WPNL 202101

responsibilities that come with that.” Zeewolde Wind Farm is not
unique in this, by the way, explains Sieburgh. The same goes for the
Windplanblauw, Windplangroen and Krammer wind farms. “You
have to ask yourself, is this desirable? Just add up all those grids and
ask former minister Brinkhorst, who was in favour of public grids,
what he thinks about all those gigawatts of private grids being
created. At the same time, all the grid operators are complaining
that they have no connection capacity for solar.”
But for now, Windpark Zeewolde BV remains responsible for the
connection. Meanwhile, construction continues apace at the wind
farm. Building the largest onshore wind farm in the Netherlands is
a major logistical puzzle. In total, 700 heavy transports are required,
says Sieburgh. The components are manufactured all over the
world. The largest components arrive in Flevohaven by water and
are transported from there to the construction site. This often
happens at night, via special transports. A private exit from the
motorway has been built specifically for this purpose. Several crane
crews work simultaneously on the installation, otherwise the project
would take too long. Because of the different sizes of the turbines,
different crane sizes are also used.
Completion in autumn 2022
At the time this edition went to the printer, about 25 wind turbines
had been installed. On June 21, the first wind turbine was already
officially connected to the grid. By mid-July, all foundations were
completed, three months ahead of schedule. The wind farm is
planned to be fully operational in the fall of 2022 and is then
expected to generate around 850,000 megawatt hours annually. A
long-term contract has been signed with energy company Vattenfall
for the purchase of the power.•
Installation of a V136 along the A27
currently installed on land in the Netherlands – if you do not
include GE’s Haliade-X prototype at Maasvlakte 2. This will be
short-lived, however, because the wind turbines in the future
Windplangroen en Windplanblauw wind farms will be even larger,
says Sieburgh.
Windpark Zeewolde BV does not own any land itself, except for the
site where the substation for the wind farm is located. For the
placement of the new wind turbines, building contracts have been
set up with the relevant landowners. All in all more than a thousand
contracts were signed during this whole process, Sieburgh tells.
Network manager against all odds
That substation, to which all the wind turbines will be connected, is
a private substation. This wasn’t a conscious decision, Sieburgh
says. The law states that all projects over 100 MW must be
connected to grid operator TenneT via their own substation.
Sieburgh: “I’d rather hand it over to the grid managers. We’re now a
private party filling a public function. What’s more, Eneco and Pure
Energie’s eight wind turbines will also be connected to this
substation, which means we’re also taking on the role of grid
manager. With all the regulations, tariffs and all the installation
WIND FARM FACTS
Owner: Windpark Zeewolde BV
Installed capacity: 320 MW
Number of wind turbines: 83
Turbine type: Vestas V136, V126, V117, V110
Turbine power: Between 2.2 MW and 4.3 MW
Substation: 2 x 240 MWA transformers converting 33 kV
to 150 kV
Connection to national grid: TenneT’s station at the
Bloesemlaan
Companies involved:
Civil works: Windcombinatie Dura Vermeer–GMB
Cabling: Van den Heuvel
Substation construction: Hitachi ABB
Substation maintenance: Volker Energy Solutions
Asset Management: OutSmart
Crane hire: M Verschoor
01-2021 | 9