TenneT, in collaboration with contractor Equans/Smulders, has installed several artificial reefs near the offshore transformer platform Hollandse Kust (west Alpha) to gain further knowledge about nature-inclusive construction.This offshore transformer platform will connect the Ecowende consortium (Shell/Eneco) wind farm to the high voltage grid. The aim is to build this wind farm with a healthy ecosystem and as little impact on nature as possible. The artificial reefs are part of a series of ecological measures by TenneT to monitor and encourage underwater life around offshore wind farms. To find out which form works best, two types of artificial reefs have been placed near the Hollandse Kust west alpha jacket, located about 50 kilometers off the coast of Egmond aan Zee. Earlier, similar structures were placed at the TenneT platform at Hollandse Kust north. Six reef cubes are attached to one frame. Hollow square blocks made of nature-friendly recycled material with round holes in the walls. On the other steel frame are six reef balls, a similar structure but in the shape of a ball. The aim of the trial is to investigate which shape - ball or cube - works best in the waters off the Dutch coast. The hollows provide protection for young fish, but are also meant to increase the structure's bonding surface.
