Rachid Achouitar

CrossWind is a joint venture between Shell and Eneco that develops and will operate the Hollandse Kust (noord) subsidy-free offshore wind farm. CrossWind plans to have Hollandse Kust (noord) operational in 2023 with an installed capacity of 759 MW, generating at least 3.3 TWh per year. This is enough renewable power to supply the equivalent of more than 1 million Dutch households with green electricity. The wind farm will be located 18.5 kilometres off the coast of The Netherlands near the town of Egmond aan Zee. CrossWind is taking solid steps to address the challenges of intermittent wind power by delivering ground-breaking, state-of-the-art innovations, together with its partners, to demonstrate the future of offshore wind and the role they can play in the energy system. That is why the offshore wind farm will include the following five technology demonstrations that could be implemented at full-scale in the future: a floating solar park; short-term battery storage; turbines that are optimally tuned to the network to minimise the negative 'wake'-effects that wind turbines have on each other; 'green hydrogen' made by electrolysis as a further storage technique and the combination of these individual measures to ensure a continuous power supply regardless of the wind situation. Working together is crucial for the transition to a cleaner energy system across Europe and within each country. For this reason, the CrossWind team intends to work closely with universities and scientific institutions to develop further technical innovations. We intend to share the lessons learned from developing this wind farm with a broad audience – varying from the academic world to the general public.