Mott MacDonald advised on Westermeerwind project, now open

The Westermeerwind project has been officially opened. The nearshore wind farm, situated in the Netherlands, generates enough electricity for around 160,000 households. Mott MacDonald acted as lenders’ technical advisor for the project, as well as advisor to the project management phase.

Windpark Noordoostpolder is a more than €1 billion onshore and nearshore wind farm development, located in Flevoland, the Netherlands. The farm, when fully operational, is slated to produce enough electricity for around 400,000 households. The Windpark consists of three separate projects – Westermeerwind, NOP Agrowind and Zuiderwester – with a combined total of 86 turbines on water and land.

The Westermeerwind project, first conceived more than 20 years ago by Tjitte de Groot and Peter Meulendijks, is situated on a freshwater lake and consists of 48 turbines; the farm is capable of producing enough electricity for around 160,000 households. 

Mott MacDonald has a long standing relationship with the Westermeerwind project, advising Ventolines, the project management company that worked on the project in 2010, before taking on the role of lenders’ technical advisor to ING Bank and Eksport Kredit Fonden in 2012, which invested €320 million of the project’s €400 million cost. The due diligence was passed, with the deal achieving successful close in 2014. Mott MacDonald continued to monitor the construction process on behest of the lenders.

The Westermeerwind project was recently opened by the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp, as well as originators de Groot and Meulendijks. The consultancy firm will continue to provide semi-annual monitoring of the project as it ramps up generation.

Christos Kolliatsas, Mott MacDonald’s Project Director, says, “Although our involvement with Westermeerwind dates back six years, the project was actually first conceived over 20 years ago. After starting with their own single wind turbines, two local farmers worked together for 21 years with the dream of creating the project on the freshwater Ijsselmeer lake. Their hard work and dedication has paid off with the successful implementation and opening of the wind farm.”