© Van Oord
Windpark Fryslân B.V. has reached financial close for its 382.7 MW wind farm. Ten banks, ABN Amro, BNG, BNP Paribas, DZ Bank, Helaba, ING, KBC, KfW IPEX, NWB and Rabobank and the province of Fryslân are jointly financing the nearshore wind farm.
The contracts were signed yesterday. The total construction cost are 850 million Euro. The ten banks will jointly finance 700 million Euro in the wind farm. The province of Fryslân will participate with 20 million Euro in shares and 60 million Euro in subordinated loans. Financial participation by a province is quite unique.
Wind farm Fryslân is constructed near Breezanddijk, south of the Afsluitdijk, in the northern part of the IJsselmeer lake. It will comprise 89 4.3 MW Siemens Gamesa SWT-DD-130 turbines. A consortium consisting of Van Oord and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy are acting as the maincontractor for the construction of the wind farm as well as service operations for at least 16 years following completion.
The preparatory work has already begun. At the end of last year, Van Oord started soil investigations and in March ducts were installed at Breezanddijk for power cables that connect the wind turbines to the transformer station. In the meantime, the construction of the transformer station on Breezanddijk has also started, as well as the installation of the power cables on the Afsluitdijk. Where possible, the consortium works with local Frisian partners.
The wind farm is expected to become fully operational in 2021. The 382.7 MW wind farm will cover a large part of the target set by the province of Fryslân to generate 530.5 MW from wind energy by 2020.
The construction of the windpark also includes the construction of a nature island south of the Afsluitdijk of 2 ha above water and 25 ha under water, that will add extra quality to the resting and foraging area of fish and birds. Image: Van Oord
