The Dutch Ministry of Defense has issued a VVGB (statement of no objections) for Windplan Groen. Research was still needed to determine whether the new wind turbines would not disturb the Defense Radar in Nieuw-Milligen too much. With the permission granted, all preparations for the construction of the wind farm can now be completed.
Windplan Groen is an initiative of a number of companies that are united in Windkoepel Groen and provides for the arrival of 90 wind turbines in Eastern Flevoland, in the municipalities of Dronten and Lelystad. The new turbines will replace the current 98 turbines in the area. In September 2020, the Council of State gave the green light for the project that will have a joint installed capacity of between 300 and 400 MW.
Wind turbines should not disturb the Defense radar system too much in the Netherlands. This was not yet clear for the Defense Radar in Nieuw-Milligen. The Ministry of Defense wanted to replace this old radar with a new one in Herwijnen, but a majority of the House of Representatives has spoken against this. Windplan Groen has entered into consultations with the Ministry of Defense to investigate how Windplan Groen can be built and how at the same time the Defense radar can continue to monitor the airspace.
Research into degree of radar interference
In recent weeks, a lot of follow-up research has been done into the precise influence of the wind turbines on the functioning of the Defense radar. An important step in this was precisely calculating the degree of radar interference based on the turbine types that participated in the tendering process for the wind turbines of Windplan Groen.
These studies and calculations showed that it is possible to build Windplan Groen without disturbing the Defense radar too much. On this basis, the Ministry of Defense decided to issue the declaration of no objections for Windplan Groen, as formal confirmation that the Ministry of Defense has no objection to the construction of the wind turbines.
Construction process
Windplan Groen is currently engaged in the selection of contractors, selection of the final wind turbine type(s), financing, and other necessary matters. The first construction activities will be for the new substation, between the Hoge Vaart and the Olsterpad, to the east of Dronten. The station is being built together with network operators TenneT and Liander. The work is expected to start before the summer of 2021. The initiators hope to start construction of the turbines in 2022. Source: Windplan Groen
