This week, the installation of the last wind turbine of the Delfzijl Zuid expansion project (Delfzijl Zuid Uitbreiding), south of the existing Delfzijl Zuid onshore wind farm in the Dutch province of Groningen, was completed.
The expansion to the existing wind farm comprises 16 wind turbines. These are supplied by German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex and are of type N133 STE with a capacity of 4.8 MW and a hub height of 135 metres.
The first construction activities started in May 2022, with the first wind turbine components arriving in January 2023. During this time, proceedings were still pending before the Dutch Council of State for the commissioning of the wind turbines. Indeed, in an interim ruling in 2021, the Administrative Law Division ruled that the national wind farm standards could not be used. This was due to the Nevele ruling by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. As a result of that June 2021 interim ruling, the Dutch government had to make an environmental impact assessment for the national wind farm standards for noise, cast shadow and safety.
This had yet to be adjudicated. A year later, in April 2023, a positive ruling by the Council of State brought the legal process to an end. This ruling also marked the first time the Administrative Law Division had ruled on municipal and provincial standards for noise, shadow and safety for a wind farm assessed.
The initiators of the project, united in Koepel Windpark Delfzijl Zuid-Uitbreiding, are ZuidZes B.V., Eneco Wind B.V., Kloosterlaan B.V. and HiNerg B.V. Ventolines was appointed for the development. VolkerWind was responsible for the Balance of Plant. Image: WP Delfzijl Zuid Uitbreiding / Maarten de Keijzer
