Construction of the 144 MW Westermeerwind wind farm in the Netherlands has started following an announcement by developer Westermeerwind that it has reached financial close.
Westermeerwind wind farm will consist of 48 wind turbines capable of producing over 500 GWh of renewable electricity annually – enough for 160 000 households. It is part of the larger Windpark Noordoostpolder, which consists of three separate wind farms totalling 86 turbines on water and land.
The project will require a total investment of €400 million, of which €320 million will be provided by lenders including ING Bank NV and Eksport Kredit Fonden.
Siemens will provide the project’s 3 MW turbines, which will be installed between 500m and 1100 m from the dikes of the Noordoostpolder. Dutch company VSMC has been awarded a contract for infield cabling.
Turbine installation is scheduled to start in March 2015 with the first machines expected to start delivering power to the grid at the end of the year.
The turbines will be installed in water depths of 3-7 m in IJsselmeer, a freshwater lake in central Netherlands.
