(With extra pictures and videos) On 16 February, Van Oord's Aeolus placed the first of 150 turbines in the Gemini Wind Park.
Once operational, Gemini will be one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, both in terms of size and production. With a total of 600 MW capacity, Gemini is expected to produce about 2.6 TWh of renewable electricity, sufficient for approximately 1.5 million people in the Netherlands.
Gemini is located in the Dutch North Sea, 85 kilometres north of the Dutch coast and is not visible from the shore. This location offers some of the highest and most constant wind speeds on the Dutch part of the North Sea. Four companies joined forces to create Gemini: Northland Power (60% project share), Siemens (20%), Van Oord (10%) and HVC (10%). Construction of the Gemini farm is currently in full flow. The project is expected to be fully operational by 2017.
SWZ Maritime's Offshore Renewables Special in the March issue, to appear 25 March, will also feature an article on the Gemini Wind Park as well as an article on the Acta Orion, one of the vessels currently deployed to Gemini.
Below some pictures of the Aeolus completing the first wind turbine. Please click the pop-out link to view them in their proper dimensions. In addition, two videos. One about the Gemini Offshore Wind Park in general, the other is an overview of all Gemini's activities in 2015.
All pictures and videos by Gemini Offshore Wind Park.
