- Borssele 1 & 2 goes online off the Netherlands with 752-megawatt capacity
- Danish wind farm developer Orsted says the site can provide enough clean electricity to power 1 million homes
- Announcement comes on the heels of the EU’s commitment to a 25-fold increase in offshore wind power by 2050
The second largest offshore wind farm in the world has started producing power off the Netherlands. The Danish wind developer Orsted has announced that the development, known as Borssele 1 & 2, can provide enough clean electricity to power 1 million homes.
Located 23 kilometers off the Dutch province of Zeeland, Borssele 1 & 2 has a 752-megawatt capacity provided by 94 Siemens Gamesa turbines situated over a 112-kilometer area. Orsted says the wind farm will be a good basis for future decarbonization efforts such as hydrogen synthesis, which can potentially be paired with wind operations.
The debut of Borssele 1 & 2 comes shortly after the European Union announced its plans to increase its offshore wind capacity 25-fold by 2050, from 12 gigawatts to 300 gigawatts. The EU also hopes to develop 40 GW of ocean energy, such as wave or tidal power, in the same period. It set shorter term goals of 60 GW of offshore wind energy and 1 GW of ocean energy by 2030.
Offshore wind development in the United States is currently limited to a single 30-megawatt site off Block Island in Rhode Island. However, several larger installations are currently planned for the waters off the East Coast.
