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RENEWABLE ENERGY | Gemini Wind Park
GEMINI wind park
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A watershed project for the Dutch offshore wind industry
RENEWABLE ENERGY | Gemini Wind Park
Gemini Wind Park was officially opened in May 2017 at a public ceremony in Eemshaven, the seaport town located in the North of the Netherlands which served as the onshore base from which the major offshore project was delivered. The inauguration resembled the bookend of eight years of exhaustive work by the team and its partners, however Gemini’s CEO Matthias Haag is quick to highlight that while it was a joyous occasion for the team, the real satisfaction was taken when the park first began operations back in October 2016. “The wind park was already running at that time so it was a nice external milestone, but for the team the more important thing was having the wind park running,” says Haag.
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“Nonetheless, its important that we had
The sheer magnitude of this project is
everything formalised with all the t’s crossed
revealed by the fact that it became the
and the i’s dotted, making sure that all the
world’s largest offshore wind project when
documentation is there. We also combined
it came online, and it has only been topped
the official opening with a restructuring of
this year by the arrival of the 630MW London
the financing as well, which was very positive
Array project, found in waters near the
for the shareholders and the banks.”
United Kingdom.
Gemini is located in the North Sea around 85
Collaboration is key
km North of the Dutch coast, boasting a total
Haag reveals that collaboration among
capacity of 600MW delivered by 150 turbines
the team and its partners was absolutely
across two sites – hence the name Gemini,
essential to the successful delivery of this era-
meaning ‘twins’.
defining project. “It was a big challenge to get
RENEWABLE ENERGY | Gemini Wind Park it over the line, but we had a very good team and good partners. “Van Oord and Siemens were the main contractors, but we also shared good relations with all the other parties involved, be it the operators, or the banks who were financing the whole contract. “This working together of all parties was the main reason why the project was successful and delivered on time,” says the CEO. During the construction period, Gemini and its partners employed best in-class technologies to optimise safety and efficiency at the site, for example an automatic identification transponder system (AIS) was used to track the position of each installation and maintenance vessel. Each ship’s AIS transmitted its position, heading, speed and registered maritime identification number every two to 10 seconds, and this data was received by ships in the vicinity in case of incident. “Realistically, on a big project like this one you have to admit that things can happen. The question is; are you prepared for that and able to react in the right way? “We had an in-house team that dealt with HSE safety but also environmental guidelines, health issues and other things. We had a HSE manager and a number of people going offshore in the vessels to work with the contractors in more detail and we had
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RENEWABLE ENERGY | Gemini Wind Park
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a lot of discussions with the contractors to
certainly an example of how things can work
make sure that all the requirements were
like that and the government was happy to
understood and going ahead the way they
see that things can progress on time and
were supposed to.”
on budget. Their strategy for the renewable change in energy provision is slowly coming
Gemini’s size and energy production capacity instantly set a new benchmark for offshore
to fruition.”
wind projects globally, but it was also the
Global winds of change
delivery of the project on time and on budget
Since the landmark Paris climate accord,
which stretched the industry’s perception of
nearly all recognised governments (bar the
what was possible for an offshore project.
US) around the world have agreed to limit the amount of damaging CO2 emissions
“In terms of the execution and the finance,
released into the atmosphere and increase
this was by a distance the biggest project
the generation of renewable energy sources
finance of an offshore wind park that took
to replace polluting carbon-based energy
place at the time in 2014,” Haag claims.
sources.
“With €2.8 billion secured in funding it was
Like many European nations, the Dutch
RENEWABLE ENERGY | Gemini Wind Park
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offshore projects, the Gemini project
energy target in the wake of the Paris
has also contributed to warming public
agreement, however it is struggling to meet
sentiments towards renewable energy in the
its 2020 target of having 14% of its total
Netherlands and this was encapsulated by
energy mix supplied by renewables.
the public reaction to the development in the local Eemshaven region.
This target was agreed with the European Union back in 2007, and was soon followed
“All interaction we had with the public was
by an even more ambitious target of 27%
very positive,” reveals Haag. “People were
renewable energy by 2030. Most recently,
very positive about Gemini and the fact that it
this 2030 target was further increased to 32%
happened.
in June this year. “On the other hand, you have to understand Therefore, the Dutch government has a
that the entire wind park is beyond the
mountain to climb if it wants to meet these
horizon so for the general public it is not
ambitious targets and will need many more
visible at all. All they could see was the
onshore and offshore wind projects of the
onshore activity with the preparation at the
same magnitude as Gemini, which reduces
harbour.”
reducing CO2 emissions by 1.25 million tonnes per year.
The Gemini team held an open day in Eemshaven where members of the public
“Gemini alone provides enough power for
were given a tour of the onshore facilities
the energy needs of the three Northern
and were also taken in small vessels to see
provinces of the Netherlands. These big
the turbines onsite. The day was deemed a
projects do make a difference and you can
big success, with attendance far exceeding
see that the Dutch government is planning
expectations prior to the event.
multiple large MW projects to be added in the coming years.”
A key reason for the successful reception of the project by the public was the fact that it
In fact, the government recently announced
provided significant short-term and long-term
plans to build three offshore wind farms
economic opportunities in the local area.
by 2030, in addition to five offshore sites
“Siemens made sure they employed people
which will be delivered before 2023. The
from the region in their ship which is now
government hopes that these large-scale
24/7 in the field, operating and maintaining
projects will produce 40% of the country’s
the wind turbines.”
electricity needs by 2030. This lasting positive economic impact While acting as a stimulus for these future
of the project, along with the Gemini
RENEWABLE ENERGY | Gemini Wind Park
team’s proactive approach to stakeholder
resembles a significant long-term source of
management, has gone a long way to
renewable energy for the Dutch government,
ensuring the legacy of the wind park remains as the country looks to diversify its energy protected over the next 20 years.
supply and align with EU green energy goals.
A strong start to life
The wind park will continue operating
During its first 12 months of operation,
profitably beyond the current 15-year subsidy
Gemini consistently delivered on its capacity
tariff it has agreed with the government, an
despite it being a ‘bad wind year’, according
idea that was deemed impossible by the wind
to Haag. “But in terms of availability and
industry not long ago.
functionality of the wind park, we are very happy and are having higher than agreed
This reflects the pace of change currently
availability, which is being achieved on a
afoot in the wind industry, as zero
consistent basis.”
subsidy projects become more prevalent, costs continue to fall and technological
With a current lifetime of 20 years, Gemini
improvements drive the industry forward.
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“I think it’s an extremely important time for
“Looking around the world, offshore wind
offshore. We have seen so much growth
is taking off everywhere and if you look at
recently, but I think we are still at the start
a recent forecast from Bloomberg, they
the real growth is still to come.
have predicted six-fold growth by 2030 which is hugely exciting and there is a lot of
“If you look at what is happening in Taiwan,
happening. We have only seen the start of
India, China, Turkey, the French have
offshore wind and the big industrial change
finally decided they are going ahead with
or revolution is just beginning.”
something, the Belgians are building, the UK and Germany still have big plans. Even the US has started planning some offshore farms.
ar j
Published by Anderson Murray Media Ltd
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