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The world’s largest freshwater wind farm is now online

Windpark Fryslân, the world’s largest freshwater wind farm that sits in the Netherlands’ Lake IJssel, is now fully commissioned.

The 382.7 megawatt (MW) Windpark Fryslân is around 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) off the Frisian coast, in the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. It features 89 Siemens Gamesa 4.3 MW wind turbines that have been in operation since November.

Lake IJssel, which is shallow, is the Netherlands’ largest lake. It’s fed by several rivers, including the Amstel, the Rhine, the Vecht, and the IJssel, and closed off to the Wadden Sea by a manmade dike.

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The freshwater wind farm was built by the Zuiderzeewind consortium of Dutch maritime contracting company Royal Van Oord and renewable energy company Siemens Gamesa. Renewable energy company Ventolines is the wind farm’s owner and developer.

Construction began on Windpark Fryslân in 2019, and was expected to be completed in June, but launch was pushed back to the third quarter as a result of the pandemic, adverse weather, and logistical challenges. It’s expected to produce around 1.5 TWh of electricity per year. That’s around 1.2% of Dutch electricity consumption, or enough power for around 500,000 households in the Netherlands. 

Read more: A 24-year-old Dutch wind farm is being decommissioned. Here’s what’s next

Photo: De Afsluitdijk


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Avatar for Michelle Lewis Michelle Lewis

Michelle Lewis is a writer and editor on Electrek and an editor on DroneDJ, 9to5Mac, and 9to5Google. She lives in White River Junction, Vermont. She has previously worked for Fast Company, the Guardian, News Deeply, Time, and others. Message Michelle on Twitter or at michelle@9to5mac.com. Check out her personal blog.