On Monday, 21 June, a milestone was reached for Zeewolde Wind Farm in the province of Flevoland when the first wind turbine was commissioned. The event was celebrated by a ribbon cutting ceremony. The construction of the wind farm is going according to plan and the remaining 82 turbines will follow in the coming months. The wind farm will be operating at full capacity from the autumn of 2022.
Large scissors, stuck to the front of three tractors driven by young farmers, were brought to the turbine location for the ribbon cutting ceremony. The ceremony was performed by delegate Fackeldey, alderman of Zeewolde De Jonge and the initiators of the wind farm, in the presence of, among others, press, initiators and representatives of contractors.
“This is a real milestone,” says Sjoerd Sieburgh Sjoerdsma, Managing Director of Windpark Zeewolde. “We are building a unique regional initiative here in terms of size and support. The current 220 wind turbines in the area will be replaced by 83 larger, modern wind turbines. The project is an initiative of over 200 farmers, residents and turbine owners. Everyone in the area could participate and more than 90% did. This first turbine is proof that a large-scale and truly regional initiative can and does work.”
The turbines are supplied by the Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas who will also service the turbines for 20 years. The tip height of the turbines varies from 140 to 220 metres. The turbines will be placed in line position. The wind turbine that was put into operation yesterday is located along Vogelweg and has a tip height of 150 metres. Its annual electricity production is equal to the energy consumption of approximately 4,000 households. The highest turbines will be placed along the A27 (tip height of 220 metres) and the A6 highways. The average capacity of the turbines is 3.9 MW.
Largest Dutch onshore wind farm
With this repowering project, the total capacity will increase by 2.5 times, to 320 MW. This makes it the largest onshore wind farm in the Netherlands once completed. The wind farm will supply green electricity to the equivalent of 280,000 households per year.
The September-edition of Windpowernl will feature an article on Zeewolde Wind Farm
