency and the ministries of defence, justice, security, and the interior and kingdom relations, where it will power defence complexes, prisons, courts and government offices.

40% of the Dutch government's electricity usage will then become sustainable, an important step towards reaching the country's 100% renewable electricity target by 2030.

This project covers a total length of 7.5km. Its 2.5km-long hard sea defences include a dyke with a paved upper surface and large boulders in the surf.

Its 5km soft sea defences include a beach and sand dunes.

The turbines on the hard sea defences will be positioned on the land side of the dyke and the turbines on the soft sea defences will be erected on the beach.