Vestas and Van Oord Complete 52-Turbine Installation at Ecowende's 760 MW Wind Farm in Netherlands

All 52 wind turbines have now been installed at the Ecowende offshore wind farm, roughly 53 kilometers off the coast of IJmuiden in the Hollandse Kust (west) zone, Lot VI. The final turbine went up on 30 October 2026, and with it the project moved into its last construction phase ahead of planned full operation by the end of 2026.

Five-month installation campaign concludes in Hollandse Kust (west)

The pace of the campaign is notable: the first turbine was set in place on 30 May 2026, so the entire turbine installation took under five months. Vestas is supplying the V236-15.0 MW machines and handles their installation and commissioning, while Van Oord ferries the turbines from Eemshaven to the site aboard its installation vessel Boreas.

Van Oord had earlier completed the foundations and the inter-array cables. Jan Willem Elleswijk, Project Director at Van Oord, credited the company's teams for applying their expertise through every installation stage, foundations, inter-array cables, scour protection and turbine transport.

He pointed to the performance of Boreas, the company's newer offshore installation vessel, as evidence of what it can deliver in a complex campaign, and attributed the outcome to close cooperation with Ecowende, Vestas and the other partners, carried out safely and professionally.

First power already flowing, capacity set at around 760 MW

Once complete, Ecowende will have an installed capacity of approximately 760 megawatts, covering roughly 3 percent of current Dutch electricity demand. The wind farm produced its first power in July 2026.

Henrik Andersen, Chief Executive of Vestas, said the project shows offshore wind can provide secure, affordable and sustainable energy while deepening knowledge of how renewable infrastructure can coexist with nature.

He said the insights generated will benefit the wider industry and shape how future offshore wind projects are developed, and stressed that a strong pipeline of offshore wind investment is important for Europe's energy security and competitiveness. Andersen also expressed thanks to partners Eneco, Shell and Chubu for their partnership during the project.

Nature considered from the design stage

Ecowende, a joint venture of Shell, Eneco and Chubu, set out to create one of the most ecologically considered wind farms so far, with ecology built into the design from the beginning.

One measure is a bird corridor running through the wind farm between the coast and the Natura 2000 site Brown Ridge (Bruine Bank). Turbines there are spaced wider apart, and some nacelles sit higher so seabirds have more room to pass beneath the rotor blades.

The venture also operates an adaptive curtailment regime that reacts to prevailing conditions, alongside radars equipped with AI-based species recognition, both aimed at lowering risks to birds and bats.

On seven turbines, a single rotor blade has been painted red to make the turning blades more visible to birds. Ecowende acknowledges that whether these measures actually reduce collisions has not yet been proven, which is why the effects are being studied in practice.

Testing measures beneath the surface

Ecological measures extend underwater as well. Around the foundations, Ecowende is trialling different scour protection designs. Four monopiles are receiving extra water-exchange holes to give fish places to shelter.

At four cable crossings, reef structures built from old fruit trees, so-called tree reefs, will be positioned, and oyster nurseries are being installed to support marine life in and around the wind farm.