The BARD-Netherlands offshore wind project will be located 55km north of the island of Schiermonnikoog in an area of high winds and frequent heavy swell. It will consist of two adjoining wind farms with 300MW capacity each.
The cooperation agreement will be finalised in the final quarter of 2011 once the financial arrangements have been made. Construction is expected to start in 2012.
Van Oord has previously constructed the Princess Amalia Windpark in the Netherlands and the Belwind project off the Belgian coast.
In June, outgoing Dutch economics minister Maria van der Hoeven awarded a €19.5 million subsidy for the Far and Large Offshore Wind (FLOW) innovation project as part of Holland's aim to raise its offshore capacity to 6GW by 2020.
The budget was to finance research into efficient North Sea offshore wind turbines, foundation concepts, O&M strategies and installation methods.
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