First reported in Reuters, the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind farm has successfully produced its first electricity, according to the companies involved in the project. The CrossWind consortium, led by Shell and Mitsubishi subsidiary Eneco, announced that several megawatt-hours of electricity have been delivered to the Dutch mainland through the national electricity grid operated by TenneT.
The wind farm, located nearly 12 mi off the Dutch coast, is expected to generate 3.3 TWh of electricity annually after further capacity increases. By the end of this year, the project aims to reach a capacity of 759 MW. Retail giant Amazon has already agreed to purchase half of the project's energy, while Shell intends to utilize the electricity to produce green hydrogen at a 200-MW plant being built in Rotterdam. The Netherlands has plans to add 1 GW of offshore wind capacity per year in the North Sea, with a goal of achieving 21 GW of offshore wind power by 2030, enough to supply around 1 MM households with energy.