- Maximum capacity 1,500 MW

- Wind farms in Belgium and Germany

Utrecht 25 April 2008 – Evelop, part of leading sustainable energy company Econcern, has signed a contract with dredging and marine contractor Van Oord. Both companies are from the Netherlands. The contract envisages that in the coming four years, the companies will build four offshore wind farms in Western Europe. The agreement covers the realisation of the foundations and electrical workings of the turbines. The total investment of this contract amounts approximately to EUR 1.5 billion. The wind farms will have a total maximum capacity of 1,500 MW, or enough to supply sustainable electricity to 1.5 million households.

The first project will be the 330-megawatt offshore Belwind project off the coast of Belgium. The final investment decision is planned for mid-2008 and the project will start delivering electricity at the beginning of 2010. The wind farms off the German coast - named Gode Wind, OWP West and Albatros - are the next projects that have been planned by Evelop and Van Oord.

Dirk Berkhout, Member of the Board of Econcern, explains: "We are delighted to continue our cooperation with Van Oord. We are already working successfully together in the development of the Q7 wind farm in the Dutch sector of the North Sea, which we are going to open in June. This long-term partnership fits perfectly with our sustainable strategy of realising one offshore wind farm per year with several high-quality organisations. First we are going to build these wind farms, after 2012 we are planning to grow even faster by using the new technology available at that time. This major investment in offshore wind farms contributes to fulfilling our mission: providing a sustainable energy supply for everyone."

Peter de Ridder, member of the Board of Management of Van Oord, says: "We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Evelop. The joint undertaking with Evelop for the building of these major offshore wind farms fits in very well with Van Oord's strategy to play an important role in the worldwide offshore wind energy market, and to contribute to the CO2 emission reduction goals."

Evelop (www.evelop.com)

Evelop is part of Econcern, whose mission is to provide ‘a sustainable energy supply for everyone'. Econcern, which employs around 1,000 professionals in 20 countries across the world, was ranked No. 234 in Europe's top 500 listing of high growth, job-creating companies in 2007. Econcern is the winner of the European Business of the year Award 2008. Ad van Wijk, CEO of Econcern, is the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner from The Netherlands 2007 and nominee for the World Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2008. 

For more information about Evelop, please contact:
Anouk Stortenbeker
Marketing & Communications Manager
T:         + 31 30 283 36 08
M:        + 31 6 1558 9769
E:         This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
I:         www.evelop.com

Or:

Van Oord
A.G.M.Groothuizen
Manager, Marketing & Communication
T:         +31 10 447 8417
M:        +31 6 22497880
E:         This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
I:         www.vanoord.com