Eneco had commissioned Grontmij to draw up the permit application/EIA. Grontmij thus builds on its experience in drawing up EIA's for  previous initiatives in the North Sea. In 2002, Grontmij drew up the EIA for the offshore wind park near Egmond aan Zee, and in 2006 it prepared the environmental effect reports for three offshore initiatives by NUON and Shell.

The wind park will be erected some 30 kilometres off the coast of Callantsoog (northerly tip of the province of Noord-Holland) and will have a capacity of 303 MW across an area of 32 km2. This is nearly three times the size of the two offshore wind parks further south off the coast of Egmond aan Zee (the OWEZ) and IJmuiden (the Q7 wind park, which also belongs to Eneco).

Unlike other offshore wind parks for which permit applications have been submitted, Callantsoog-Noord wind park is located much further north. Furthermore, it is at a relatively great distance off the coast, far from busy shipping routes to the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The drafted environmental effects report also reveals that the negative effects on bird life and shipping safety, amongst others, will be minimal.

Green energy for 285,000 households
The park will go operational in 2013 and provide 285,000 households with green energy. Eneco intends to submit several other applications for permits in the near future. The realisation of these wind parks blends seamlessly with Eneco’s aspiration to generate an amount of sustainable energy by 2020 that makes up 2/3 of its delivery portfolio.