Citizen cooperative West-Betuwe (also known as Betuwewind) is taking over the development share of YARD ENERGY in the onshore wind project Midden-Betuwe. The wind farm between Dodewaard and Zetten in the province of Gelderland will be further developed together with YARDs co-initiator Betuwemolen. The Cooperative’s General Meeting of Members has yet to agree to this transaction.
At the beginning of 2019, YARD and local partnership Betuwemolen submitted a proposal for the realization of the Midden-Betuwe wind farm. The plan is for 9 wind turbines that will be installed on both sides of the A15. This area has been identified in both Overbetuwe and Neder-Betuwe as a good area for the development of wind energy. Together, the turbines could generate an annual amount of electricity that is comparable to the energy consumption of approximately 29,000 households.
YARD ENERGY has recently decided to no longer be active on the market as a developer of wind projects. Betuwewind, will now take over the development share of YARD. The two parties previously worked together successfully in the Deil and Avri wind farms in the region. These wind farms were commissioned in 2020.
More local involvement
The involved municipalities of Neder-Betuwe and Overbetuwe want to get started with wind energy, but set important preconditions: stakeholders such as those living near the wind farm, local companies and citizens of both municipalities must be able to benefit from the realisation of the wind farm. In the collaboration between YARD and Betuwemolen, it has been agreed that both parties will give room to citizen participation. Half of the project could become the ownership of residents of Neder-Betuwe and Overbetuwe. Betuwewind, with more than 900 members, conforms to all previous agreements made in the project between initiators and the municipalities.
According to director Gerlach Velthoven of Betuwewind, the arrival of the citizen wind cooperative will increase the yield that the wind farm can generate locally: “In West Betuwe we have good experiences with citizens developing energy projects. We think this step can really contribute to project acceptance, citizen involvement and financial benefits for the community.”
Betuwemolen is happy with the new project partner. Henk in ‘t Hout, who lives in Dodewaard and is a spokesperson on behalf of the partnership, expects residents to quickly notice how Betuwewind is strengthening the project.
The transfer of the shares from YARD ENERGY to Betuwewind will become final when the General Members’ Meeting of the cooperative approves this transaction in mid-May.
