WINDENERGY MAGAZINE 02 2018

Wind 

Energy 

magazine 

WINDPARK KRAMMER 

LARGEST DUTCH CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE 

INTERVIEW TENNET 

FASCILITATING THE ENERGY 

TRANSITION 

DUTCH CLIMATE AGREEMENT 

ARE WE STILL IN TIME? 

WINDDAYS 2018 SPECIAL 

Volume 5 - Issue 2 - 2018

Wij weten uit welke hoek 

de wind waait. 

ENVIR Advocaten: dè expert op het gebied van windenergieprojecten, 

of het nu gaat om vergunningen of bestuursrechtelijke procedures. 

Samen met u realiseert ENVIR Advocaten een spoedig, gestroomlijnd 

en probleemloos vergunningentraject. Wij combineren onze expertise 

en ervaring in heldere analyses en praktische oplossingen, om samen 

tot het beste resultaat te komen. 

ENVIR Advocaten Dè specialist in het omgevingsrecht en bestuursrecht. 

www.envir-advocaten.com 

Volume 5 | June 2018 | issue 02 

WindEnergy magazine, a quarterly trade magazine 

for professionals who are involved or interested in 

onshore and offshore wind energy developments in 

the Netherlands. 

Publication: WindEnergy magazine is a quarterly 

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Editor in Chief: Jan Spoelstra 

Contributors to this edition: Antoon Oosting, Jaap 

Meijers, Karin Broer, Christian Jongeneel, Joanna 

Hughes, Geert Bosch, Peter Eecen & Erik van Huizen 

Cover image: Windpark Krammer, 

photo by Erik van Huizen 

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foreword 

GROWING DEMANDS 

FOR ENERGY STORAGE 

The Dutch wind energy sector is not a national industry and with the 

upcoming offshore wind projects our editorial focus will be more and 

more international. From which Dutch projects can the international wind 

industry learn? And what is the contribution of Dutch companies to reach 

international climate goals? For that reason WindEnergy magazine will 

be published in English from now onwards. A great way to showcase our 

innovative wind industry. 

A good example of a national onshore wind project that should be 

internationally showcased is the Windpark Krammer wind farm, owned 

by citizens, producing energy for multinationals and built on top of 

a primary flood defence (P12). The Dutch are already the #1 country 

in building sea defences, what a business case if Dutch companies can 

combine water safety with sustainable energy production and financial 

constructions in which citizens can participate. 

In this WindDays 2018 special we focus on going forward with wind 

energy in the Netherlands. The technology is in place and startups (P28) 

are anxious to optimise wind energy production and turbine maintenance. 

However, the experts our editors interviewed only briefly mention the 

biggest challenge for the wind energy industry: energy storage. Using 

peak power to store energy, and transport this to the grid when demands 

exceed the installed sustainable energy production. 

The goal of our government is 49% reduction of CO 2 

emissions by 2030. 

Installing wind power can largely contribute to those goals. In the field of 

energy storage, without the use of artificial lakes, dams and hydropower, 

there is no country yet that adressed and solved the upcoming problem of 

sustainable energy storage. Our Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate 

is currently busy with meetings on his so-called ‘energy tables’, to reach 

new climate legislation and policy programmes. One of the conclusions 

this summer should be that the Netherlands should become a leading 

player in the field of sustainable energy storage. Can we build an artifical 

lake in the North Sea? Can we make gas infrastructure suitable for 

hydrogen as a sustainable energy carrier? 

The biggest challenge for the wind industry is to deal with fluctuating 

energy production, which is not in conjunction with energy demand. 

Fossil energy driven power plants to serve as 

backup will disappear. Our sector should 

come up with partnerships and projects 

to deal with this challenge. WindEnergy 

magazine will keep you informed on 

the progress in future editions. For now, 

the WindDays is a good place to start this 

discussion – we are looking forward to 

meeting you there! 

JAN SPOELSTRA 

Editor in Chief 

WindEnergy magazine 

j.spoelstra@vakbladen.com 

WindEnergy 2-2018 3

CONTENTS 

ISSUE 02 

JUNE 2018 

Wind energy: From 

idea to permit 

Photo: TenneT 

6 

6 PREPARING FOR OFFSHORE WIND TO LEAD THE 

ENERGY TRANSITION. INTERVIEW FRANK WESTER, 

TENNET 

11 COLUMN GEERT BOSCH, BOSCH & VAN RIJN 

12 JOINING FORCES IN THE LARGEST CITIZEN’S 

INITIATIVE INTERVIEW WIND COOPERATIONS 

DELTAWIND AND ZEEUWIND 

Policy and permits 

Spatial procedures, regional energy strategies, 

environmental impact assessments, vision and 

policy development 

Stakeholder manangement 

Participation, communication, stakeholders 

engagement, visualisations, financial 

participation 

Photo: Erik van Huizen 

12 

16 NO MORE ROOM FOR PROCRASTINATION: THE 

NETHERLANDS HAS TO ACT NOW INTERVIEW 

OLOF VAN DER GAAG, DIRECTOR NVDE 

19 WINDDAYS 2018 SPECIAL 

20 INTERVIEW EVENT ORGANISATION 

24 EUROPEAN WIND MARKET OUTLOOK 

26 CONFERENCE PROGRAMME 

Research 

Environmental impacts, financial feasibility, 

spatial feasibility, wind surveys 

Support and secondment 

Process managers, project leaders, specialists 

in all relevant desciplines 

28 FLOORPLAN & EXHIBITORS’ LIST 

30 STARTUPS IN WIND 

35 COLUMN PETER EECEN, ECN PART OF TNO 

36 OFFSHORE NEWS 

Photo by Milan Vermeulen 

16 

38 ONSHORE & GENERAL NEWS 

41 WIND FACTS NETHERLANDS 

42 AGENDA 

In 2017 we obtained permits for more than 500 MW 

onshore wind energy in the Netherlands. 

Want to know what we can do for you? 

Check out www.boschenvanrĳn.nl 

Photo: WindEurope / Bickley 

24 


INTERVIEW 

FRANK WESTER, 

SENIOR MANAGER ASSET MANAGEMENT 

OFFSHORE, TENNET 

PREPARING FOR 

OFFSHORE WIND 

TO LEAD THE ENERGY 

TRANSITION 

The Dutch government wants to bring down carbon emissions by 49 percent in 2030. To achieve 

that target, more energy production from renewable energy sources is required. A significant part 

will be coming from offshore wind. That is why more wind farms are planned to be built at sea 

in the years to come. Transmission system operator TenneT is responsible for getting the energy 

produced by the offshore turbines to land and to our wall sockets, which is quite an interesting 

challenge. 

JAAP MEIJERS 

When the government, companies and relevant organisations 

signed the National Energy Agreement 

(‘Energieakkoord’) in 2013, offshore wind energy 

did not yet amount to much. Only two offshore 

wind farms were installed and operational at that 

time in the Dutch section of the North Sea; Egmond 

aan Zee (OWEZ) and Prinses Amaliawindpark. A 

third, Eneco Luchterduinen, started construction 

that same year and another, Gemini, would follow a 

few years later. All combined representing almost 

1,000 MW. But for the sustainable ambitions to 

become reality, a lot more wind turbines needed to 

be installed, faster and cheaper than before. Under 

the Energy Agreement, 3,500 megawatts would 

have to be added offshore until 2023, the equal of 

around 437 8-megawatt wind turbines. For this 

purpose, the Dutch Government assigned 3 areas, 

Borssele and Hollandse Kust Zuid and Noord. In the 

future even more wind farms will be added, such as 

IJmuiden Ver (‘IJmuiden Far’) which will generate 4 

gigawatts. All in all, in 2030 40 percent of the current 

power consumption should come from these 

offshore wind farms. 

In the National Energy Agreement TenneT was appointed 

the offshore transmission system operator, 

which means that the company is responsible for 

ensuring all those new wind farms are connected 

to the Dutch electricity grid. Frank Wester is 

responsible for TenneT’s offshore wind energy 

infrastructure. “This is the best job one can have at 

TenneT. Right now so much is happening because 

of the energy transition. For years things at TenneT 

were like relatively calm seas, but now we are 

surfing the waves.” 

WHAT CHALLENGES DO ALL THOSE WIND FARMS 

POSE FOR TENNET? 

“Wind farm owners used to be responsible for the 

transport of the energy generated by their wind 

turbines to shore themselves. That task has been 

assigned to TenneT. So now wind farms connect to 

our offshore substations. The 66 kilovolts electricity 

produced by the wind turbines are transformed 

at the substation to 220 kV and then transported to 

shore by two export cables. 

For the new wind farms, TenneT and the Ministry 

of Economic Affairs and Climate looked into ways 

how to connect the wind farms as efficient and cost 

effective possible. By simplifying and standardizing 

the platform’s design we can bring down costs 

considerably. Up to 2023, five substations will be 

built using the same design, therefore they are 

easier to build and maintain, simply because they 

use the same components and such. The first two 

platforms, Borssele Alpha and Beta, are currently 

being built by HSM Offshore in Schiedam. The first 

of those will come online in the Borssele wind farm 

in August 2019. 

The challenge was to make the platforms as lean 

and mean as possible. We have not added a helicopter 

deck, and they are designed in such way that 

the platform can be entered from all sides on the 

outside. There is a passageway on the inside for 

when the weather is really bad, but it is very narrow. 

If everything had to be done from the inside, 

the platform would have to be much larger. With a 

weight of around 3,500 tons and dimensions of 20 

by 45 meters and 25 meters high, it is still large but 

now it’s a nice compact platform.” 

IS CONSTRUCTING A POWER GRID AT SEA VERY 

DIFFERENT FROM BUILDING ON LAND? 

“The technology for an offshore grid is mainly 

the same as on land, so the electrical components 

are basically the same. We do need cables with 

different armouring, because they are buried at the 

bottom of the sea and during construction more 

pulling force is exerted on them. But in general it’s 

the same proven technology. 

Offshore also has its advantages. The diameter of a 

220kV offshore export cable is about 25 centimetres. 

That’s the cable with three strands bundled in 

it, including the armouring. On land the cable reel 

for such cables would have to fit on a truck. Offshore, 

a much longer cable can be transported. 

A vessel could hold 35 kilometres of cable. 

What really adds a new dimension to us, is the 

need for remote monitoring. Already in the design 

phase we have to consider which activities we wish 

Example of a standardized substation 

to remotely perform and monitor, simply because 

accessibility is much more complicated. When something 

happens at an onshore station, somebody 

just drives up there, even at 1 AM. That’s a lot more 

difficult offshore. 

We installed two 350 megawatt cables for each 

wind farm. They are buried in the sandy sea floor. 

Those cables are designed for a maximum temperature 

of 90 degrees Celsius, and you don’t want 

to exceed this. When it gets too hot, the insulating 

material will start degrading. It won’t be damaged 

immediately, but it should be able to continue to 

perform well during its 25 year life span. 

The mantle contains fiberglass for communication 

purpose, but also for monitoring the temperature. 

This is done by injecting light laser pulses. From 

the reflections, caused by the changing resistance 

of the fiberglass, we can then measure the temperature. 

This enables us to determine and localise 

the precise temperature. This helps us to optimize 

the use of the cable. When the cable is relatively 

cool, more energy can be produced temporarily at 

the wind farm and transported through the cable. 

This means that when there are strong winds, the 

capacity can temporarily be higher, up to 380 MW.” 

>> 

6 2-2018 WindEnergy 


INTERVIEW 

THE IJMUIDEN VER AREA IS LARGER THAN THE ONES 

CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED: 4,000 MEGAWATTS 

INSTEAD OF 700 MEGAWATTS IN THE OTHER AREAS, 

AND IT IS LOCATED 100 KILOMETRES FROM THE 

COAST. DO MORE REMOTE WIND FARMS POSE A 

BIGGER TECHNICAL CHALLENGE? 

“Because it is further out at sea and a lot more 

electric power is involved, we have to switch from 

alternating current to direct current technology. 

Alternating current creates a lot of power loss in 

the cable, and those losses increase with the length 

of the cable. For that reason, and because of its 

size, IJmuiden Ver will be connected using direct 

current. 

Three more 700MW wind areas that have been 

designated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and 

Climate are located more closely to the coast. The 

wind farms to be built there can still be connected 

using alternating current, which we will be doing 

with three more standardized platforms. This provides 

us the time up to 2027 to further develop our 

concept for IJmuiden Ver. 

A larger wind area also allows you to think 

bigger. The offshore platforms have to be bigger 

to facilitate the conversion from alternating to 

direct current. This means the platform would 

have to be three times the size of the one we are 

currently using for alternating current. We have 

looked into the idea of constructing an island to 

see if that would be cheaper. An island allows for 

more flexibility and also the space to install, for 

example, power-to-gas installations, provided that 

development pushes through. You could also build 

living quarters for wind turbine technicians. You’re 

basically creating a near-shore environment. Everything 

could be built there instead of building it at 

shipyards and then shipping it out to sea.” 

AN ENTIRE ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NORTH 

SEA? HOW FEASIBLE ARE THOSE PLANS? 

“We are still performing a study to see what is really 

the smartest solution. There are also non-technical 

issues that need to be considered. The permits, 

the environmental studies, all those things need to 

be taken care of. And then add the time it takes to 

build the island. We estimate that in 2027 we could 

have the first wind energy running via the island. 

The government is also charmed by the idea, and 

we absolutely think this is a feasible solution. There’s 

already quite a power struggle going on over 

who gets to be mayor of the island!” 

RECENTLY THINGS GOT A LITTLE TENSE WHEN ON A 

CLOUDY, WINDLESS DAY NOT ENOUGH ELECTRICITY 

WAS BEING GENERATED TO SATISFY DEMAND. 

TENNET HAD TO INTERVENE BY QUICKLY IMPORT 

MORE ENERGY FROM ABROAD. WILL THE LARGER 

SHARE OF WIND ENERGY IN THE FUTURE MAKE IT 

EVEN HARDER TO GUARANTEE THE LIGHTS WILL 

ALWAYS STAY ON? 

“Energy producers have to inform TenneT how 

much they expect to generate. Based on weather 

forecasts they can predict this very well. We are 

responsible to ensure the right balance at the end 

but the market will need to determine how much 

they are likely to generate in upcoming days. When 

PV producers inform us they will be supplying 

1,000 megawatts and in the end they only come up 

with 800 megawatts, then they will be presented 

with a hefty bill for that lack of 200 megawatts. 

They are the first ones to have a problem. 

Things will become more dynamic, but the market 

will have to be ready and anticipate. The grid needs 

to retain a certain flexibility. Wind and solar are 

quite complementary. In the summer there often 

is less wind but more sunshine, and during winter 

time it’s the other way around. The energy sector 

will have to look into energy storage to mitigate 

those highs and lows. The backups could be plants, 

but also contracts with energy suppliers abroad, 

or batteries, of which a large one was opened last 

week in the north of Germany. Hydrogen is also 

looked into, as well as using batteries in electric 

cars. Those could also be used to mitigate peaks. 

The Netherlands already have quite a few existing 

connections with other countries, so we can get 

more power from abroad. But if there’s an unbalance, 

the energy suppliers will have to foot the bill.” 

CV 

Frank Wester is senior manager Asset 

Management Offshore. He is with TenneT 

since 2007. Before that he worked for KEMA 

in Arnhem and utility Nuon. 

Wester studied electrical engineering at 

Hogeschool InHolland and Delft University 

of Technology. In 2004 he got his Ph.D. on 

diagnostics of electric cables. 

DC cables for offshore wind farm alpha ventus, Germany. All photos courtesy of TenneT 



WindEnergy magazine is a quarterly trade magazine for professionals 

who are involved or interested in 

onshore and offshore wind energy 

developments in the Netherlands. 

Stay up-to-date with the latest on current 

and upcoming wind projects, tenders, subsidies, grid 

connections and innovations, and learn from Dutch 

manufacturers, developers and researchers. 

Interested? Request your free copy: 

www.windenergie-magazine.nl/abonneren 

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Energy 

magazine 

INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN WindEnergy magazine? 

Your media advisor Arjan Cornelisse will be happy to discuss advertising 

possibilities in print and online. a.cornelisse@archermedia.nl 

T: +31(0)6 10 62 85 64 or +31(0) 88 6440 623 

WWW.WINDENERGIE-MAGAZINE.NL 

HOW MUCH 

WIND POWER 

DO WE NEED? 

GEERT BOSCH, 

Director Bosch & Van Rijn 

column 

In this WindEnergy magazine special WindDays 2018 edition I will 

address the question: how much wind power does the Netherlands need 

in 2030 and after? The Dutch government formulated very ambitious 

climate goals: 49% less greenhouse emissions in 2030. A reduction of 

56 million tons of CO 2 

. This will be achieved by closing coal power plants 

(12 Mton), CCS (18 Mton), ending gas heating and electric driving. 

In the last century the Dutch concluded the famous Deltawerken 

by strengthening our dikes, closing off estuaries and empoldering 

agricultural lands. The energy transition poses an even bigger challenge: 

it will take major investments and radically change the economy and 

affect every company, family and citizen. 

What does wind power have to offer? First and foremost: it prevents 

CO 2 

emissions. Closing a coal fired power plant and replacing it by wind 

turbines reduces 5,000 to 7,000 tonnes of CO 2 

per turbine. 200 turbines 

is 1 Mton. Secondly, wind power is cheap, 5 to 7 Eurocents per kWh and 

decreasing. Many times cheaper than CCS or electricity generated by 

coal or gas power plants. Especially when you take the negative impact 

of fossil fuels into account, such as climate change and earth quakes in 

Groningen. Being cheap and clean, wind power is the workhorse of the 

future energy supply. 

This will even be truer, when storage of electricity in hydrogen or 

batteries improves. Wind can deliver the lion’s share of CO 2 

reduction. 

Doubling the current onshore capacity to 9,000 Megawatts will reduce 

15 Mton CO 2 

. Offshore can deliver an even amount of reduction, so 

together wind can deliver more than half of the reduction target for 

2030! 

The energy transition has far-reaching local consequences: in 

the landscape, in people’s living environment and therefore in 

municipalities. Together with provinces and social partners 

municipalities are working on regional climate plans: energy saving, 

residential areas without gas, heat pumps and electric driving. The social 

debate is gaining momentum. How can we generate renewable energy 

in the region and how can we store this energy? Who’s going to pay and 

how are we to make sure the bill gets equally split? Will we accept the 

significant changes wind and solar power will cause in our landscape? 

Which are the best (or least bad) spots? How do we alleviate nuisance 

for people and animals? Drafting and executing regional plans gives 

the energy transition practical meaning. To heat 10,000 houses with 

heat pumps, 2 wind turbines or 12 hectares of solar panels are needed. 

Driving 25,000 kilometres with 3,000 electric vehicles asks for another 

two turbines. 

So, back to the question we started with. How much wind power do we 

need? Much depends on the choices we make: can we considerably save 

on energy consumption? Will we say goodbye to gas? Is CCS desirable 

and affordable? Are we prepared to hand in a little bit of horizon, 

so the citizens of Groningen can live in safety? We and our political 

representatives at provinces and municipalities, in Brussels and The 

Hague, have some important decisions to make. I am convinced that 

wind power will play a crucial role in any future energy system. The 

wind power community, governments and social partners are inspired 

to work together to make this happen. As a visitor of the WindDays you 

will also participate and I’m sure the conference and exhibition we put 

together to help you gain knowledge and inspiration to do so! 


INTERVIEW 

COOPERATIVES DELTAWIND & ZEEUWIND: 

JOINING FORCES 

IN THE LARGEST 

CITIZEN’S INITIATIVE 

A unique wind farm is emerging around the Krammersluizen, with 34 wind turbines that 

have a total capacity of 102 megawatts. The initiators of this wind farm in and around the 

Krammersluizen are in fact the 4,800 members of the Zeeuwind and Deltawind cooperatives, 

making Windpark Krammer the largest citizens’ initiative of the Netherlands. Construction 

began in January 2017, and the wind farm should be operational next year. 

ERIK VAN HUIZEN 

21 of the 34 wind turbines are already in position 

at Windpark Krammer, with a height of 125 meter 

and with 56 meter long rotor blades that weigh 26 

tonnes. The turbine’s weight, including tower and 

foundation, equals 4,381 tonnes. Approximately 

3,000 employees will work on the wind farm in the 

forthcoming period, an average of 200 people per 

day and 650 unique individuals each week. The 

ascending tower cranes are also striking features. 

There are only four of these cranes in Europe, three 

of these are presently used for constructing this 

wind farm. 95% of the wind farm’s power is sold 

to four multinationals, namely Google, AkzoNobel, 

DSM, and Philips, without intervention from an 

energy company. As Windpark Krammer is a citizens’ 

initiative, the consumer in this case supplies 

the industry. 

DELTAWIND COOPERATIVE 

As a local cooperative, Deltawind also owns, alongside 

its share in Windpark Krammer, a total of 22 

MW of installed wind capacity and a 0.85 MW solar 

farm. The cooperative currently has 2,500 members, 

all of them are inhabitants of the island. With 

wind farms Battenoert (40 million kWh per year) 

and Piet de Wit (43 million kWh per year), Deltawind 

is now already producing more than the electricity 

consumption of all the Goeree-Overflakkee 

households combined. Deltawind expects to build 

another 9 MW on the island in the years to come. 

This will bring the total for Goeree-Overflakkee, 

which Deltawind is focusing on, to a capacity of 

225 MW. ‘We have completed this’, explains Deltawind 

Director Monique Sweep. ‘We will now target 

other parts of energy transition, such as collective 

solar roofs for private individuals. We will also be 

examining other forms of energy such as hydrogen 

and methane from seaweed, and storing energy at 

the Krammersluizen.’ 

ZEEUWIND 

Citizens’ cooperative Zeeuwind will also focus 

on storing energy. Zeeuwind has been around for 

some 30 years, and back in the days we started 

with three wind turbines. The cooperative counts 

2,300 members, mainly private individuals. All of 

the 13 municipalities in Zeeland are members too, 

as well as several companies, associations, and 

foundations. The cooperative owns multiple wind 

farms, with a total capacity of 20 MW. Zeeuwind 

in the following years expects to double the total 

capacity with new projects and scaleups. An old 

turbine of one of the wind farms was replaced by a 

new one at the beginning of this year. This 2.3 MW 

turbine is expected to annually produce 3.9 million 

kWh. Zeeuwind also finances 25% of Windpark 

Bouwdokken, which is built on the dams of the 

former Bouwdokhavens on the Neeltje Jans production 

platform. These seven turbines have a capacity 

of 4.2 MW each, and have since early 2018 onwards 

jointly generated 112.5 million kWh of electricity 

per year. 

TWENTY-YEAR OLD PLAN 

Deltawind and Zeeuwind have already collaborated 

on a smaller scale, but the project on the Krammersluizen 

came into view in 2008. The cooperatives 

now together have 51% of the shares in Windpark 

Krammer. The remaining 49% is owned by turbine 

builder Enercon. The idea for the wind farm originated 

over two decades ago. According to Marten 

Wiersma, Chairman of the Zeeuwind supervisory 

board, the fact that it did not materialise back then 

is because the Rijkswaterstaat (Department of Waterways 

and Public Works), the owner of the land 

in those days, thought it was ‘a scary idea’ to build 

on top of a primary flood defence. ‘The wind turbines 

back then also had a capacity that was far too 

low, which made the grid connection far too costly. 

>> 

Windpark Krammer, photo by Erik van huizen 



INTERVIEW 

With the current scaleup and the turbines delivering 

more capacity, it can now be realised. So one of 

the most important innovations of this farm is that 

we are now building on a primary flood defence. 

This was a pilot project for Rijkswaterstaat. We had 

to demonstrate that the flood defence would not 

be affected. We have consequently created a basis, 

which in future might possibly open doors to other 

projects.’ 

Turbine installation at 

Windpark Krammer, 

photo by J.J. de Wit 

The fact that most of the generated power goes to 

the four multinationals was a conscious decision. 

The supplied capacity may indeed soon suffice for 

100,000 households, but as the members of the 

cooperatives do not purchase a lot of energy, these 

enterprises were important for completing the 

business case. 

IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY 

The technology of wind turbines is still improving 

every day, along with their efficiency. Both cooperatives 

also noticed this at Windpark Krammer. ‘The 

turbines that we had ordered from Enercon for 

Windpark Krammer have in the meantime already 

been improved’, adds Wiersma. ‘The technology 

has improved to such an extent that they generate 

even more power. This often only concerns several 

percent, but when you generate a lot of energy, this 

soon adds up quite nicely. The blades, for instance, 

now fit seamlessly onto the housing, so that they 

catch a lot more wind. In the early days, we were 

content if a turbine managed 1,900 running hours 

annually, this number now often exceeds 3,000. 

The turbines are now also full of sensors, so everything 

can be remotely monitored. This allows for 

improved maintenance and less frequent turbine 

shutdowns.’ 

EMOTIONAL 

Sweep certainly noticed that the new wind farm 

is larger than other farms by the resistance it 

caused. ‘For nearly thirty years, we were able to 

just proceed with the smaller projects, but now we 

did meet some opposition. The opponents often 

express emotional arguments, rather than rational 

ones. The main argument is that wind turbines 

are unattractive and disrupt the landscape. We 

certainly understand these feelings, but there is not 

a lot we can do about this. You also frequently hear 

that the land owner makes a lot of money on the 

farm. This involves jealousy, another aspect that a 

developer cannot really do much about as the market 

determines the price of the land. You also hear 

people complaining about the lights of the wind 

turbines. This light is mandatory for heights over 

150 metres, and we understand that it is pity when 

the countryside is no longer dark. We can do something 

about this though, and we will gladly address 

this aspect. We are therefore carrying out a pilot 

with lighting that works on radar. This involves the 

lights switching on only when something moves.’ 

A wind fund was established to meet the needs of 

the three surrounding municipalities and inhabitants 

within 2.5 kilometres around the wind farm, 

which is good for the annual distribution of EUR 

150,000. Citizens in this case receive a discount on 

the energy bill for green power. One village asked 

for the money in one single payment. This money 

has now been used for installing solar panels on 

186 residences in the village, more than 80% of all 

of the houses. 

BOND LOAN 

Although the financing was already lined up, the 

cooperatives via Windpark Krammer wanted to 

realise participatory opportunities for members 

and for the near surroundings. A bond loan was 

hence issued. According to Sweep, citizens have different 

reasons for participating in the cooperatives’ 

wind farms. ‘It is partially about people wanting to 

do something in energy transition, though another 

important reason is the good interest rate of 6% 

that we give on the bond loan issued for Windpark 

Krammer.’ The bond loan was supervised by the 

Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets 

(AFM), which was a novelty for the cooperatives. 

There was a strong interest in the loan, which was 

substantially overwritten by 232%. 

ECOLOGY 

Another challenge in constructing the Windpark 

Krammer was the fact that the farm is located 

amidst Natura 2000 areas. The movements of birds 

in the area was therefore already considered in 

both the farm’s design and the positioning of the 

wind turbines. ‘We have furthermore taken ample 

measures, including additional ones,’ adds Sweep. 

‘We created a swallow bank, and the turbines are 

provided with bird and bat detectors. The wind 

turbines are hereby halted when bats are active or 

when birds are nearby. Anything so as to cause the 

least damage to nature.’ 

When asked if the two cooperatives also want to 

start developing wind farms at sea, both Sweep and 

Wiersma answer in the negative. ‘We never had the 

intention to build at sea’, states Wiersma. ‘We are 

developers of projects that would otherwise never 

be launched. We are not needed at sea.’ 



INTERVIEW 

OLOF VAN DER GAAG, 

DIRECTOR NVDE 

No more room for procrastination: The Netherlands needs to switch to a more sustainable 

energy system as quickly as possible. A Climate Agreement on how this should be achieved, 

is currently being negotiated. “Everyone understands something should be done — now.” 

JAAP MEIJERS 

WTIV Aeolus on its way to Gemini Offshore Wind 

Farm, photo: Gemini 

Photo by Milan Vermeulen 

Sustainable energy has been a topic of debate in 

this country for decades, without really achieving 

all that much. The first attempt to actually make a 

change, was the National Energy Agreement (‘Energieakkoord’) 

in 2013. Government, companies and 

environmental organisations agreed to increase the 

renewable energy share to 14 percent in 2020 and 

reduce power consumption by 100 petajoules. 

In early March negotiations for a new climate 

agreement (“Klimaatakkoord”) started. It won’t 

contain targets for a larger share of renewable 

energy, nor for energy saving. The idea is mainly to 

delineate how to bring carbon emissions down by 

49 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 emissions. 

The negotiations are quite a complicated process. 

Five sector bodies are created, each representing 

an industry sector, being electricity, built environment, 

mobility, industry and agriculture and land 

use. But there are also at least fifty sub-bodies and 

sub-sub-bodies plus an overarching climate board, 

headed by Ed Nijpels. 

The companies that are involved in making our 

energy system more sustainable are represented 

by the Dutch Renewable Energy Foundation 

(NVDE). Over a thousand companies have joined 

the NVDE to work toward 100% renewable energy. 

Among its members are companies in the electricity 

sector such as Eneco, Siemens, transmission 

system operator TenneT, Tesla and fast charge 

network Fastned, but also heating companies such 

as suppliers of biomass boilers. NVDE director Olof 

van der Gaag will be seated at many of the different 

‘table’ discussions. 

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE 

KLIMAATAKKOORD? ARE WE STILL IN TIME? 

“There are two sides really. Climate change can no 

longer be relegated to our grandchildren’s generation. 

It’s here now and it is our responsibility. 

Heavy rainfall and flooding occur more frequently. 

We should have been doing this twenty years 

earlier, because now we have to force an unnatural 

rate of change. Take for instance natural 

gas-free houses. Until last year, it was 

normal procedure to annually add 50 to 

60 thousand houses that are connected 

to natural gas. This means we would now 

start to get houses off natural gas at a rate 

of a thousand houses each day up to 2050. 

It would have been very nice if those numbers 

weren’t quite as high. 

But then again, there’s more support than 

ever for really doing something about it. 

Increasing the share of renewable energy 

from 4 percent to 16 percent in just ten 

years isn’t enough by a long shot, but at 

least something is happening. The fact 

that, as a result of the Energieakkoord, 

five coal plants were shut down and replaced by 

wind farms, is really showing in the statistics. If 

we actually manage to cut our carbon emissions by 

half by 2030, then it is another step forward. Yet it 

is still a long time away. Last year carbon emissions 

increased again and another five coal plants remain 

operational. Those should be shut down within the 

next ten years.” 

IS THE SENSE OF URGENCY SHARED BY THE 

GOVERNMENT AND OTHER PARTIES IN THE 

KLIMAATAKKOORD? 

“The mood has really changed from what it was 

ten years ago. Back then nobody really cared, and 

now everyone is aware something should be done 

now. It will get more tense though, I think, once the 

bill is presented. We’ll get to that phase in a week 

or two. Even if the costs for many solutions are 

coming down, on average it’s still more expensive 

to switch to renewable energy instead of just continue 

burning fossil fuels. Opinions differ, of course, 

on how those expenditures should be distributed. 

The minister for Economic Affairs and Climate, Eric 

Wiebes, has told each sector how many megatons 

carbon dioxide they should reduce. The industry 

in principle is fine with everything as long as it is 

subsidized by the government. However, the government 

thinks ‘we have to be able to explain this to 

the tax payer, so they should pay for it themselves’. 

And it’s a couple of billion Euros a year, not something 

one can spirit away.” 

THE NETHERLANDS ISN’T QUITE THE IDEAL PLACE 

FOR ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF ENERGY. THERE ARE NO 

RESERVOIRS, AND IN WINTER SOLAR PANELS ARE 

NOT OF MUCH USE. IS OFFSHORE WIND THE ONLY 

REAL OPTION FOR OUR COUNTRY TO GENERATE 

RENEWABLE ENERGY? 

“On the score of wind power at sea, the Energieakkoord 

has caused quite a breakthrough. Many new 

wind turbines are being added, even without subsidies. 

The Netherlands wasn’t given all that many 

gifts by Mother Earth, but the North Sea sure is one 

of them. The sea floor is very shallow, so it’s easy to 

drive in piles, and the winds are quite strong. >> 



INTERVIEW 

WINDDAYS 2018 

I notice a lot of enthusiasm to continue that flagship 

of the Energieakkoord, many parties are in 

favour. To large utilities offshore wind farms are 

a comfortable scale of thinking, because they are 

large, centralized projects which power a million 

households in one go. Some parts of the energy 

transition are a challenge for the old economy, all 

that mucking about with decentralized citizens 

who generate power themselves, but wind at sea 

still fits the large scale logic of the old energy 

supply.” 

IF WE HAVE TO GET OFF FOSSIL FUELS THAT FAST, 

SHOULDN’T WE BUILD OFFSHORE WIND FARMS 

MORE QUICKLY AND ALSO MUCH LARGER? 

“The Government wants wind power to increase by 

1 gigawatts per year. For the Netherlands, that’s an 

unprecedented revolution. There is even discussion 

whether we can do even more. I do think there’s 

room for more, 2 gigawatts per year would be possible 

too if you ask me. But I don’t think the wind 

farm areas should be larger. A 700 megawatt area 

for instance already involves an investment of a 

couple of billion Euros. Suppose we start making 5 

gigawatt lots, then you may be talking about twenty 

billion. If you consider the companies that can 

handle that level of investments, then maybe the 

only competitors will be Shell, Shell or Shell. That’s 

not much of a competition. I think it is important 

that even smaller companies can fully participate.” 

IS A MIX OF ONLY RENEWABLE ENERGY POSSIBLE, 

ONE THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE FOSSIL FUEL PLANTS 

AS BACKUP AT ALL? 

“The goal of our organization is 100 percent 

renewable energy, not just for electricity but also 

heating and transport. I think that’s achievable. 

Electricity is the easiest part, because wind and 

solar already get us quite far. The only thing that 

will still have to be taken care of is peak power, to 

have a backup which can be activated at the press 

of a button. In the short term this can only be 

achieved sustainably by biomass, but that has its 

downsides. For now peak power will have to come 

from gas plants. Coal plants have to go, obviously. 

Gas plants are also easier to switch on than coal 

plants. It takes a coal power plant at least four 

hours to really get fired up, while a gas plant works 

just like your burner at home: light it and it works. 

Batteries are even faster. Tesla just built a backup 

facility in Australia using batteries. I expect we’ll 

see that here too.” 

BUT THE TALKING AND CONSULTING AT ALL THESE 

TABLES, DO WE REALLY HAVE TIME FOR ALL THAT? 

SHOULDN’T WE JUST ACT NOW IF WE ARE TO 

ACHIEVE THOSE TARGETS? 

“By nature I am not terribly patient myself, but this 

kind of societal transformation cannot be forced on 

a country. That’s not how the Netherlands works. 

It’s one thing to say ‘do something instead of talking’, 

but really, what then? We don’t have a Great 

Beloved Leader who can make all decisions, and 

that’s for the best. Jan Rotmans for instance [professor 

in sustainability and transitions] often says 

things like that, by which he means ‘you should do 

what I want’. But he is not our Kim Jong-un. We all 

have to agree on this. 

We started in March, and the last meeting is on July 

6. It really is an unprecedented change, halving 

carbon emissions in the Netherlands with a price 

tag of about four billion per year. If an agreement 

can be reached on that within four months, I think 

Ed Nijpels and Eric Wiebes can be quite pleased.” 

CV 

Olof van der Gaag is director of the Dutch Renewable 

Energy Foundation (NVDE), which 

unites over a thousand companies in the goal 

to achieve 100% renewable energy. Before 

2016 Van der Gaag was head of campaigns 

for environmental NGO Natuur en Milieu. 

Between 1998 and 2007 he was political 

adviser to the Dutch green party’s fraction 

in parliament. Van der Gaag studied cultural 

anthropology. 

TECHNICIANS NEEDED 

“The Netherlands will have to start cherishing 

their technicians. Certainly at the level of 

vocational education a lot more technicians 

are needed, and we are not seeing more influx 

at all. That could turn out to be one of the 

biggest hurdles in the energy transition. 

We need to show young people that a technical 

profession is very interesting and 

rewarding. Engineering talents tell me that 

new forms of energy to them are a lot more 

exciting and challenging. Drilling pipes into 

the ground is complex as well, but we have 

been doing that for ages, while here a lot of 

new problems need to be solved.” 


13 & 14 JUNE 

WTC ROTTERDAM 



interview 


WindDays 2018 is the place to be if you wish to position yourself in the wind energy. ‘You receive 

inside information about everything that is going on in this field. From the latest scientific 

developments and information on technical innovations in the area of, for example, turbines, 

foundations, the installation process and by now also on the decommissioning of the first 

generations of wind turbines,” says Anouk Stortenbeker, communications manager at TKI (Top 

Consortia Knowledge and Innovation). TKI was set up under the auspices of the Energy Top Sector. 

ANTOON OOSTING 

LEARN ABOUT 

THE LATEST 

DEVELOPMENTS IN 

THE WIND INDUSTRY 

Together with Erik van Diest, communications 

and events employee at the Dutch Wind Energy 

Association (NWEA), she is responsible for the 

conference programme at this two-day event. What 

started in 2007 as a one-day conference for the 

members of the NWEA only, has now grown into a 

busy two-day event with some thirty two sessions 

in which experts and market parties exchange the 

most up-to-date knowledge with visitors from 

home and abroad. 

The growth of the event is thereby in line with 

the development of the wind energy sector in the 

Netherlands. Actually, it is growing so fast that the 

sector is now starting to be seriously concerned 

about the expected labour shortage in the sector. 

“The current 10,000 workplaces in the wind industry 

are expected to potentially grow to 20,000 by 

2020, increasing to 50,000 by 2050,” says Stortenbeker. 

And these only concern the direct jobs, the 

indirect jobs have not even been included. 

Stortenbeker: “These will be filled by both practically 

and theoretically trained people who often 

still have to get trained for this. This is quite a 

challenge, but it also offers positive news for those 

employees who have seen their jobs in the offshore 

oil and gas sector disappear in recent years. 

“It is expected that they will need relatively little 

training to start working in the wind sector,” says 

Stortenbeker. 

After an initially rather slow start, the sector is 

now going through a considerable acceleration. 

Danish energy company Ørsted is busy preparing 

for the construction of the Borssele I and II wind 

farms, which will commence at the end of 2019. In 

December 2016, a consortium of Shell, Eneco, Van 

Oord and Mitsubishi won the tender for Borssele 

II and IV. On Friday, 6 April, Minister Wiebes for 

Economic Affairs and Climate announced that Two 

Towers B.V., a company owned by Van Oord Renewable 

Finance, Investri Offshore and Green Giraffe 

Holding, is the winner of the tender Borssele Innovatiekavel 

V. Two experimental wind turbines will 

be realised in this tender. 

Stortenbeker: “As TKI Wind at Sea, we find this very 

important. Wind farms involve enormous investments 

where investors are looking to keep their 

risks to a minimum. Continuous innovations are 

of great importance in order to increase efficiency. 

However, in order to keep the risks manageable, it 

is very important to be able to test and prove them 

before applying them. In this respect, TKI Wind op 

Zee would also like to see innovation plots included 

in the permits for future wind farm sites off the 

coast of Holland. 

In the meantime, lots I and II of the wind farm Hollandse 

Kust Zuid (740 MW) have also been granted 

(to Chinook, subsidiary of Nuon/Vattenfall) and 

Hollandse Kust Noord, lot V (700 MW) will follow 

next year. The concession for the Hollandse Kust 

West (1,400 MW) is scheduled to be issued in 2021. 

“The growth of offshore wind makes it that we 

need to go into serious talks with all other users of 

the North Sea. Stortenbeker: “How can the different 

roles mutually enforce each other. For example, a 

start has been made on pilot projects for innovative 

oyster beds within the boundaries of offshore wind 

farms. The wind energy sector is seeking those 

types of cooperation. 

DISCUSSING THE FUTURE GRID 

All these aspects of the realisation of offshore wind 

farms are discussed in no less than 32 sessions 

spread over the two-day WindDays event. The 

issues of integrating and distributing wind energy 

in the national grids, for example, are high on 

the agenda. After all, how do you get the energy 

generated at sea to the customer in the hinterland? 

“How do we bring the generation of the electricity 

and the consumption together in a network. This 

will be a major challenge for the future. Solutions 

to these kind of problems will be discussed at the 

conference,” says Erik van Diest. I am sure that we 

will also discuss the European Commission’s plan 

to develop a grid for all the wind farms to be built 

in the North Sea. By interconnecting them, the electricity 

can be better distributed across the North 

Sea countries and parts of the country where it is 

needed at that moment. 

>> 



interview 

But perhaps another much better solution would 

be not to transport the energy generated at sea to 

the mainland, but to convert it into clean hydrogen 

at sea. For this purpose, old drilling rigs for 

pumping up oil and gas could perhaps fulfil a new 

role. Or perhaps it will require a new island on the 

Dogger Bank for which network manager TenneT 

has developed a plan. 

OFFSHORE WILL BE SURPASSING ONSHORE 

Wind energy at sea is actually still a very young 

technology, so there are still many areas for improvement. 

And this is necessary, because offshore 

wind is simply becoming a very big player, Erik 

van Diest observes. We currently have 4.2 MW of 

installed onshore capacity and 957 MW offshore. 

From 2020 onwards, 700 MW will be added annually 

offshore and from 2023, another 1 GW per 

year will be added. Ultimately, it will have a greater 

capacity than onshore wind. This growth in wind 

energy must ensure that the Netherlands reduces 

its greenhouse gas emissions of CO 2 

by 49% by 

2030. 

While the sector grows, so are the WindDays. Van 

Diest: “This year we have sixty exhibitors and we 

expect 2,500 visitors. In 2016, there were 2,000. As 

the sector grows, so does the competition. According 

to Van Diest, the programme for the WindDays 

has been set up ‘for and by’ the industry. And this 

industry is quite large in the Netherlands. When 

it comes to turbine manufacturers we currently 

only have one, Lagerweij, but the Dutch industry is 

big in the supply, maintenance and application of 

measuring equipment. And in the installation work 

Dutch companies such as Van Oord, Boskalis, Seaway 

Heavy Lifting and Heerema Marine contractors 

(HMC) are even very large. “All turbine manufacturers 

are there,” Van Diest assures us; “In addition, 

we have a great many SME’s, from software 

developers, to project managers in maintenance, 

safety, monitoring and adjustment. Van Diest: “New 

this year is a Startup-Zone in which five startups 

will be able to present themselves to the sector. 

One of them has a vertical turbine that causes less 

nuisance and a number of small ones that are still 

completely new. 

In recent years, offshore wind energy has rapidly 

become cheaper. “This offers opportunities for 

upscaling. However, this is something for which 

we are dependent on the scope that the government 

provides us. We, as a sector, can in any case 

offer more projects if the space is made available,” 

says Van Diest. The sector is not dissatisfied with 

the government’s cooperation. Van Diest: “The 

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate has now 

considerably expanded its offshore wind team in 

order to be able to roll out wind at sea further in 

the coming years. It may take a little more time to 

carefully go through all the procedures. But as a 

sector we are not dissatisfied with the progress. 

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22 2-2018 WindEnergy

EUROPEAN MARKET OUTLOOK 


GILES DICKSON, 

CEO WINDEUROPE 

‘STABILIZING 

REVENUE FROM 

WIND IS ESSENTIAL’ 

The Netherlands and other countries must resist the temptation to invest only in the most sexy 

innovative technologies for wind energy, according to Giles Dickson, ceo of WindEurope, who will 

be one of the speakers at this year’s Dutch WindDays. There is still a lot of scope for enhancing 

existing technologies, which is just as important. 

CHRISTIAN JONGENEEL 

energy development. Governments are moving 

from subsidies to auctions to drive down costs. 

Recently we have seen auctions where no subsidy 

was required at all. That was certainly spectacular, 

but it is important to note that zero cannot be the 

norm. Only some developers in some countries 

can afford this, specifically in Germany and The 

Netherlands, because of their low capital costs and 

stable regulation.’ 

In other words, government spending on wind 

energy infrastructure is not about to dwindle 

down. It will lower by itself, in any case, because a 

lot of money still goes to older facilities, that required 

higher subsidies. When these are phased out 

the effective subsidy per GW naturally diminishes. 

Actually, WindEurope’s annual report already 

shows this trend of lowering costs. Although 2017 

was a record breaking year for investments that 

were announced in terms of capacity for future 

projects (11.5 GW) the total investment was 

19% lower than in the previous year, 

when 10.3 GW reached its final investment 

decision. Striking, too, was the 

60% drop in investments in offshore 

wind, which had been rising for five 

years in a row. In contrast, onshore 

wind rebounded from a slowdown 

the year before. 

installing ever larger facilities in the North Sea, 

moreover, sparks the imagination. ‘We certainly 

will need even larger turbines that can cope 

with higher wind speeds’, Dickson acknowledges. 

‘Floating offshore wind farms are an interesting 

development, and everything that has to do with 

storage deserves attention. However, we must resist 

the temptation to invest only in the most sexy 

Wind energy will remain the 

dominant sustainable power 

source of the future 

innovative technologies for wind energy. There is 

a lot of existing technology that deserves attention, 

such as better components for wind turbines, 

which should lead to lower maintenance cost.’ 

Even with these caveats the prospects 

for wind energy are sunny. As 

governments realise that 

wind turbines are cheaper 

than for instance pv installations, 

wind energy 

will remain the dominant 

sustainable power 

source of the future. 

The installed base of wind energy is growing at an 

unprecedented pace in Europe. By 2030 it is expected 

to have surpassed gas powered plants as the 

major source of electricity, supplying up to a quarter 

of demand. So, there is reason to be optimistic 

about the sector. At the same time it is important 

not to get carried away by the thrills of success. 

There is still a lot of work to do – and nothing will 

happen by itself. 

‘A binding EU wide target is on its way’, Giles Dickson 

says. ‘This will force countries to articulate their 

plans. It really is a key moment. Some countries are 

underperforming. Eleven countries don’t invest at 

all, even though the potential is huge.’ 

We must resist the temptation 

to invest only in the most sexy 

innovative technologies for 

wind energy 

adjusting demand to production will be more and 

more common. Still, response capacity will need 

to rise from 20 GW nowadays to 100 GW in 2030, 

Dickson reckons. 

According to WindEurope’s report 

on 2017 a record of 15.6 GW in new 

wind power installations came into 

operation in that year. This brings the 

installed base to 168.7 GW, almost one 

third of which is Germany’s. Although 

it is not among the eleven laggards, The 

Netherlands are not a front runner when it 

comes to wind energy. The country only contributed 

0.5% of European capacity growth in 2017. 

Cumulative it is 2.5%, putting The Netherlands in 

the tenth position of total installed capacity. When 

relating generating capacity to power consumption 

The Netherlands drops one place, leaving it below 

the European average. Denmark tops that scale 

with 44.4% of annual electricity demand covered 

by wind. 

INNOVATION 

‘People, especially in The Netherlands, 

are inclined to look mainly at 

offshore wind for growth’, Dickson 

comments. ‘However, most growth is 

onshore and this will remain so. Witness 

for instance the recent commitments Akzo, 

Philips and Google amongst others made in The 

Netherlands to onshore wind for powering 

their operations.’ 

Nevertheless, a focus on offshore wind 

is understandable in a country with 

a high population density, resulting 

in frequent protests against new 

projects. The challenges of 

This matters, because capacity and distribution 

play an important role in integrating wind energy 

into the grid. Locally, the availability of wind 

energy may be volatile, but there’s always wind 

somewhere. With trading capacity moving closer 

to the time of production – up to fifteen minutes – 

COSTS 

One of the factors that needs to be addressed in 

order to sustain growth is to offer a steady 

financial outlook to investors, Dickson says: 

‘It is absolutely essential to stabilize 

revenue from wind 

Photo by WindEurope / Bickley 



CONFERENCE PROGRAMME WINDDAYS 2018 

go to www.winddays.nl for the most up-to-date programme 



Floorplan WINDDAYS 2018 



STARTUPS IN WIND WINDDAYS 2018 

The Netherlands is known for its innovative and explorative business culture. Many technological advances have 

originated in the Netherlands or from Dutch inventors. This is also the case for the wind industry. Manufacturing, 

installation and maintenance techniques, amongst others, have improved rapidly over the years and will do so in 

the years to come. While many of these improvements are announced by the larger, well-known players, behind 

the scene, there are also many small players working very hard on their innovative concept or service offering. 

The WindDays event has provided startups a platform to introduce their services or product to a wider audience. 

WindEnergy magazine spoke to 5 startups that will be exhibiting at WindDays. 

TULYP WIND 

Tulyp Wind is a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) that can provide 

a boost to onshore wind. Developer of the turbine is Arkom 

Windpower. Eric Pieterse, Project Manager 

VERITEQ 

VeriteQ is a specialist in Power Quality. So far they 

haven’t worked for the wind energy industry, but 

that should change. ‘We can find fault causes that 

others do not see’, says Jan Verploegen of VeriteQ. 

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO OFFER TO THE WIND 

INDUSTRY? 

‘VeriteQ is a specialist in the field of PQ (Power 

Quality) - fault analysis. With our experience and 

our PQ failure analyzers we can find PQ failure 

causes that others do not ‘see’. The dynamics in 

the electricity grid will become much bigger in 

the coming period. Coal-fired or a gas-fired power 

stations use more or less the same generators and 

deliver stable energy production. Wind turbines 

and solar collectors work in a very different way. It 

is all becoming more complex. If it gets cloudy or 

the wind drops, the energy production suddenly 

decreases. There’s a lot happening on the grid. 

Sometimes failures are only short-lived, and with 

wrong analyzers and lack of in-depth knowledge 

you miss them. We use PQanalyzers from Outram 

research. They already have a lot of experience 

with the use of these analyzers in offshore wind. 

Knowledge is also very important, a malfunction 

can be short-lived, but exists still latent on the net. 

A wind turbine fault is shown. The malfunction had already 

occurred several times, resulting in production loss. With the PQ 

failure analysis it was possible to determine what the cause was 

and how to 

solve this. 

WHAT MAKES YOUR COMPANY DIFFERENT FROM 

OTHER COMPANIES? 

VeriteQ focuses on PQ failure analysis only, while 

larger companies aren’t that specialized. Outram 

research, the company we do business with, is 

already working in PQ since 1980, so we have very 

competent support. 

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR THE DUTCH 

WIND SECTOR? 

Professor Cobben of the Eindhoven University of 

Technology told that PQ disturbances will increase 

due to the increase in alternative energies. 

DOES YOUR OFFER LOWER THE KWH PRICE OF WIND 

ENERGY? 

That is hard to say. Having to stop a wind turbine 

due to faults is of course very expensive. We help 

resolving or preventing malfunctions. Politician Ed 

Nijpels has said that there will be a rabbit pulled 

out of the hat in terms of the costs of climate 

measures. The question remains whether the KWh 

price will go down. 

IN FIVE YEARS, WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A COMPANY? 

We have been active for 8 years now, and we are 

slowly improving. I am convinced that PQ will become 

an increasingly important issue and therefor 

work will grow. 

CAN YOU SPECIFY YOUR INNOVATION? 

A vertical axis wind turbine that is more suitable 

for the built environment. It produces less noise, 

is less high and has a smaller risk contour, about 

a quarter of a standard onshore wind turbine. 

This means that the Tulyp Wind turbine is allowed 

to be installed in closer proximity of houses 

and buildings. It can be better integrated into the 

landscape, in port, industrial and urban areas. The 

turbine has fixed blades that do not rotate, therefor 

minimizing the risk of damage. This means less and 

cheaper maintenance. 

WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE OVER LARGER ONSHORE 

TURBINES? 

If you want to use a large wind turbine, please do 

so, but many projects fail because the wind turbine 

cannot be fitted in the environment. Considering 

our turbine produces enough electricity to power 

at least 200 households, this is better than no 

turbine at al. By comparison, you would need an 

area the size of a football field full of solar panels to 

produce the equivalent of a Tulyp Wind turbine. 


WIND SECTOR? 

Improving acceptance for wind energy on land. 

The industry is focussing on offshore wind and 

that’s fine, but it is also important to proceed with 

onshore wind. The Tulyps could play an important 

role in making large infrastructure projects, such 

as tunnels or the Afsluitdijk, more sustainable. 

IN FIVE YEARS, WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A 

COMPANY? 

We will have succeeded and the Tulyp is manufactured 

on large scale. We will be working on 

new applications, for example floating turbines or 

turbines that can be fitted on vessels. We will also 

be producing different sizes of the Tulyp, a smaller, 

backyard-sized version and a larger version of 80 

meters that produces 1 MW. 

www.tulypwind.com 

DOES THE TULYP EFFECT THE KWH PRICE OF WIND 

ENERGY? 

That is hard to say. The Tulyp makes it possible to 

install a wind turbine in areas where normal sized 

onshore turbines are not allowed. We calculated 

that the Tulyp costs 5 to 7 cents per produced 

KWh. This is cheaper than Dutch solar energy, so it 

is a good addition to the sustainable energy mix. 

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 

• 300kW direct drive generator 

• Aerodynamic tulip-shaped foils 

• Hub height: 30m 

• Tip height: 60m 

• Blade span: 28m 



STARTUPS IN WIND WINDDAYS 2018 

CIRCULAR ENERGY 

QLAYERS 

Circular Energy plans to build an offshore installation that 

produces electricity directly from a gas field and supplies it 

via the electricity network at sea, where it can absorb the 

fluctuations in the production of wind energy. The CO 2 

that is 

released, is captured and stored in the gas field. Arnold Groot, 

CEO of Circular Energy: 

CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOUR TECHNOLOGY? 

We intend to supply flexible, CO 2 

-free electricity 

from natural gas via the electricity network at sea. 

This way the offshore electricity network is always 

used optimally and stable and fluctuations during 

periods of little wind can be absorbed properly, resulting 

in a balanced offshore grid. We achieve this 

by using an offshore gas-fired power station with 

CO 2 

capture and storage facility. In concrete terms: 

we are building an offshore platform with a gas 

extraction installation, a gas-fired power station 

and a CO 2 

-capture installation on top. The captured 

CO 2 

is stored in the gas field. 

WHAT MAKES YOUR IDEA DIFFERENT FROM OTHER 

COMPANIES WHO HAVE TRIED THE SAME? 

We do things slightly different and better. Firstly, 

Circular Energy properly cleans up the mess, that 

is CO 2 

, itself. Secondly, we are willing to wait a little 

longer for our Return on Investment. By integrating 

CO 2 

capture and storage into our business model 

and by doing everything at sea, our approach 

is slightly more expensive. However, we think we 

can develop a cost-effective method. Thirdly, we 

add value to small gas fields that would otherwise 

probably not be exploited. 


WIND SECTOR? 

In our view, the biggest challenge lies in providing 

security of supply. Wind energy alone can’t offer 

it. The technology of Circular Energy makes it 

possible to offer flexible and yet very stable clean 

energy. 


ENERGY? 

The average price for a kWh is not reduced by our 

plan, but we prevent the price on wind-poor days 

from increasing enormously. 

Qlayers, a startup from Delft, develops a robot printer for the automatic 

application of sharkskin coating, which makes wind turbines work more 

efficiently. Josefien Groot, Head of Business Development at Qlayers: 

WHAT IS YOUR INNOVATION? 

The automated application of a coating with microstructures, 

suitable for aircraft and wind turbines. 

We are working on the development of a sharkskin 

coating which ensures less frictional resistance. 

After that, we want to continue with self-cleaning, 

self-healing and anti-icing coatings. 

WHAT MAKES YOUR PRODUCT DIFFERENT FROM 

COMPETITORS? 

We actually only have one competitor, Fraunhofer, 

a big company. However, their way of applying coatings 

differs from how we do it. They use templates, 

a kind of rollers. We use a way of 3-D printing 

which is much more favourable for complex shapes 

such as airplanes and wind turbines. We receive a 

lot of interest for our product and we would now 

like to enter into a partnership with a wind turbine 

manufacturer so that we can test the lifespan of the 

coating offshore, for example. 

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN WIND ENERGY? 

Maintenance will become very important in the 

coming period. Installation is now in full swing and 

the bill for maintenance will soon come up. For 

offshore this will be a hefty bill. I think that is the 

biggest challenge until 2030. 

WILL YOUR PRODUCT CONTRIBUTE TO REDUCING 

THE PRICE PER KWH OF WIND ENERGY? 

Yes, by applying a sharkskin microstructure to a 

2-megawatt wind turbine, the energy efficiency 

can be increased by 6 percent, which results in an 

increase in the efficiency of 264,000 kWh per year 

(per wind turbine). When applied to larger turbines 

the results are even higher. By automating the 

coating process, repairs can be carried out more 

safely and overspray can be reduced. Currently the 

coating is done by hand and sometimes twice as 

much paint is used than needed. 

IN FIVE YEARS WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A 

COMPANY? 

Qlayers will be the market leader in the application 

of functional coatings. By then we have automated 

the coating process for storage tanks, wind turbines 

and airplanes. In addition, we will have started 

with the application of the shark skin structure on 

aircrafts, ships and high-speed trains. Developing 

technology takes a lot of time, and our goals are 

ambitious but I think these are within reach. 

www.qlayers.com 

Design of the offshore gas- fired power station 

with CO 2 

capture and storage facility 

IN 5 YEARS, WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A COMPANY? 

In five years’ time, our installation will supply 

200.000 households with CO 2 

-free electricity from 

Dutch natural gas. The amount of CO 2 

that we 

collect annually is roughly equivalent to removing 

100,000 cars from the road. 

www.circular-energy.nl 



STARTUPS IN WIND 

ORA OFFSHORE 

CUSTOMS 

CONSULTANCY 

Hadassah Vorm of ORA Offshore Customs Consultancy offers specialized customs 

advice to offshore companies, including offshore wind. 

WHAT SERVICE DO YOU OFFER THE OFFSHORE WIND 

INDUSTRY? 

We provide customs advice and arrange customs 

documents for the offshore industry. Nowadays 

a lot is coming from the offshore wind industry. 

Other customs agents also draw up customs documents, 

but we go a step further. We give specialized 

advice, I hold years of experience in the sector, so 

I know all the do’s and don’ts. In many companies, 

arranging customs documents is neglected, they 

do it at the last moment or leave it to the logistics 

service provider. Whereas it can save you a lot of 

money if you do manage it properly. For example, 

if you built wind turbines in Schiedam that will go 

offshore, you’ll have to arrange it so that there will 

be zero percent VAT on them.’ 


WIND SECTOR? 

I find that difficult to answer. As far as customs 

processing is concerned, it would be a good thing if 

all parties at customs are facing the same direction. 

In practice you see differences in attitude between 

the different offices. Rotterdam, Vlissingen and 

Eemshaven are good examples of how things can 

be organized correctly, they facilitate the offshore 

sector very well. I always pay attention to this in 

meetings between customs and the industry. 


ENERGY? HOW MUCH? 

No idea, but properly prepared customs documents 

simply save money. 

COST 

REDUCTIONS 

BY INTEGRAL 

APPROACH 

PETER EECEN, 

Programme Development Manager Wind Energy 

at ECN part of TNO 

column 

There is less and less debate on the urgency to act on behalf of the climate 

and to develop a future CO 2 

-free energy system. Such system requires 

significant energy savings and massive amounts of renewable energy 

such as wind power. The energy transition will have significant impact 

on households, industry and society. However, the urgency to make fast 

progress is felt by many. 

The Dutch climate agreement that is a follow-up of the energy agreement 

shows this ambition. The urgency to make large steps in the 

energy transition is demonstrated by the ambitious goals to reduce CO 2 

emissions by 49% in 2030. 

To realize such large reductions within a relatively short period of time 

requires bold and ambitious implementation plans. Therefore, the main 

priority is to implement, for example, energy savings, gas-free houses 

and large wind and solar power plants. 

The energy transition is an enormous effort and will take several 

decades and requires continuous innovation. Not only does it require 

an energy system based on investments in fluctuating sources in the system, 

such as conversion to carriers like hydrogen, storage, interconnection, 

etc., but the transition after 2030 also requires innovations and new 

solutions. An ambitious innovation agenda and a strong implementation 

agenda are needed to achieve those ambitious plans. 

The energy research activities of the Energy research Centre of the 

Netherlands, ECN, have been merged with TNO to create the institute 

“ECN part of TNO”. From April 1st, this new institute within the TNO 

organization is dedicated to energy-innovation. In the vision of ECN and 

TNO the optimal solutions are found by an integral approach. Therefore, 

combining the multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise of both organisations 

into a new institute ‘ECN part of TNO’ will enable the development 

of essential innovations required for the energy transition that will 

benefit the CO₂ reduction as well as the Dutch economy. 

WHAT DO YOU DO DIFFERENTLY THAN THE BIG 

COMPANIES? 

The personal approach. I always meet my clients 

face to face so I can properly determine what they 

need, where there are challenges and how I can 

solve these for them. I am 24/7 available. If a vessel 

arrives or leaves with goods, I will be available, that 

is absolutely a requirement in this sector. 

IN FIVE YEARS, WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A 

COMPANY? 

I am busy scaling up my team with more professionals. 

My mission is to have more women working 

in the port, so also more women in our company. 

Recent tenders for Dutch offshore wind farms have shown amazing 

cost reductions; the conditions at the designated sites were so favourable 

that a subsidy-free offer has been made and accepted (excluding 

grid connection). To enable the shown cost reductions, everywhere in 

the supply chain costs will need to be reduced drastically. An effective 

measure is the increase in size of wind turbines and the rotors in combination 

with substantially higher nominal power: every turbine produces 

more and more power. Although these larger wind turbines look similar 

from the outside, important technology developments are essential to 

realize these larger and larger turbines at lower cost per MW and MWh. 

To minimise the risk and maximise the reliability, more accurate design 

tools are required because the design limits are approached. In addition, 

innovations are required to beat the so called square-cube law. ECN 

part of TNO is an attractive partner to assist the development of 10+MW 

wind turbines and is involved in prototype development. In-depth knowledge 

of aerodynamics for large blades, combined with integral design 

capabilities for large, offshore turbine design is key. 

A commercially attractive turbine is the result of an integral design 

approach. Turbine and wind farm design optimization should take into 

account (apart from costs and production) impact on installation, connection 

to the grid and operation and maintenance. The turbine should 

be designed to minimize the associated costs and maximise the value of 

the yield. The combined knowledge of Dutch R&D centres into ‘ECN part 

of TNO’ is essential for the integral design optimization. 



OFFSHORE NEWS 

OFFSHORE NEWS 

PONDERA AND ARCADIS TO 

INVESTIGATE MOST EFFICIENT 

TRANSPORT METHODS FOR 

FUTURE OFFSHORE WIND FARMS 

By 2030 offshore wind is estimated 

to provide up to 40% of the national 

power consumption. The Dutch Government 

has recently ordered consultancy 

companies Pondera and Arcadis 

to conduct a strategical study on the 

best possible methods to transport 

energy from future large-scale offshore 

wind farms to the Dutch mainland. The 

companies will perform the study in 

collaboration with TSO TenneT. In the 

study several elements are taken into 

consideration, such as environmental 

effects, costs and technical feasibility 

but also the different possible ways 

of relieving the energy grid in case of 

high wind peaks offshore and whether 

each option is futureproof. The study 

will be performed by means of setting 

up an assessment framework and 

an environmental impact study. The 

outcome of the study will contribute 

to future assessments of offshore wind 

grid connections. 

VAN OORD ADDS 3RD SRI 

VESSEL TO ITS FLEET 

On May 21, Van Oord christened its 

new Subsea Rock Installation vessel 

Bravenes at the Wilhelminakade in 

Rotterdam. The vessel was baptized by 

the wife of CEO Pieter van Oord. The 

ceremony also resembled the start of a 

2-day celebration marking the company’s 

150th anniversary. 

Bravenes is the third SRI vessel for Van 

Oord. They are used for stabilizing and 

protecting subsea pipelines, cables and 

other constructions at water depths up 

to 1,500 metres. A unique feature of 

the Bravenes, in its class, is its ability 

to install rocks in three different ways; 

using the traditional way via a fallpipe 

inserted through the moonpool, via 

a fallpipe over the side or through a 

tremie pipe over the side. This enables 

the vessel to install rocks more closely 

to the offshore platforms. Another 

feature is its ability to install large and 

heavy rocks, making it especially suitable 

for the offshore wind and cable 

industry. The first project will be in 

Norway, serving at several projects in 

the North Sea. 

Photo: Van Oord 

NEW TRENCHER DIG-IT 

Earlier that month, Van Oord also 

announced its new trencher, the Dig- 

It. This tracked Remotely Operated 

Vehicle (TROV), also known as the Q 

Trencher 1600, is used for burying 

cables in the seabed at depths up to 

3 metres, depending on the configuration 

and soil characteristics. It can 

be operated in two modes, jetting and 

chain cutting, and uses its tracks as 

primary way of propulsion. With a total 

installed power of 1,200 kW, the Dig-It 

is the most powerful in the Q-trencher 

series and expands the company’s 

cable laying and burial capabilities and 

the ability to offer its offshore wind 

clients a complete service package. 

The Dig-It has now started on its first 

project, in the German offshore wind 

farm Borkum Riffgrund 2, where it 

is mobilised on the offshore support 

vessel Rem Saltire. Van Oord’s cable 

laying vessel Nexus is doing the installation 

work. Cable laying activities are 

expected to be completed in July. Van 

Oord was awarded the contract from 

Ørsted in 2016. 

KEEL-LAYING CEREMONY FOR 

DAMEN’S 2ND SOV 

On 8 May, a keel-laying ceremony 

for Damen Shipyards’ second purpose-built 

SOV (Service Operations 

Vessel) 9020 took place at Damen 

Shipyards Galati, in Romania. It is also 

the second SOV 9020 for Bibby Marine 

Services who received the first one, the 

Bibby Wavemaster 1, only last year. 

The second Service Operation Vessel 

with Walk-to-Work capability only 

differs slightly from its sister vessel, 

being some changes to the warehousing 

layout, removal from the sauna for 

more gym space, reconfiguration of the 

bridge and a different gangway package 

and crane, this time from SMST. 

The new vessel is due for delivery in 

August 2019 and has been contracted 

by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy 

and EnBW for maintenance operations 

on two wind farms in German waters; 

Hohe See and Albatros. The final name 

will be announced later. 

FCS 2710 

Earlier that month, Damen announced 

the introduction of a new model to 

its Fast Crew Supplier range, the FCS 

2710. It retains much of the fundamen- 

Photo: Damen 

tal design of the successful FCS 2610 

that was introduced by the company in 

2011, but has been adapted to current 

requirements in the offshore energy 

industry. For the design of the vessel, 

Damen listened to feedback from 

several clients and end-users. This 

resulted in a vessel that delivers more 

flexibility, more tank capacity, greater 

deck space, increased comfort and 

more accommodation. 

The FCS 2710 design retains the twin 

hull and axe bow but is one metre longer 

and one metre higher than the FCS 

2610 and, as a consequence, increased 

hull volume and performance ability in 

wave heights of above two metres. By 

changing the deck layout from a stepped 

layout to a levelled one, without 

losing desk space for cargo, more passengers 

can be fitted, 26 in its standard 

configuration. There is also a choice of 

propulsion systems with conventional 

shafts, water jets, IPS and Voith Linear 

Drives available as options. 

The first vessel is currently being built 

at Damen Shipyards Antalya for its 

future owner High Speed Transfers Ltd. 

It is due for delivery in July and will 

be shown to the public at the Seawork 

International event in Southampton 

that same month. 

ACTA AURIGA STARTS ON 

FIRST OFFSHORE WIND 

PROJECT 

In March Acta Marine welcomed its 

new Walk To Work service vessel Acta 

Auriga. This latest addition to its fleet 

is now working on its first project, at 

the 400 MW German wind farm BARD 

Offshore 1, located approximately 100 

km north of the isle of Borkum in the 

German North Sea. It has been chartered 

by the wind farm’s owner and 

operator Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH 

& Co. KG on a two-year contract. 

Ocean Breeze Energy will use the Acta 

Auriga, via service company REETEC, 

for maintenance activities on the wind 

farm, which is Germany’s first commercial 

offshore wind farm. Since 2015 

support vessels are used for maintenance 

work on BARD Offshore 1 and 

this new vessel is expected to further 

optimize the logistics concept. The 

new design by Acta Marine and Norwegian 

shipyard Ulstein should allow 

for more productivity of the personnel, 

under safe circumstances. This should 

contribute in turn to ensuring and 

increasing the technical availability of 

the turbines. 

The Acta Auriga features a SMST 

3D-compensated gangway and 3D-crane 

and the special Ulstein X-BOW and 

X-STERN hull design. These allow for 

safe transfer cargo and personnel at 

significant wave heights of up to three 

metres. The state-of-art hotel facilities 

can accommodate up to 120 persons. 

Photo: Acta Marine 

BLIX TO PROVIDE EXPERT 

SUPPORT FOR SOLI 

INVESTIGATIONS ON HOLLANDSE 

KUST WEST 

In May, the RVO awarded BLIX and 

partners an assignment for expert 

support for soil investigations for the 

offshore wind farm zone Hollandse 

Kust West. Along with partners 

Reynolds International, Wind Support, 

RPS, Periplus and Marine Geological 

Advice, BLIX will manage the geophysical 

and geotechnical surveys, the 

morphodynamical study and perform 

the quality check of the soil investigations. 

The collected data of the soil, 

water and wind conditions in the zones 

will be used as information package for 

those planning to tender for the wind 

site. 

US OFFSHORE WIND: 

OPPORTUNITIES & 

CHALLENGES 

During the ‘US Offshore Wind Strategy’ 

meeting on 16 May interested parties 

were informed on the possibilities and 

challenges for participation in the US 

offshore wind developments. The export 

platform meeting was organised 

by the IRO, NWEA and HHWE. Invited 

speakers were Arjen Schutten (HHWE), 

Matthew (Mac) Bernstein (Partner at 

DLA Piper LLP (US), Chris van Beek 

and Albert Ploeg (Deepwater Wind). 

The US had a rough start with the Cape 

Wind project which failed in the end 

but has learned from its lessons. At 

the moment Block Island is the only 

operating offshore wind farm but the 

prospect for offshore wind is looking 

good. 

The North East Coast region offers the 

best opportunities for offshore wind 

due to growing energy demand from 

its dense and growing populated areas, 

good winds and relatively shallow waters. 

Existing facilities are old and will 

have to be replaced in the near future 

and there is a broad political support 

for renewable energy. Massachusetts 

requires 1,600 MW form offshore 

wind by 2017, New Jersey has set a 

goal of 3,500 MW from offshore wind 

by 2030, New York seeks 2,400 from 

wind energy and Rhode Island has set 

a goal of 1,000 MW from clean energy 

by 2020. 

However, Dutch companies interested 

in getting involved in US offshore wind 

developments do face some challenges 

which they need to take into consideration. 

Firstly the supply chain is not 

fully in place and the development of 

a local industry remains an important 

factor. Secondly, the Jones Act offers 

limitations for international vessels 

operating in US coastal waters. Other 

challenges involve available infrastructure, 

permitting and Easements and 

environmental concerns. 



ONSHORE NEWS 

GENERAL NEWS 

WINDPARK WESTFRISIA REACHES 

FINANCIAL CLOSE 

Windpark Westfrisia, a project by 

Westfriese Windmolencooperatie, will 

be located along the Westfrisiaweg 

near Zwaagdijk, in the province of 

Medemblik. The wind farm consists of 

5 turbines which will be delivered and 

installed by Enercon. Each turbine, type 

E92, has a capacity of 2.3 MW. KWS and 

Visser & Smit Hanab are responsible 

for the local infrastructure and connection 

to a yet to be built power station. 

The environmental permit was received 

in September last year. The first 

construction activities have already 

started and the wind farm is expected 

to be completed by mid-2019. Windpark 

Westfrisia has awarded BLIX with 

the construction management scope. 

BLIX was already responsible for the 

tendering and contract negotiations of 

the turbines, civil and electrical works 

and the grid connection. 

GREEN LIGHT FOR WINDPARK 

INDUSTRIETERREIN MOERDIJK 

Nuon can start building the wind farm 

in Moerdijk. In May, Windpark industrieterrein 

Moerdijk got the go-ahead 

when the Administrative Jurisdiction 

Division of the Council of State declared 

all issued appeals against the zoning 

plan unfounded. It is not possible to 

appeal against the decision. According 

to the plan, seven turbines will 

be installed along the Westelijke and 

Zuidelijke Randweg in the west and 

southeast sections of the Zeehaven- en 

Industrieterrein Moerdijk. Depending 

on the turbine type selection, the wind 

farm could have a capacity ranging 

from 21 to 35 MW. This is enough to 

power at least 24,000 households. Construction 

is expected to start in 2019. 

The wind farm could become operational 

in 2020. 

type E-126-EP4 turbines. Each 4.2 MW 

turbine has a height of 135 metres and 

a rotor diameter of 127 metres. The 

project is financed by a consortium 

of ABN AMRO Bank, Rabobank and 

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. 

Once fully operational, the wind farm 

could provide electricity to over 24,000 

households. A 16-year PPA was signed 

with Eneco Group. The two companies 

worked together on wind projects in 

the Netherland before. 

PROVINCE OF SOUTH HOLLAND 

INTRODUCES INTERACTIVE WIND 

MAP 

The province of South Holland has set 

a target to install 735.5 MW of onshore 

wind up to 2020. At the moment it has 

realised about half of its ambitions. 

In the next few years, existing, old 

turbines are replaced and new turbines 

are added. For interested parties the 

Province has now developed an interactive 

wind map detailing the locations 

of existing and planned wind farms and 

the project developers. 

MINI TURBINE INSTALLED ON 

NOISE BARRIER 

so-called ‘Energy Wall’ should consists 

of replaceable panels that each hold a 

different function, such as generating 

energy from wind or solar or filtering 

particulate matter. During a year it 

will be investigated what the options 

are for integrating wind energy in the 

noise barrier. Measurement equipment 

were already fitted to the existing noise 

barrier to investigate the main wind 

directions and forces. 

Based on the results from those 

measurements, a mini wind turbine, the 

Windleaf, was selected to be installed 

on the existing noise barrier. It will be 

tested for a maximum of 3 months to 

measure the level of noise production 

and how much energy is produced. 

Part of the test is to see whether wind 

against the noise barrier is pushed up, 

producing higher wind speeds on top 

of the barrier. The outcome should help 

define whether installing a small wind 

turbine is an effective solution, technically, 

economically and socially. A second 

Windleaf is installed in a meadow 

nearby to compare results. 

Photo: Province of South Holland 

will strive to announce the winners 

before the summer. 

10 MW WIND TURBINE TO BE 

INSTALLED ON TWEEDE MAAS- 

VLAKTE 

The city council of Rotterdam, in its 

attempt to stimulate the development 

of wind in the region, is planning to 

build a 10 MW wind turbine on the 

Tweede Maasvlakte. The turbine should 

be able to provide electricity to around 

8,000 households. The Council is now 

investigating if the location is suitable 

for the installation of such a big 

turbine. It expects that the construction 

of the turbine could be completed next 

year, provided the permits are in place 

shortly. The first two years will be used 

to test the turbine. After that, it can 

be fully implemented in the grid. The 

name of the turbine manufacturer has 

not been released by the Council. 

SUBSIDY SCHEMES FOR ENERGY & 

CLIMATE TO OPEN ON JULY 2 

On July 2nd several subsidy schemes 

for energy and climate innovation will 

open. The schemes are initiated to 

make the Netherlands more clean and 

economically stronger. The scheme 

round is divided in several areas: 

chemical recycling of plastics, MVI (Socially 

responsible innovating) Energy, 

Geo-energy, hydrogen, CCUS (Carbon 

Capture, Utilisation and Storage) and 

system integration on the North Sea. 

For the latter it concerns the integration 

of large quantities of offshore wind 

energy into the national grid at socially 

acceptable prices. Related themes are 

ways of transport, energy storage and 

tuning of supply and demand. 

The scheme is administrated by 

the RVO, by order of the Ministry of 

Economic Affairs and Climate and the 

Ministry of Infrastructure and Water 

Management. 

RUUD SONDAG NEW CEO ENECO 

GROUP 

On 25 May Eneco announced the 

official appointment of Ruud Sondag as 

new CEO of Eneco Groep NV. He will be 

replacing Jeroen de Haas as of immediately. 

In the press release Sondag 

stated that his highest priorities are to 

continue the Group’s leading position 

in the energy transition, and the 

privatisation process. Sondag was CEO 

of waste processing company Van Gansewinkel 

Group for eleven years and 

was shareholder at recycling company 

Scherpenzeel. In addition, he holds 

several supervisory board positions, 

at, amongst others, ProRail and Faber 

Halbertsma Group. 

Photo: Eneco Group 

FINANCIAL CLOSE FOR WINDPARK 

SPUI 

On May 2, Japanese Eurus Energy 

Group and developer YARD ENERGY 

announced that financial close was 

reached for the 21 MW Windpark 

Spui. The onshore wind farm is located 

along the Spui between the cities of 

Nieuw-Beijerland and Piershil, in the 

municipality of Korendijk in South 

Holland. It will consist of five Enercon, 

At the end of 2018 maintenance works 

will take place on the N470, in the 

province of South Holland. Part of the 

works is replacing the existing noise 

barrier between the entranceway A13 

and the residential area Emerald with 

a new one. It is here where the Province 

wants to explore whether the new 

barrier could not only reduce noise 

but also produce energy, as part of a 

project called ‘N470 Geeft Energie’. The 

LATEST SDE ROUND NOT FULLY 

USED 

In total, around 5.3 of the 6 billion 

available was applied for. With the exception 

of the applications for solar PV, 

the applications per technology were 

significant lower, especially for onshore 

wind. For onshore wind, 47 applications 

for a combined total of 68 MW 

were received, resembling a subsidy 

amount of 150 million euro. The RVO 



Smart Maritime Technology 2018 

Disruptive Technology in the Maritime Sector 

windcijfers 

2005 

2010 

2018 

Wind energy installed power in the Netherlands 

VNAB 

Rotterdam 

14 June 2018 

WIND ENERGY 

Q4-17 & Q1-18 

ONSHORE 

3.292MW 

2.017 wind turbines 

Commissioned in Q4 2017 and Q1 2018 

!( 3 MW 

!( 4,2 MW 

Decommissoned in Q4 2017 and Q1 2018 

.D

agenda 

13 & 14 JUNE, ROTTERDAM 

WindDays 2018 

www.winddays.nl 

19 & 20 JUNE, MANCHESTER, UK 

Global Offshore Wind 

events.renewableuk.com 

25 & 26 JUNE, NANTES, FR 

Eole Industrie 2018 

www.eole-industrie.fr 

28 JUNE, KOUDEKERKE 

North Sea Offshore Ports 

www.northseaoffshoreports.com 

3 - 5 JULY, SOUTHAMPTON, UK 

Seawork International 

www.seawork.com 

21 - 23 AUGUST, BREMEN, DE 

Offshore Substations 2018 

www.offshore-windpower-substations.iqpc. 

de 

25 - 28 SEPTEMBER, HAMBURG, DE 

WindEnergy Hamburg 

www.windenergyhamburg.com 

4 OCTOBER, ROTTERDAM 

Innovation Expo 

www.innovatie-estafette.nl 

16 & 17 OCTOBER, WASHINGTON, USA 

Offshore WINDPOWER 

www.awea.org 

22 - 24 OCTOBER, AMSTERDAM 

Offshore Energy 

www.offshore-energy.biz 

30 OCTOBER, ABERDEEN, UK 

Floating Offshore Wind 2018 

www.renewableuk.com 

31 OCTOBER, ABERDEEN, UK 

Cables 2018 


27 NOVEMBER, EDINBURGH, UK 

Onshore Wind Energy 2018 


MORE INFORMATION ON 

WWW.WINDENERGIE-MAGAZINE.NL 

42 2-2018 WindEnergy

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WINDENERGY MAGAZINE 02 2018

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