Oil major TotalEnergies has agreed to acquire a 50% stake in RWE’s 795MW OranjeWind offshore wind project in the Dutch North Sea. The two companies have now made an investment decision on the project, which is due to be paired with battery storage as well as electrolysis capacity to produce green hydrogen.
TotalEnergies will use the 40,000 tonnes of green hydrogen produced annually from its half of the project to help decarbonise its refineries in northern Europe.
The partners have also chosen suppliers for the wind farm's main components, including Vestas for the turbines, and plan to start construction in 2026. The wind farm – located 53km from IJmuiden – is expected online in 2028.
RWE will lead the development, construction and operation of the project.
OranjeWind – formerly known as Hollandse Kust West VII – is RWE’s first offshore wind project in the Netherlands. The German utility secured the rights to build the project in the Netherlands' zero-subsidy offshore wind auction in November 2022.
The country aims to install 21GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. It currently has 3.7GW of operational offshore wind capacity, according to “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç Intelligence, the research and data division of “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç.
Sven Utermöhlen, CEO of offshore wind at RWE, described the Netherlands as a “strategic core market”.
.png)
.png)
