OranjeWind wind farm pairs turbines with batteries, electrolyzers and smart charging to match electricity supply with demand
Far off the coast of IJmuiden, 795 megawatts of offshore wind power are now being installed in the skies above the North Sea. However, the OranjeWind initiative, which is a partnership between RWE and TotalEnergies, will be completed by early 2028 but was not designed solely to produce and transport energy onshore.
The reason behind this is that the Dutch power grid is already saturated and renewable energy generation is highly unpredictable. Therefore, the technology that has been selected for the OranjeWind initiative is designed to make up for the lag between generation and consumption.
A wind farm built for the real world
The OranjeWind project, with its 795 MW of energy generation capacity, is an innovative venture being carried out by RWE and TotalEnergies, and the construction of which will start in 2026 and finish in early 2028. These numbers look like common specifications of any wind farm project. Nevertheless, the OranjeWind project is far from being an ordinary one.
In case the amount of generated energy becomes smaller and the consumption becomes higher, they will become relaxed, allowing other people to use their capabilities.
Specifically, RWE and TotalEnergies define OranjeWind as a “system integration project.” While other wind farms focus primarily on their generation capacity, leaving everything else to somebody else, OranjeWind is designed to deal with the issue.
Indeed, the problem is quite obvious: wind energy can be generated only when there is wind blowing, and the need for energy arises when the consumers actually need electricity. Therefore, the solution to the problem goes beyond wind turbines alone.
The battery that catches the wind
One of the most visible elements of this portfolio is a battery storage system consisting of 400 MW/1,100 MWh, which was installed at the Moerdijk power station in Noord-Brabant. In September 2026, the company took its investment decision concerning this project, naming it the largest battery storage system in the Netherlands.
Below there are some figures. It involves 208 containers of lithium-ion batteries and is able to work at maximum capacity for almost three hours; this system will be able to supply 500,000 households at peak hours of the day. Furthermore, it is able to store excess electricity produced in the network in case of unexpected increases in the production of wind energy.
Commissioning of the plant is expected in the second quarter of 2028, at the time when OranjeWind reaches the operational stage. That is logical, as both facilities must be treated as one system and not two different projects connected to one network.
Unclogging the grid in Noord-Brabant
While the Moerdijk battery project has something to do with OranjeWind, it is not exclusively serving this party but serves to solve a problem of a wider scope. The high-voltage Dutch grid experiences great stress because there are a number of parties from various industries who are merely waiting for an opportunity to access the grid.
Scheduled with the help of capacity steering schemes together with the transmission system operator TenneT, the battery will be located next to the substation of 150,000 volts Moerdijk-Noord. As said by the Regional Director of TenneT in the Southern Netherlands, this project may help relieve a bottleneck in the region whose effect can be seen throughout the whole province.
According to TenneT and regional grid operator Enexis, the project may become the subject of analysis in their December 2026 congestion management study, where the potential that can be unlocked by the battery for the waiting-list parties will be estimated. The site of Moerdijk is considered to be innovative as far as the grid is concerned since it is home to the first synthetic inertia battery connected to the continental European grid (7.5 MW / 11 MWh).
Electrolyzers, e-boilers, and the art of smart charging
Batteries are only one layer of OranjeWind’s flexibility stack. The project also integrates electrolysis—converting surplus wind power into hydrogen—alongside e-boilers and smart electric vehicle charging.
Each technology mentioned above is a flexible load. In case there is a high level of energy generated from wind and there is a risk of overloading of the grid, these technologies can take the extra load. In case the amount of generated energy becomes smaller and the consumption becomes higher, they will become relaxed, allowing other people to use their capabilities. All these technologies can be considered demand response solutions that may help solve the problem of non-coincidence between production and consumption. RWE works with several firms to put all of them into one system.
Powering innovation: ASML and the case for corporate green electricity
The power generation from OranjeWind has already partly been distributed. As early as April 2026, RWE included its Power Purchase Agreement with ASML, the manufacturer of lithographic machines used for chip manufacturing and the world market leader, and expanded it to cover about 130 MW of renewable power generation until 2038. The OranjeWind project is among the projects that supply power to the Dutch plants of ASML.
The agreement is an example of a trend. The enterprises working in the high-tech industry, whose electricity consumption is stable and considerable, become increasingly interested in specific projects and not in power generation from the grid itself.
What OranjeWind means for the energy transition
Take a step back, and OranjeWind is part of a purposeful global strategy. RWE currently has about 1.7 gigawatts of energy storage in operation globally, with a further 3 gigawatts being developed. The Moerdijk project is not a test run but rather part of a larger plan.
The deeper question is whether OranjeWind can prove a replicable model. Europe’s coastal grids face similar congestion pressures from the Netherlands to Germany to the UK. If pairing offshore wind with batteries, electrolyzers, and smart charging demonstrably reduces grid stress while improving reliability, other developers and regulators will take notice.
Reliable and clean energy to millions of households, reliable energy for the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities around the world, and a case study on how offshore wind power shifts from being a flexible energy supply to becoming an active component of the energy market. The reality of OranjeWind’s success will be unveiled in the years to follow 2028.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
