Dillinger has supplied around 115,000 tonnes of heavy plate for the Hollandse Kust Zuid 1-4 offshore wind farm, which has just celebrated its official opening.
The wind farm is located 18-36km into the North Sea off the Dutch coast, between the cities of Scheveningen and Zandvoort. The farm is built on monopile foundations stretching 62 to 75 metres long and weighing up to 955t, in water depths reaching 17-28m. Dillinger supplied the heavy plate for these monopile foundation structures in thicknesses ranging from 54-90mm, Kallanish hears from the company.
With 139 turbines and an installed capacity of 1.5GW, Hollandse Kust Zuid is one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world, according to Dillinger. It can supply approximately 1.5 million households with renewable energy each year.
During construction of Hollandse Kust Zuid, the natural surroundings were also included for the first time in the design of the wind farm. These measures include enlarged water holes in the foundation elements that provide shelter for marine life inside the turbines, as well as boulders and stones of various sizes to construct the scour protection.
Artificial rocky reefs have been created on several scour protection systems to make them more attractive to a greater number of fish, crabs, and crustaceans, Dillinger notes.
Christian Koehl Germany
