Ecowende, a joint venture between Shell and Eneco, has selected Sif Holding (Sif) to fabricate 52 extended monopile foundations for the Hollandse Kust West site VI offshore wind farm.

To be located 53km offshore Ijmuiden in the Netherlands, the North Sea wind farm will have 760MW of power-generating capacity.

The project is now confirmed for production in 2025.

In February 2023, Sif reached the final investment decision to build a monopile foundation manufacturing plant at the Maasvlakte 2 site in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. 

The plant will be the largest of its type in the world and will entail an investment of €328m ($361.05m). Ecowende was among its two founding clients.

Sif will manufacture the extended monopile foundations for Hollandse Kust West at the Maasvlakte facility.

The monopiles will not include transition pieces, a method previously used for the Hollandse Kust Noord project.

The secondary steel components such as boat landings and access platforms will be attached to the monopiles at sea and are included in the same contract with Sif.

Ecowende also aims to minimise the project's impact on the natural habitat of birds, bats and marine mammals.

From 2026 the wind farm will meet 3% of electricity demand in the Netherlands.

Sif Holding CEO Fred van Beers stated: “We are proud for again being valued for our efficiency in delivering monopile foundations for an entire offshore wind farm within a relatively short time frame and for the strategic position of our manufacturing facilities in Rotterdam.

“We are grateful that Ecowende has selected Sif for both the fabrication of the extended monopiles foundations as well as the secondary steel components, for a single point of delivery at our Maasvlakte facility. When Van Oord’s new-age installation vessel Boreas berths at our Maasvlakte facility for the load out of the project, we will have all 52 monopile foundations with their secondary steel components finished and in storage at our site.

“This is a significant de-risking of the project for both Ecowende and Sif. The fact that Sif has been involved in the manufacturing and supply of foundations for almost all the wind farms in the Dutch North Sea means we have built up a wealth of knowledge over the past 20 years in this specific market.”

In December 2023, CrossWind, another JV between Shell and Eneco, commissioned the 759MW Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm, 18.5km offshore the Netherlands.

It can generate 3.3 terawatt-hours of clean energy for a million Dutch homes.