End for nearshore project Irene Vorrink in the Netherlands

The 28 wind turbines with a total capacity of 16.8 MW of the Irene Vorrink wind farm, named after a Dutch politician who died in 1996, have so far been located in the IJsselmeerdijk north of Lelystad, just off the dike in the water. Nowadays, however, the construction of larger, modern turbines so close to the dike is no longer permitted for safety reasons, so the new turbines will be located 500 and 1500 meters further out in the IJsselmeer. Two rows of twelve wind turbines each are planned to be erected by Vattenfall and SwifterwinT. The capacity of the new wind farm will then be 132 MW.

"Starting in early March, we will work on one wind turbine every day to prepare it for easy dismantling as much as possible. We first shut down the turbine and then remove as many bolts and electric cables as possible. All the turbines will be shut down by April, and then we will dismantle the various parts of the turbine from a barge on the water. That will be one per day if the weather cooperates", explains Matthew Adam May, who works in Vattenfall's Construction Management.

In the end, only a small part of the steel foundation (monopile) will stick out of the water. Special equipment will be used to saw off the monopile from the inside, two meters below the bottom of the IJsselmeer. After this part is pulled out of the water, the rest of the monopile and the cabling will remain in the bottom of the IJsselmeer next to the dike, as it was decided not to touch the dike further for safety reasons. “We would prefer to remove all parts of the wind turbines and leave the area in its original state, but this time the safety of the dike takes precedence," May elaborates. Removing the foundations requires special vibration equipment, the vibrations of which could damage the dike. In addition, the holes created after the foundations and cables are removed could lead to seepage that runs under the dike and weakens it.

The 24 new wind turbines in the IJsselmeer will be part of the Windplanblauw project, which is being developed jointly by Vattenfall and the wind cooperative SwifterwinT. Windplanblauw is expected to be operational from 2023.