WINDENERGY MAGAZINE 02 2018
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Wind<br />
Energy<br />
magazine<br />
WINDPARK KRAMMER<br />
LARGEST DUTCH CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE<br />
INTERVIEW TENNET<br />
FASCILITATING THE ENERGY<br />
TRANSITION<br />
DUTCH CLIMATE AGREEMENT<br />
ARE WE STILL IN TIME?<br />
WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong> SPECIAL<br />
Volume 5 - Issue 2 - <strong>2018</strong>
Wij weten uit welke hoek<br />
de wind waait.<br />
ENVIR Advocaten: dè expert op het gebied van windenergieprojecten,<br />
of het nu gaat om vergunningen of bestuursrechtelijke procedures.<br />
Samen met u realiseert ENVIR Advocaten een spoedig, gestroomlijnd<br />
en probleemloos vergunningentraject. Wij combineren onze expertise<br />
en ervaring in heldere analyses en praktische oplossingen, om samen<br />
tot het beste resultaat te komen.<br />
ENVIR Advocaten Dè specialist in het omgevingsrecht en bestuursrecht.<br />
www.envir-advocaten.com<br />
Volume 5 | June <strong>2018</strong> | issue <strong>02</strong><br />
WindEnergy magazine, a quarterly trade magazine<br />
for professionals who are involved or interested in<br />
onshore and offshore wind energy developments in<br />
the Netherlands.<br />
Publication: WindEnergy magazine is a quarterly<br />
publication.<br />
Publisher: Roeland Dobbelaer<br />
Publishing company: Vakbladen.com<br />
Rijswijkseweg 60 (13e etage), 2516 EH Den Haag, the<br />
Netherlands<br />
PO box 19949, 2500 CX Den Haag, the Netherlands<br />
Website: www.windenergie-magazine.nl<br />
Editor in Chief: Jan Spoelstra<br />
Contributors to this edition: Antoon Oosting, Jaap<br />
Meijers, Karin Broer, Christian Jongeneel, Joanna<br />
Hughes, Geert Bosch, Peter Eecen & Erik van Huizen<br />
Cover image: Windpark Krammer,<br />
photo by Erik van Huizen<br />
Advertising: Archer Media B.V.<br />
Arjan Cornelisse, account manager<br />
tel. +31 (0)88 6440 623<br />
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ISSN 2352-7560<br />
Copyright © <strong>2018</strong> Vakbladen.com<br />
The publisher does not necessarily agree with the<br />
views expressed by the contributors, nor does he<br />
accept any responsibility for any errors of translation<br />
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Design: Content Innovators<br />
Printed by: Veldhuis Media, Raalte<br />
foreword<br />
GROWING DEMANDS<br />
FOR ENERGY STORAGE<br />
The Dutch wind energy sector is not a national industry and with the<br />
upcoming offshore wind projects our editorial focus will be more and<br />
more international. From which Dutch projects can the international wind<br />
industry learn? And what is the contribution of Dutch companies to reach<br />
international climate goals? For that reason WindEnergy magazine will<br />
be published in English from now onwards. A great way to showcase our<br />
innovative wind industry.<br />
A good example of a national onshore wind project that should be<br />
internationally showcased is the Windpark Krammer wind farm, owned<br />
by citizens, producing energy for multinationals and built on top of<br />
a primary flood defence (P12). The Dutch are already the #1 country<br />
in building sea defences, what a business case if Dutch companies can<br />
combine water safety with sustainable energy production and financial<br />
constructions in which citizens can participate.<br />
In this WindDays <strong>2018</strong> special we focus on going forward with wind<br />
energy in the Netherlands. The technology is in place and startups (P28)<br />
are anxious to optimise wind energy production and turbine maintenance.<br />
However, the experts our editors interviewed only briefly mention the<br />
biggest challenge for the wind energy industry: energy storage. Using<br />
peak power to store energy, and transport this to the grid when demands<br />
exceed the installed sustainable energy production.<br />
The goal of our government is 49% reduction of CO 2<br />
emissions by 2030.<br />
Installing wind power can largely contribute to those goals. In the field of<br />
energy storage, without the use of artificial lakes, dams and hydropower,<br />
there is no country yet that adressed and solved the upcoming problem of<br />
sustainable energy storage. Our Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate<br />
is currently busy with meetings on his so-called ‘energy tables’, to reach<br />
new climate legislation and policy programmes. One of the conclusions<br />
this summer should be that the Netherlands should become a leading<br />
player in the field of sustainable energy storage. Can we build an artifical<br />
lake in the North Sea? Can we make gas infrastructure suitable for<br />
hydrogen as a sustainable energy carrier?<br />
The biggest challenge for the wind industry is to deal with fluctuating<br />
energy production, which is not in conjunction with energy demand.<br />
Fossil energy driven power plants to serve as<br />
backup will disappear. Our sector should<br />
come up with partnerships and projects<br />
to deal with this challenge. WindEnergy<br />
magazine will keep you informed on<br />
the progress in future editions. For now,<br />
the WindDays is a good place to start this<br />
discussion – we are looking forward to<br />
meeting you there!<br />
JAN SPOELSTRA<br />
Editor in Chief<br />
WindEnergy magazine<br />
j.spoelstra@vakbladen.com<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 3
CONTENTS<br />
ISSUE <strong>02</strong><br />
JUNE <strong>2018</strong><br />
Wind energy: From<br />
idea to permit<br />
Photo: TenneT<br />
6<br />
6 PREPARING FOR OFFSHORE WIND TO LEAD THE<br />
ENERGY TRANSITION. INTERVIEW FRANK WESTER,<br />
TENNET<br />
11 COLUMN GEERT BOSCH, BOSCH & VAN RIJN<br />
12 JOINING FORCES IN THE LARGEST CITIZEN’S<br />
INITIATIVE INTERVIEW WIND COOPERATIONS<br />
DELTAWIND AND ZEEUWIND<br />
Policy and permits<br />
Spatial procedures, regional energy strategies,<br />
environmental impact assessments, vision and<br />
policy development<br />
Stakeholder manangement<br />
Participation, communication, stakeholders<br />
engagement, visualisations, financial<br />
participation<br />
Photo: Erik van Huizen<br />
12<br />
16 NO MORE ROOM FOR PROCRASTINATION: THE<br />
NETHERLANDS HAS TO ACT NOW INTERVIEW<br />
OLOF VAN DER GAAG, DIRECTOR NVDE<br />
19 WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong> SPECIAL<br />
20 INTERVIEW EVENT ORGANISATION<br />
24 EUROPEAN WIND MARKET OUTLOOK<br />
26 CONFERENCE PROGRAMME<br />
Research<br />
Environmental impacts, financial feasibility,<br />
spatial feasibility, wind surveys<br />
Support and secondment<br />
Process managers, project leaders, specialists<br />
in all relevant desciplines<br />
28 FLOORPLAN & EXHIBITORS’ LIST<br />
30 STARTUPS IN WIND<br />
35 COLUMN PETER EECEN, ECN PART OF TNO<br />
36 OFFSHORE NEWS<br />
Photo by Milan Vermeulen<br />
16<br />
38 ONSHORE & GENERAL NEWS<br />
41 WIND FACTS NETHERLANDS<br />
42 AGENDA<br />
In 2017 we obtained permits for more than 500 MW<br />
onshore wind energy in the Netherlands.<br />
Want to know what we can do for you?<br />
Check out www.boschenvanrijn.nl<br />
Photo: WindEurope / Bickley<br />
24<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 5
INTERVIEW<br />
FRANK WESTER,<br />
SENIOR MANAGER ASSET MANAGEMENT<br />
OFFSHORE, TENNET<br />
PREPARING FOR<br />
OFFSHORE WIND<br />
TO LEAD THE ENERGY<br />
TRANSITION<br />
The Dutch government wants to bring down carbon emissions by 49 percent in 2030. To achieve<br />
that target, more energy production from renewable energy sources is required. A significant part<br />
will be coming from offshore wind. That is why more wind farms are planned to be built at sea<br />
in the years to come. Transmission system operator TenneT is responsible for getting the energy<br />
produced by the offshore turbines to land and to our wall sockets, which is quite an interesting<br />
challenge.<br />
JAAP MEIJERS<br />
When the government, companies and relevant organisations<br />
signed the National Energy Agreement<br />
(‘Energieakkoord’) in 2013, offshore wind energy<br />
did not yet amount to much. Only two offshore<br />
wind farms were installed and operational at that<br />
time in the Dutch section of the North Sea; Egmond<br />
aan Zee (OWEZ) and Prinses Amaliawindpark. A<br />
third, Eneco Luchterduinen, started construction<br />
that same year and another, Gemini, would follow a<br />
few years later. All combined representing almost<br />
1,000 MW. But for the sustainable ambitions to<br />
become reality, a lot more wind turbines needed to<br />
be installed, faster and cheaper than before. Under<br />
the Energy Agreement, 3,500 megawatts would<br />
have to be added offshore until 2<strong>02</strong>3, the equal of<br />
around 437 8-megawatt wind turbines. For this<br />
purpose, the Dutch Government assigned 3 areas,<br />
Borssele and Hollandse Kust Zuid and Noord. In the<br />
future even more wind farms will be added, such as<br />
IJmuiden Ver (‘IJmuiden Far’) which will generate 4<br />
gigawatts. All in all, in 2030 40 percent of the current<br />
power consumption should come from these<br />
offshore wind farms.<br />
In the National Energy Agreement TenneT was appointed<br />
the offshore transmission system operator,<br />
which means that the company is responsible for<br />
ensuring all those new wind farms are connected<br />
to the Dutch electricity grid. Frank Wester is<br />
responsible for TenneT’s offshore wind energy<br />
infrastructure. “This is the best job one can have at<br />
TenneT. Right now so much is happening because<br />
of the energy transition. For years things at TenneT<br />
were like relatively calm seas, but now we are<br />
surfing the waves.”<br />
WHAT CHALLENGES DO ALL THOSE WIND FARMS<br />
POSE FOR TENNET?<br />
“Wind farm owners used to be responsible for the<br />
transport of the energy generated by their wind<br />
turbines to shore themselves. That task has been<br />
assigned to TenneT. So now wind farms connect to<br />
our offshore substations. The 66 kilovolts electricity<br />
produced by the wind turbines are transformed<br />
at the substation to 220 kV and then transported to<br />
shore by two export cables.<br />
For the new wind farms, TenneT and the Ministry<br />
of Economic Affairs and Climate looked into ways<br />
how to connect the wind farms as efficient and cost<br />
effective possible. By simplifying and standardizing<br />
the platform’s design we can bring down costs<br />
considerably. Up to 2<strong>02</strong>3, five substations will be<br />
built using the same design, therefore they are<br />
easier to build and maintain, simply because they<br />
use the same components and such. The first two<br />
platforms, Borssele Alpha and Beta, are currently<br />
being built by HSM Offshore in Schiedam. The first<br />
of those will come online in the Borssele wind farm<br />
in August 2019.<br />
The challenge was to make the platforms as lean<br />
and mean as possible. We have not added a helicopter<br />
deck, and they are designed in such way that<br />
the platform can be entered from all sides on the<br />
outside. There is a passageway on the inside for<br />
when the weather is really bad, but it is very narrow.<br />
If everything had to be done from the inside,<br />
the platform would have to be much larger. With a<br />
weight of around 3,500 tons and dimensions of 20<br />
by 45 meters and 25 meters high, it is still large but<br />
now it’s a nice compact platform.”<br />
IS CONSTRUCTING A POWER GRID AT SEA VERY<br />
DIFFERENT FROM BUILDING ON LAND?<br />
“The technology for an offshore grid is mainly<br />
the same as on land, so the electrical components<br />
are basically the same. We do need cables with<br />
different armouring, because they are buried at the<br />
bottom of the sea and during construction more<br />
pulling force is exerted on them. But in general it’s<br />
the same proven technology.<br />
Offshore also has its advantages. The diameter of a<br />
220kV offshore export cable is about 25 centimetres.<br />
That’s the cable with three strands bundled in<br />
it, including the armouring. On land the cable reel<br />
for such cables would have to fit on a truck. Offshore,<br />
a much longer cable can be transported.<br />
A vessel could hold 35 kilometres of cable.<br />
What really adds a new dimension to us, is the<br />
need for remote monitoring. Already in the design<br />
phase we have to consider which activities we wish<br />
Example of a standardized substation<br />
to remotely perform and monitor, simply because<br />
accessibility is much more complicated. When something<br />
happens at an onshore station, somebody<br />
just drives up there, even at 1 AM. That’s a lot more<br />
difficult offshore.<br />
We installed two 350 megawatt cables for each<br />
wind farm. They are buried in the sandy sea floor.<br />
Those cables are designed for a maximum temperature<br />
of 90 degrees Celsius, and you don’t want<br />
to exceed this. When it gets too hot, the insulating<br />
material will start degrading. It won’t be damaged<br />
immediately, but it should be able to continue to<br />
perform well during its 25 year life span.<br />
The mantle contains fiberglass for communication<br />
purpose, but also for monitoring the temperature.<br />
This is done by injecting light laser pulses. From<br />
the reflections, caused by the changing resistance<br />
of the fiberglass, we can then measure the temperature.<br />
This enables us to determine and localise<br />
the precise temperature. This helps us to optimize<br />
the use of the cable. When the cable is relatively<br />
cool, more energy can be produced temporarily at<br />
the wind farm and transported through the cable.<br />
This means that when there are strong winds, the<br />
capacity can temporarily be higher, up to 380 MW.”<br />
>><br />
6 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 7
INTERVIEW<br />
THE IJMUIDEN VER AREA IS LARGER THAN THE ONES<br />
CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED: 4,000 MEGAWATTS<br />
INSTEAD OF 700 MEGAWATTS IN THE OTHER AREAS,<br />
AND IT IS LOCATED 100 KILOMETRES FROM THE<br />
COAST. DO MORE REMOTE WIND FARMS POSE A<br />
BIGGER TECHNICAL CHALLENGE?<br />
“Because it is further out at sea and a lot more<br />
electric power is involved, we have to switch from<br />
alternating current to direct current technology.<br />
Alternating current creates a lot of power loss in<br />
the cable, and those losses increase with the length<br />
of the cable. For that reason, and because of its<br />
size, IJmuiden Ver will be connected using direct<br />
current.<br />
Three more 700MW wind areas that have been<br />
designated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and<br />
Climate are located more closely to the coast. The<br />
wind farms to be built there can still be connected<br />
using alternating current, which we will be doing<br />
with three more standardized platforms. This provides<br />
us the time up to 2<strong>02</strong>7 to further develop our<br />
concept for IJmuiden Ver.<br />
A larger wind area also allows you to think<br />
bigger. The offshore platforms have to be bigger<br />
to facilitate the conversion from alternating to<br />
direct current. This means the platform would<br />
have to be three times the size of the one we are<br />
currently using for alternating current. We have<br />
looked into the idea of constructing an island to<br />
see if that would be cheaper. An island allows for<br />
more flexibility and also the space to install, for<br />
example, power-to-gas installations, provided that<br />
development pushes through. You could also build<br />
living quarters for wind turbine technicians. You’re<br />
basically creating a near-shore environment. Everything<br />
could be built there instead of building it at<br />
shipyards and then shipping it out to sea.”<br />
AN ENTIRE ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NORTH<br />
SEA? HOW FEASIBLE ARE THOSE PLANS?<br />
“We are still performing a study to see what is really<br />
the smartest solution. There are also non-technical<br />
issues that need to be considered. The permits,<br />
the environmental studies, all those things need to<br />
be taken care of. And then add the time it takes to<br />
build the island. We estimate that in 2<strong>02</strong>7 we could<br />
have the first wind energy running via the island.<br />
The government is also charmed by the idea, and<br />
we absolutely think this is a feasible solution. There’s<br />
already quite a power struggle going on over<br />
who gets to be mayor of the island!”<br />
RECENTLY THINGS GOT A LITTLE TENSE WHEN ON A<br />
CLOUDY, WINDLESS DAY NOT ENOUGH ELECTRICITY<br />
WAS BEING GENERATED TO SATISFY DEMAND.<br />
TENNET HAD TO INTERVENE BY QUICKLY IMPORT<br />
MORE ENERGY FROM ABROAD. WILL THE LARGER<br />
SHARE OF WIND ENERGY IN THE FUTURE MAKE IT<br />
EVEN HARDER TO GUARANTEE THE LIGHTS WILL<br />
ALWAYS STAY ON?<br />
“Energy producers have to inform TenneT how<br />
much they expect to generate. Based on weather<br />
forecasts they can predict this very well. We are<br />
responsible to ensure the right balance at the end<br />
but the market will need to determine how much<br />
they are likely to generate in upcoming days. When<br />
PV producers inform us they will be supplying<br />
1,000 megawatts and in the end they only come up<br />
with 800 megawatts, then they will be presented<br />
with a hefty bill for that lack of 200 megawatts.<br />
They are the first ones to have a problem.<br />
Things will become more dynamic, but the market<br />
will have to be ready and anticipate. The grid needs<br />
to retain a certain flexibility. Wind and solar are<br />
quite complementary. In the summer there often<br />
is less wind but more sunshine, and during winter<br />
time it’s the other way around. The energy sector<br />
will have to look into energy storage to mitigate<br />
those highs and lows. The backups could be plants,<br />
but also contracts with energy suppliers abroad,<br />
or batteries, of which a large one was opened last<br />
week in the north of Germany. Hydrogen is also<br />
looked into, as well as using batteries in electric<br />
cars. Those could also be used to mitigate peaks.<br />
The Netherlands already have quite a few existing<br />
connections with other countries, so we can get<br />
more power from abroad. But if there’s an unbalance,<br />
the energy suppliers will have to foot the bill.”<br />
CV<br />
Frank Wester is senior manager Asset<br />
Management Offshore. He is with TenneT<br />
since 2007. Before that he worked for KEMA<br />
in Arnhem and utility Nuon.<br />
Wester studied electrical engineering at<br />
Hogeschool InHolland and Delft University<br />
of Technology. In 2004 he got his Ph.D. on<br />
diagnostics of electric cables.<br />
DC cables for offshore wind farm alpha ventus, Germany. All photos courtesy of TenneT<br />
8 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 9
WindEnergy magazine is a quarterly trade magazine for professionals<br />
who are involved or interested in<br />
onshore and offshore wind energy<br />
developments in the Netherlands.<br />
Stay up-to-date with the latest on current<br />
and upcoming wind projects, tenders, subsidies, grid<br />
connections and innovations, and learn from Dutch<br />
manufacturers, developers and researchers.<br />
Interested? Request your free copy:<br />
www.windenergie-magazine.nl/abonneren<br />
Wind<br />
Energy<br />
magazine<br />
INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN WindEnergy magazine?<br />
Your media advisor Arjan Cornelisse will be happy to discuss advertising<br />
possibilities in print and online. a.cornelisse@archermedia.nl<br />
T: +31(0)6 10 62 85 64 or +31(0) 88 6440 623<br />
WWW.WINDENERGIE-<strong>MAGAZINE</strong>.NL<br />
HOW MUCH<br />
WIND POWER<br />
DO WE NEED?<br />
GEERT BOSCH,<br />
Director Bosch & Van Rijn<br />
column<br />
In this WindEnergy magazine special WindDays <strong>2018</strong> edition I will<br />
address the question: how much wind power does the Netherlands need<br />
in 2030 and after? The Dutch government formulated very ambitious<br />
climate goals: 49% less greenhouse emissions in 2030. A reduction of<br />
56 million tons of CO 2<br />
. This will be achieved by closing coal power plants<br />
(12 Mton), CCS (18 Mton), ending gas heating and electric driving.<br />
In the last century the Dutch concluded the famous Deltawerken<br />
by strengthening our dikes, closing off estuaries and empoldering<br />
agricultural lands. The energy transition poses an even bigger challenge:<br />
it will take major investments and radically change the economy and<br />
affect every company, family and citizen.<br />
What does wind power have to offer? First and foremost: it prevents<br />
CO 2<br />
emissions. Closing a coal fired power plant and replacing it by wind<br />
turbines reduces 5,000 to 7,000 tonnes of CO 2<br />
per turbine. 200 turbines<br />
is 1 Mton. Secondly, wind power is cheap, 5 to 7 Eurocents per kWh and<br />
decreasing. Many times cheaper than CCS or electricity generated by<br />
coal or gas power plants. Especially when you take the negative impact<br />
of fossil fuels into account, such as climate change and earth quakes in<br />
Groningen. Being cheap and clean, wind power is the workhorse of the<br />
future energy supply.<br />
This will even be truer, when storage of electricity in hydrogen or<br />
batteries improves. Wind can deliver the lion’s share of CO 2<br />
reduction.<br />
Doubling the current onshore capacity to 9,000 Megawatts will reduce<br />
15 Mton CO 2<br />
. Offshore can deliver an even amount of reduction, so<br />
together wind can deliver more than half of the reduction target for<br />
2030!<br />
The energy transition has far-reaching local consequences: in<br />
the landscape, in people’s living environment and therefore in<br />
municipalities. Together with provinces and social partners<br />
municipalities are working on regional climate plans: energy saving,<br />
residential areas without gas, heat pumps and electric driving. The social<br />
debate is gaining momentum. How can we generate renewable energy<br />
in the region and how can we store this energy? Who’s going to pay and<br />
how are we to make sure the bill gets equally split? Will we accept the<br />
significant changes wind and solar power will cause in our landscape?<br />
Which are the best (or least bad) spots? How do we alleviate nuisance<br />
for people and animals? Drafting and executing regional plans gives<br />
the energy transition practical meaning. To heat 10,000 houses with<br />
heat pumps, 2 wind turbines or 12 hectares of solar panels are needed.<br />
Driving 25,000 kilometres with 3,000 electric vehicles asks for another<br />
two turbines.<br />
So, back to the question we started with. How much wind power do we<br />
need? Much depends on the choices we make: can we considerably save<br />
on energy consumption? Will we say goodbye to gas? Is CCS desirable<br />
and affordable? Are we prepared to hand in a little bit of horizon,<br />
so the citizens of Groningen can live in safety? We and our political<br />
representatives at provinces and municipalities, in Brussels and The<br />
Hague, have some important decisions to make. I am convinced that<br />
wind power will play a crucial role in any future energy system. The<br />
wind power community, governments and social partners are inspired<br />
to work together to make this happen. As a visitor of the WindDays you<br />
will also participate and I’m sure the conference and exhibition we put<br />
together to help you gain knowledge and inspiration to do so!<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 11
INTERVIEW<br />
COOPERATIVES DELTAWIND & ZEEUWIND:<br />
JOINING FORCES<br />
IN THE LARGEST<br />
CITIZEN’S INITIATIVE<br />
A unique wind farm is emerging around the Krammersluizen, with 34 wind turbines that<br />
have a total capacity of 1<strong>02</strong> megawatts. The initiators of this wind farm in and around the<br />
Krammersluizen are in fact the 4,800 members of the Zeeuwind and Deltawind cooperatives,<br />
making Windpark Krammer the largest citizens’ initiative of the Netherlands. Construction<br />
began in January 2017, and the wind farm should be operational next year.<br />
ERIK VAN HUIZEN<br />
21 of the 34 wind turbines are already in position<br />
at Windpark Krammer, with a height of 125 meter<br />
and with 56 meter long rotor blades that weigh 26<br />
tonnes. The turbine’s weight, including tower and<br />
foundation, equals 4,381 tonnes. Approximately<br />
3,000 employees will work on the wind farm in the<br />
forthcoming period, an average of 200 people per<br />
day and 650 unique individuals each week. The<br />
ascending tower cranes are also striking features.<br />
There are only four of these cranes in Europe, three<br />
of these are presently used for constructing this<br />
wind farm. 95% of the wind farm’s power is sold<br />
to four multinationals, namely Google, AkzoNobel,<br />
DSM, and Philips, without intervention from an<br />
energy company. As Windpark Krammer is a citizens’<br />
initiative, the consumer in this case supplies<br />
the industry.<br />
DELTAWIND COOPERATIVE<br />
As a local cooperative, Deltawind also owns, alongside<br />
its share in Windpark Krammer, a total of 22<br />
MW of installed wind capacity and a 0.85 MW solar<br />
farm. The cooperative currently has 2,500 members,<br />
all of them are inhabitants of the island. With<br />
wind farms Battenoert (40 million kWh per year)<br />
and Piet de Wit (43 million kWh per year), Deltawind<br />
is now already producing more than the electricity<br />
consumption of all the Goeree-Overflakkee<br />
households combined. Deltawind expects to build<br />
another 9 MW on the island in the years to come.<br />
This will bring the total for Goeree-Overflakkee,<br />
which Deltawind is focusing on, to a capacity of<br />
225 MW. ‘We have completed this’, explains Deltawind<br />
Director Monique Sweep. ‘We will now target<br />
other parts of energy transition, such as collective<br />
solar roofs for private individuals. We will also be<br />
examining other forms of energy such as hydrogen<br />
and methane from seaweed, and storing energy at<br />
the Krammersluizen.’<br />
ZEEUWIND<br />
Citizens’ cooperative Zeeuwind will also focus<br />
on storing energy. Zeeuwind has been around for<br />
some 30 years, and back in the days we started<br />
with three wind turbines. The cooperative counts<br />
2,300 members, mainly private individuals. All of<br />
the 13 municipalities in Zeeland are members too,<br />
as well as several companies, associations, and<br />
foundations. The cooperative owns multiple wind<br />
farms, with a total capacity of 20 MW. Zeeuwind<br />
in the following years expects to double the total<br />
capacity with new projects and scaleups. An old<br />
turbine of one of the wind farms was replaced by a<br />
new one at the beginning of this year. This 2.3 MW<br />
turbine is expected to annually produce 3.9 million<br />
kWh. Zeeuwind also finances 25% of Windpark<br />
Bouwdokken, which is built on the dams of the<br />
former Bouwdokhavens on the Neeltje Jans production<br />
platform. These seven turbines have a capacity<br />
of 4.2 MW each, and have since early <strong>2018</strong> onwards<br />
jointly generated 112.5 million kWh of electricity<br />
per year.<br />
TWENTY-YEAR OLD PLAN<br />
Deltawind and Zeeuwind have already collaborated<br />
on a smaller scale, but the project on the Krammersluizen<br />
came into view in 2008. The cooperatives<br />
now together have 51% of the shares in Windpark<br />
Krammer. The remaining 49% is owned by turbine<br />
builder Enercon. The idea for the wind farm originated<br />
over two decades ago. According to Marten<br />
Wiersma, Chairman of the Zeeuwind supervisory<br />
board, the fact that it did not materialise back then<br />
is because the Rijkswaterstaat (Department of Waterways<br />
and Public Works), the owner of the land<br />
in those days, thought it was ‘a scary idea’ to build<br />
on top of a primary flood defence. ‘The wind turbines<br />
back then also had a capacity that was far too<br />
low, which made the grid connection far too costly.<br />
>><br />
Windpark Krammer, photo by Erik van huizen<br />
12 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 13
INTERVIEW<br />
With the current scaleup and the turbines delivering<br />
more capacity, it can now be realised. So one of<br />
the most important innovations of this farm is that<br />
we are now building on a primary flood defence.<br />
This was a pilot project for Rijkswaterstaat. We had<br />
to demonstrate that the flood defence would not<br />
be affected. We have consequently created a basis,<br />
which in future might possibly open doors to other<br />
projects.’<br />
Turbine installation at<br />
Windpark Krammer,<br />
photo by J.J. de Wit<br />
The fact that most of the generated power goes to<br />
the four multinationals was a conscious decision.<br />
The supplied capacity may indeed soon suffice for<br />
100,000 households, but as the members of the<br />
cooperatives do not purchase a lot of energy, these<br />
enterprises were important for completing the<br />
business case.<br />
IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY<br />
The technology of wind turbines is still improving<br />
every day, along with their efficiency. Both cooperatives<br />
also noticed this at Windpark Krammer. ‘The<br />
turbines that we had ordered from Enercon for<br />
Windpark Krammer have in the meantime already<br />
been improved’, adds Wiersma. ‘The technology<br />
has improved to such an extent that they generate<br />
even more power. This often only concerns several<br />
percent, but when you generate a lot of energy, this<br />
soon adds up quite nicely. The blades, for instance,<br />
now fit seamlessly onto the housing, so that they<br />
catch a lot more wind. In the early days, we were<br />
content if a turbine managed 1,900 running hours<br />
annually, this number now often exceeds 3,000.<br />
The turbines are now also full of sensors, so everything<br />
can be remotely monitored. This allows for<br />
improved maintenance and less frequent turbine<br />
shutdowns.’<br />
EMOTIONAL<br />
Sweep certainly noticed that the new wind farm<br />
is larger than other farms by the resistance it<br />
caused. ‘For nearly thirty years, we were able to<br />
just proceed with the smaller projects, but now we<br />
did meet some opposition. The opponents often<br />
express emotional arguments, rather than rational<br />
ones. The main argument is that wind turbines<br />
are unattractive and disrupt the landscape. We<br />
certainly understand these feelings, but there is not<br />
a lot we can do about this. You also frequently hear<br />
that the land owner makes a lot of money on the<br />
farm. This involves jealousy, another aspect that a<br />
developer cannot really do much about as the market<br />
determines the price of the land. You also hear<br />
people complaining about the lights of the wind<br />
turbines. This light is mandatory for heights over<br />
150 metres, and we understand that it is pity when<br />
the countryside is no longer dark. We can do something<br />
about this though, and we will gladly address<br />
this aspect. We are therefore carrying out a pilot<br />
with lighting that works on radar. This involves the<br />
lights switching on only when something moves.’<br />
A wind fund was established to meet the needs of<br />
the three surrounding municipalities and inhabitants<br />
within 2.5 kilometres around the wind farm,<br />
which is good for the annual distribution of EUR<br />
150,000. Citizens in this case receive a discount on<br />
the energy bill for green power. One village asked<br />
for the money in one single payment. This money<br />
has now been used for installing solar panels on<br />
186 residences in the village, more than 80% of all<br />
of the houses.<br />
BOND LOAN<br />
Although the financing was already lined up, the<br />
cooperatives via Windpark Krammer wanted to<br />
realise participatory opportunities for members<br />
and for the near surroundings. A bond loan was<br />
hence issued. According to Sweep, citizens have different<br />
reasons for participating in the cooperatives’<br />
wind farms. ‘It is partially about people wanting to<br />
do something in energy transition, though another<br />
important reason is the good interest rate of 6%<br />
that we give on the bond loan issued for Windpark<br />
Krammer.’ The bond loan was supervised by the<br />
Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets<br />
(AFM), which was a novelty for the cooperatives.<br />
There was a strong interest in the loan, which was<br />
substantially overwritten by 232%.<br />
ECOLOGY<br />
Another challenge in constructing the Windpark<br />
Krammer was the fact that the farm is located<br />
amidst Natura 2000 areas. The movements of birds<br />
in the area was therefore already considered in<br />
both the farm’s design and the positioning of the<br />
wind turbines. ‘We have furthermore taken ample<br />
measures, including additional ones,’ adds Sweep.<br />
‘We created a swallow bank, and the turbines are<br />
provided with bird and bat detectors. The wind<br />
turbines are hereby halted when bats are active or<br />
when birds are nearby. Anything so as to cause the<br />
least damage to nature.’<br />
When asked if the two cooperatives also want to<br />
start developing wind farms at sea, both Sweep and<br />
Wiersma answer in the negative. ‘We never had the<br />
intention to build at sea’, states Wiersma. ‘We are<br />
developers of projects that would otherwise never<br />
be launched. We are not needed at sea.’<br />
14 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 15
INTERVIEW<br />
OLOF VAN DER GAAG,<br />
DIRECTOR NVDE<br />
No more room for procrastination: The Netherlands needs to switch to a more sustainable<br />
energy system as quickly as possible. A Climate Agreement on how this should be achieved,<br />
is currently being negotiated. “Everyone understands something should be done — now.”<br />
JAAP MEIJERS<br />
WTIV Aeolus on its way to Gemini Offshore Wind<br />
Farm, photo: Gemini<br />
Photo by Milan Vermeulen<br />
Sustainable energy has been a topic of debate in<br />
this country for decades, without really achieving<br />
all that much. The first attempt to actually make a<br />
change, was the National Energy Agreement (‘Energieakkoord’)<br />
in 2013. Government, companies and<br />
environmental organisations agreed to increase the<br />
renewable energy share to 14 percent in 2<strong>02</strong>0 and<br />
reduce power consumption by 100 petajoules.<br />
In early March negotiations for a new climate<br />
agreement (“Klimaatakkoord”) started. It won’t<br />
contain targets for a larger share of renewable<br />
energy, nor for energy saving. The idea is mainly to<br />
delineate how to bring carbon emissions down by<br />
49 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 emissions.<br />
The negotiations are quite a complicated process.<br />
Five sector bodies are created, each representing<br />
an industry sector, being electricity, built environment,<br />
mobility, industry and agriculture and land<br />
use. But there are also at least fifty sub-bodies and<br />
sub-sub-bodies plus an overarching climate board,<br />
headed by Ed Nijpels.<br />
The companies that are involved in making our<br />
energy system more sustainable are represented<br />
by the Dutch Renewable Energy Foundation<br />
(NVDE). Over a thousand companies have joined<br />
the NVDE to work toward 100% renewable energy.<br />
Among its members are companies in the electricity<br />
sector such as Eneco, Siemens, transmission<br />
system operator TenneT, Tesla and fast charge<br />
network Fastned, but also heating companies such<br />
as suppliers of biomass boilers. NVDE director Olof<br />
van der Gaag will be seated at many of the different<br />
‘table’ discussions.<br />
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE<br />
KLIMAATAKKOORD? ARE WE STILL IN TIME?<br />
“There are two sides really. Climate change can no<br />
longer be relegated to our grandchildren’s generation.<br />
It’s here now and it is our responsibility.<br />
Heavy rainfall and flooding occur more frequently.<br />
We should have been doing this twenty years<br />
earlier, because now we have to force an unnatural<br />
rate of change. Take for instance natural<br />
gas-free houses. Until last year, it was<br />
normal procedure to annually add 50 to<br />
60 thousand houses that are connected<br />
to natural gas. This means we would now<br />
start to get houses off natural gas at a rate<br />
of a thousand houses each day up to 2050.<br />
It would have been very nice if those numbers<br />
weren’t quite as high.<br />
But then again, there’s more support than<br />
ever for really doing something about it.<br />
Increasing the share of renewable energy<br />
from 4 percent to 16 percent in just ten<br />
years isn’t enough by a long shot, but at<br />
least something is happening. The fact<br />
that, as a result of the Energieakkoord,<br />
five coal plants were shut down and replaced by<br />
wind farms, is really showing in the statistics. If<br />
we actually manage to cut our carbon emissions by<br />
half by 2030, then it is another step forward. Yet it<br />
is still a long time away. Last year carbon emissions<br />
increased again and another five coal plants remain<br />
operational. Those should be shut down within the<br />
next ten years.”<br />
IS THE SENSE OF URGENCY SHARED BY THE<br />
GOVERNMENT AND OTHER PARTIES IN THE<br />
KLIMAATAKKOORD?<br />
“The mood has really changed from what it was<br />
ten years ago. Back then nobody really cared, and<br />
now everyone is aware something should be done<br />
now. It will get more tense though, I think, once the<br />
bill is presented. We’ll get to that phase in a week<br />
or two. Even if the costs for many solutions are<br />
coming down, on average it’s still more expensive<br />
to switch to renewable energy instead of just continue<br />
burning fossil fuels. Opinions differ, of course,<br />
on how those expenditures should be distributed.<br />
The minister for Economic Affairs and Climate, Eric<br />
Wiebes, has told each sector how many megatons<br />
carbon dioxide they should reduce. The industry<br />
in principle is fine with everything as long as it is<br />
subsidized by the government. However, the government<br />
thinks ‘we have to be able to explain this to<br />
the tax payer, so they should pay for it themselves’.<br />
And it’s a couple of billion Euros a year, not something<br />
one can spirit away.”<br />
THE NETHERLANDS ISN’T QUITE THE IDEAL PLACE<br />
FOR ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF ENERGY. THERE ARE NO<br />
RESERVOIRS, AND IN WINTER SOLAR PANELS ARE<br />
NOT OF MUCH USE. IS OFFSHORE WIND THE ONLY<br />
REAL OPTION FOR OUR COUNTRY TO GENERATE<br />
RENEWABLE ENERGY?<br />
“On the score of wind power at sea, the Energieakkoord<br />
has caused quite a breakthrough. Many new<br />
wind turbines are being added, even without subsidies.<br />
The Netherlands wasn’t given all that many<br />
gifts by Mother Earth, but the North Sea sure is one<br />
of them. The sea floor is very shallow, so it’s easy to<br />
drive in piles, and the winds are quite strong. >><br />
16 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 17
INTERVIEW<br />
WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong><br />
I notice a lot of enthusiasm to continue that flagship<br />
of the Energieakkoord, many parties are in<br />
favour. To large utilities offshore wind farms are<br />
a comfortable scale of thinking, because they are<br />
large, centralized projects which power a million<br />
households in one go. Some parts of the energy<br />
transition are a challenge for the old economy, all<br />
that mucking about with decentralized citizens<br />
who generate power themselves, but wind at sea<br />
still fits the large scale logic of the old energy<br />
supply.”<br />
IF WE HAVE TO GET OFF FOSSIL FUELS THAT FAST,<br />
SHOULDN’T WE BUILD OFFSHORE WIND FARMS<br />
MORE QUICKLY AND ALSO MUCH LARGER?<br />
“The Government wants wind power to increase by<br />
1 gigawatts per year. For the Netherlands, that’s an<br />
unprecedented revolution. There is even discussion<br />
whether we can do even more. I do think there’s<br />
room for more, 2 gigawatts per year would be possible<br />
too if you ask me. But I don’t think the wind<br />
farm areas should be larger. A 700 megawatt area<br />
for instance already involves an investment of a<br />
couple of billion Euros. Suppose we start making 5<br />
gigawatt lots, then you may be talking about twenty<br />
billion. If you consider the companies that can<br />
handle that level of investments, then maybe the<br />
only competitors will be Shell, Shell or Shell. That’s<br />
not much of a competition. I think it is important<br />
that even smaller companies can fully participate.”<br />
IS A MIX OF ONLY RENEWABLE ENERGY POSSIBLE,<br />
ONE THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE FOSSIL FUEL PLANTS<br />
AS BACKUP AT ALL?<br />
“The goal of our organization is 100 percent<br />
renewable energy, not just for electricity but also<br />
heating and transport. I think that’s achievable.<br />
Electricity is the easiest part, because wind and<br />
solar already get us quite far. The only thing that<br />
will still have to be taken care of is peak power, to<br />
have a backup which can be activated at the press<br />
of a button. In the short term this can only be<br />
achieved sustainably by biomass, but that has its<br />
downsides. For now peak power will have to come<br />
from gas plants. Coal plants have to go, obviously.<br />
Gas plants are also easier to switch on than coal<br />
plants. It takes a coal power plant at least four<br />
hours to really get fired up, while a gas plant works<br />
just like your burner at home: light it and it works.<br />
Batteries are even faster. Tesla just built a backup<br />
facility in Australia using batteries. I expect we’ll<br />
see that here too.”<br />
BUT THE TALKING AND CONSULTING AT ALL THESE<br />
TABLES, DO WE REALLY HAVE TIME FOR ALL THAT?<br />
SHOULDN’T WE JUST ACT NOW IF WE ARE TO<br />
ACHIEVE THOSE TARGETS?<br />
“By nature I am not terribly patient myself, but this<br />
kind of societal transformation cannot be forced on<br />
a country. That’s not how the Netherlands works.<br />
It’s one thing to say ‘do something instead of talking’,<br />
but really, what then? We don’t have a Great<br />
Beloved Leader who can make all decisions, and<br />
that’s for the best. Jan Rotmans for instance [professor<br />
in sustainability and transitions] often says<br />
things like that, by which he means ‘you should do<br />
what I want’. But he is not our Kim Jong-un. We all<br />
have to agree on this.<br />
We started in March, and the last meeting is on July<br />
6. It really is an unprecedented change, halving<br />
carbon emissions in the Netherlands with a price<br />
tag of about four billion per year. If an agreement<br />
can be reached on that within four months, I think<br />
Ed Nijpels and Eric Wiebes can be quite pleased.”<br />
CV<br />
Olof van der Gaag is director of the Dutch Renewable<br />
Energy Foundation (NVDE), which<br />
unites over a thousand companies in the goal<br />
to achieve 100% renewable energy. Before<br />
2016 Van der Gaag was head of campaigns<br />
for environmental NGO Natuur en Milieu.<br />
Between 1998 and 2007 he was political<br />
adviser to the Dutch green party’s fraction<br />
in parliament. Van der Gaag studied cultural<br />
anthropology.<br />
TECHNICIANS NEEDED<br />
“The Netherlands will have to start cherishing<br />
their technicians. Certainly at the level of<br />
vocational education a lot more technicians<br />
are needed, and we are not seeing more influx<br />
at all. That could turn out to be one of the<br />
biggest hurdles in the energy transition.<br />
We need to show young people that a technical<br />
profession is very interesting and<br />
rewarding. Engineering talents tell me that<br />
new forms of energy to them are a lot more<br />
exciting and challenging. Drilling pipes into<br />
the ground is complex as well, but we have<br />
been doing that for ages, while here a lot of<br />
new problems need to be solved.”<br />
WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong><br />
13 & 14 JUNE<br />
WTC ROTTERDAM<br />
18 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 19
interview<br />
WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong><br />
WindDays <strong>2018</strong> is the place to be if you wish to position yourself in the wind energy. ‘You receive<br />
inside information about everything that is going on in this field. From the latest scientific<br />
developments and information on technical innovations in the area of, for example, turbines,<br />
foundations, the installation process and by now also on the decommissioning of the first<br />
generations of wind turbines,” says Anouk Stortenbeker, communications manager at TKI (Top<br />
Consortia Knowledge and Innovation). TKI was set up under the auspices of the Energy Top Sector.<br />
ANTOON OOSTING<br />
LEARN ABOUT<br />
THE LATEST<br />
DEVELOPMENTS IN<br />
THE WIND INDUSTRY<br />
Together with Erik van Diest, communications<br />
and events employee at the Dutch Wind Energy<br />
Association (NWEA), she is responsible for the<br />
conference programme at this two-day event. What<br />
started in 2007 as a one-day conference for the<br />
members of the NWEA only, has now grown into a<br />
busy two-day event with some thirty two sessions<br />
in which experts and market parties exchange the<br />
most up-to-date knowledge with visitors from<br />
home and abroad.<br />
The growth of the event is thereby in line with<br />
the development of the wind energy sector in the<br />
Netherlands. Actually, it is growing so fast that the<br />
sector is now starting to be seriously concerned<br />
about the expected labour shortage in the sector.<br />
“The current 10,000 workplaces in the wind industry<br />
are expected to potentially grow to 20,000 by<br />
2<strong>02</strong>0, increasing to 50,000 by 2050,” says Stortenbeker.<br />
And these only concern the direct jobs, the<br />
indirect jobs have not even been included.<br />
Stortenbeker: “These will be filled by both practically<br />
and theoretically trained people who often<br />
still have to get trained for this. This is quite a<br />
challenge, but it also offers positive news for those<br />
employees who have seen their jobs in the offshore<br />
oil and gas sector disappear in recent years.<br />
“It is expected that they will need relatively little<br />
training to start working in the wind sector,” says<br />
Stortenbeker.<br />
After an initially rather slow start, the sector is<br />
now going through a considerable acceleration.<br />
Danish energy company Ørsted is busy preparing<br />
for the construction of the Borssele I and II wind<br />
farms, which will commence at the end of 2019. In<br />
December 2016, a consortium of Shell, Eneco, Van<br />
Oord and Mitsubishi won the tender for Borssele<br />
II and IV. On Friday, 6 April, Minister Wiebes for<br />
Economic Affairs and Climate announced that Two<br />
Towers B.V., a company owned by Van Oord Renewable<br />
Finance, Investri Offshore and Green Giraffe<br />
Holding, is the winner of the tender Borssele Innovatiekavel<br />
V. Two experimental wind turbines will<br />
be realised in this tender.<br />
Stortenbeker: “As TKI Wind at Sea, we find this very<br />
important. Wind farms involve enormous investments<br />
where investors are looking to keep their<br />
risks to a minimum. Continuous innovations are<br />
of great importance in order to increase efficiency.<br />
However, in order to keep the risks manageable, it<br />
is very important to be able to test and prove them<br />
before applying them. In this respect, TKI Wind op<br />
Zee would also like to see innovation plots included<br />
in the permits for future wind farm sites off the<br />
coast of Holland.<br />
In the meantime, lots I and II of the wind farm Hollandse<br />
Kust Zuid (740 MW) have also been granted<br />
(to Chinook, subsidiary of Nuon/Vattenfall) and<br />
Hollandse Kust Noord, lot V (700 MW) will follow<br />
next year. The concession for the Hollandse Kust<br />
West (1,400 MW) is scheduled to be issued in 2<strong>02</strong>1.<br />
“The growth of offshore wind makes it that we<br />
need to go into serious talks with all other users of<br />
the North Sea. Stortenbeker: “How can the different<br />
roles mutually enforce each other. For example, a<br />
start has been made on pilot projects for innovative<br />
oyster beds within the boundaries of offshore wind<br />
farms. The wind energy sector is seeking those<br />
types of cooperation.<br />
DISCUSSING THE FUTURE GRID<br />
All these aspects of the realisation of offshore wind<br />
farms are discussed in no less than 32 sessions<br />
spread over the two-day WindDays event. The<br />
issues of integrating and distributing wind energy<br />
in the national grids, for example, are high on<br />
the agenda. After all, how do you get the energy<br />
generated at sea to the customer in the hinterland?<br />
“How do we bring the generation of the electricity<br />
and the consumption together in a network. This<br />
will be a major challenge for the future. Solutions<br />
to these kind of problems will be discussed at the<br />
conference,” says Erik van Diest. I am sure that we<br />
will also discuss the European Commission’s plan<br />
to develop a grid for all the wind farms to be built<br />
in the North Sea. By interconnecting them, the electricity<br />
can be better distributed across the North<br />
Sea countries and parts of the country where it is<br />
needed at that moment.<br />
>><br />
20 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 21
interview<br />
But perhaps another much better solution would<br />
be not to transport the energy generated at sea to<br />
the mainland, but to convert it into clean hydrogen<br />
at sea. For this purpose, old drilling rigs for<br />
pumping up oil and gas could perhaps fulfil a new<br />
role. Or perhaps it will require a new island on the<br />
Dogger Bank for which network manager TenneT<br />
has developed a plan.<br />
OFFSHORE WILL BE SURPASSING ONSHORE<br />
Wind energy at sea is actually still a very young<br />
technology, so there are still many areas for improvement.<br />
And this is necessary, because offshore<br />
wind is simply becoming a very big player, Erik<br />
van Diest observes. We currently have 4.2 MW of<br />
installed onshore capacity and 957 MW offshore.<br />
From 2<strong>02</strong>0 onwards, 700 MW will be added annually<br />
offshore and from 2<strong>02</strong>3, another 1 GW per<br />
year will be added. Ultimately, it will have a greater<br />
capacity than onshore wind. This growth in wind<br />
energy must ensure that the Netherlands reduces<br />
its greenhouse gas emissions of CO 2<br />
by 49% by<br />
2030.<br />
While the sector grows, so are the WindDays. Van<br />
Diest: “This year we have sixty exhibitors and we<br />
expect 2,500 visitors. In 2016, there were 2,000. As<br />
the sector grows, so does the competition. According<br />
to Van Diest, the programme for the WindDays<br />
has been set up ‘for and by’ the industry. And this<br />
industry is quite large in the Netherlands. When<br />
it comes to turbine manufacturers we currently<br />
only have one, Lagerweij, but the Dutch industry is<br />
big in the supply, maintenance and application of<br />
measuring equipment. And in the installation work<br />
Dutch companies such as Van Oord, Boskalis, Seaway<br />
Heavy Lifting and Heerema Marine contractors<br />
(HMC) are even very large. “All turbine manufacturers<br />
are there,” Van Diest assures us; “In addition,<br />
we have a great many SME’s, from software<br />
developers, to project managers in maintenance,<br />
safety, monitoring and adjustment. Van Diest: “New<br />
this year is a Startup-Zone in which five startups<br />
will be able to present themselves to the sector.<br />
One of them has a vertical turbine that causes less<br />
nuisance and a number of small ones that are still<br />
completely new.<br />
In recent years, offshore wind energy has rapidly<br />
become cheaper. “This offers opportunities for<br />
upscaling. However, this is something for which<br />
we are dependent on the scope that the government<br />
provides us. We, as a sector, can in any case<br />
offer more projects if the space is made available,”<br />
says Van Diest. The sector is not dissatisfied with<br />
the government’s cooperation. Van Diest: “The<br />
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate has now<br />
considerably expanded its offshore wind team in<br />
order to be able to roll out wind at sea further in<br />
the coming years. It may take a little more time to<br />
carefully go through all the procedures. But as a<br />
sector we are not dissatisfied with the progress.<br />
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22 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy
EUROPEAN MARKET OUTLOOK<br />
WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong><br />
GILES DICKSON,<br />
CEO WINDEUROPE<br />
‘STABILIZING<br />
REVENUE FROM<br />
WIND IS ESSENTIAL’<br />
The Netherlands and other countries must resist the temptation to invest only in the most sexy<br />
innovative technologies for wind energy, according to Giles Dickson, ceo of WindEurope, who will<br />
be one of the speakers at this year’s Dutch WindDays. There is still a lot of scope for enhancing<br />
existing technologies, which is just as important.<br />
CHRISTIAN JONGENEEL<br />
energy development. Governments are moving<br />
from subsidies to auctions to drive down costs.<br />
Recently we have seen auctions where no subsidy<br />
was required at all. That was certainly spectacular,<br />
but it is important to note that zero cannot be the<br />
norm. Only some developers in some countries<br />
can afford this, specifically in Germany and The<br />
Netherlands, because of their low capital costs and<br />
stable regulation.’<br />
In other words, government spending on wind<br />
energy infrastructure is not about to dwindle<br />
down. It will lower by itself, in any case, because a<br />
lot of money still goes to older facilities, that required<br />
higher subsidies. When these are phased out<br />
the effective subsidy per GW naturally diminishes.<br />
Actually, WindEurope’s annual report already<br />
shows this trend of lowering costs. Although 2017<br />
was a record breaking year for investments that<br />
were announced in terms of capacity for future<br />
projects (11.5 GW) the total investment was<br />
19% lower than in the previous year,<br />
when 10.3 GW reached its final investment<br />
decision. Striking, too, was the<br />
60% drop in investments in offshore<br />
wind, which had been rising for five<br />
years in a row. In contrast, onshore<br />
wind rebounded from a slowdown<br />
the year before.<br />
installing ever larger facilities in the North Sea,<br />
moreover, sparks the imagination. ‘We certainly<br />
will need even larger turbines that can cope<br />
with higher wind speeds’, Dickson acknowledges.<br />
‘Floating offshore wind farms are an interesting<br />
development, and everything that has to do with<br />
storage deserves attention. However, we must resist<br />
the temptation to invest only in the most sexy<br />
Wind energy will remain the<br />
dominant sustainable power<br />
source of the future<br />
innovative technologies for wind energy. There is<br />
a lot of existing technology that deserves attention,<br />
such as better components for wind turbines,<br />
which should lead to lower maintenance cost.’<br />
Even with these caveats the prospects<br />
for wind energy are sunny. As<br />
governments realise that<br />
wind turbines are cheaper<br />
than for instance pv installations,<br />
wind energy<br />
will remain the dominant<br />
sustainable power<br />
source of the future.<br />
The installed base of wind energy is growing at an<br />
unprecedented pace in Europe. By 2030 it is expected<br />
to have surpassed gas powered plants as the<br />
major source of electricity, supplying up to a quarter<br />
of demand. So, there is reason to be optimistic<br />
about the sector. At the same time it is important<br />
not to get carried away by the thrills of success.<br />
There is still a lot of work to do – and nothing will<br />
happen by itself.<br />
‘A binding EU wide target is on its way’, Giles Dickson<br />
says. ‘This will force countries to articulate their<br />
plans. It really is a key moment. Some countries are<br />
underperforming. Eleven countries don’t invest at<br />
all, even though the potential is huge.’<br />
We must resist the temptation<br />
to invest only in the most sexy<br />
innovative technologies for<br />
wind energy<br />
adjusting demand to production will be more and<br />
more common. Still, response capacity will need<br />
to rise from 20 GW nowadays to 100 GW in 2030,<br />
Dickson reckons.<br />
According to WindEurope’s report<br />
on 2017 a record of 15.6 GW in new<br />
wind power installations came into<br />
operation in that year. This brings the<br />
installed base to 168.7 GW, almost one<br />
third of which is Germany’s. Although<br />
it is not among the eleven laggards, The<br />
Netherlands are not a front runner when it<br />
comes to wind energy. The country only contributed<br />
0.5% of European capacity growth in 2017.<br />
Cumulative it is 2.5%, putting The Netherlands in<br />
the tenth position of total installed capacity. When<br />
relating generating capacity to power consumption<br />
The Netherlands drops one place, leaving it below<br />
the European average. Denmark tops that scale<br />
with 44.4% of annual electricity demand covered<br />
by wind.<br />
INNOVATION<br />
‘People, especially in The Netherlands,<br />
are inclined to look mainly at<br />
offshore wind for growth’, Dickson<br />
comments. ‘However, most growth is<br />
onshore and this will remain so. Witness<br />
for instance the recent commitments Akzo,<br />
Philips and Google amongst others made in The<br />
Netherlands to onshore wind for powering<br />
their operations.’<br />
Nevertheless, a focus on offshore wind<br />
is understandable in a country with<br />
a high population density, resulting<br />
in frequent protests against new<br />
projects. The challenges of<br />
This matters, because capacity and distribution<br />
play an important role in integrating wind energy<br />
into the grid. Locally, the availability of wind<br />
energy may be volatile, but there’s always wind<br />
somewhere. With trading capacity moving closer<br />
to the time of production – up to fifteen minutes –<br />
COSTS<br />
One of the factors that needs to be addressed in<br />
order to sustain growth is to offer a steady<br />
financial outlook to investors, Dickson says:<br />
‘It is absolutely essential to stabilize<br />
revenue from wind<br />
Photo by WindEurope / Bickley<br />
24 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 25
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong><br />
go to www.winddays.nl for the most up-to-date programme<br />
26 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 27
Floorplan WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong><br />
28 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 29
STARTUPS IN WIND WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong><br />
The Netherlands is known for its innovative and explorative business culture. Many technological advances have<br />
originated in the Netherlands or from Dutch inventors. This is also the case for the wind industry. Manufacturing,<br />
installation and maintenance techniques, amongst others, have improved rapidly over the years and will do so in<br />
the years to come. While many of these improvements are announced by the larger, well-known players, behind<br />
the scene, there are also many small players working very hard on their innovative concept or service offering.<br />
The WindDays event has provided startups a platform to introduce their services or product to a wider audience.<br />
WindEnergy magazine spoke to 5 startups that will be exhibiting at WindDays.<br />
TULYP WIND<br />
Tulyp Wind is a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) that can provide<br />
a boost to onshore wind. Developer of the turbine is Arkom<br />
Windpower. Eric Pieterse, Project Manager<br />
VERITEQ<br />
VeriteQ is a specialist in Power Quality. So far they<br />
haven’t worked for the wind energy industry, but<br />
that should change. ‘We can find fault causes that<br />
others do not see’, says Jan Verploegen of VeriteQ.<br />
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO OFFER TO THE WIND<br />
INDUSTRY?<br />
‘VeriteQ is a specialist in the field of PQ (Power<br />
Quality) - fault analysis. With our experience and<br />
our PQ failure analyzers we can find PQ failure<br />
causes that others do not ‘see’. The dynamics in<br />
the electricity grid will become much bigger in<br />
the coming period. Coal-fired or a gas-fired power<br />
stations use more or less the same generators and<br />
deliver stable energy production. Wind turbines<br />
and solar collectors work in a very different way. It<br />
is all becoming more complex. If it gets cloudy or<br />
the wind drops, the energy production suddenly<br />
decreases. There’s a lot happening on the grid.<br />
Sometimes failures are only short-lived, and with<br />
wrong analyzers and lack of in-depth knowledge<br />
you miss them. We use PQanalyzers from Outram<br />
research. They already have a lot of experience<br />
with the use of these analyzers in offshore wind.<br />
Knowledge is also very important, a malfunction<br />
can be short-lived, but exists still latent on the net.<br />
A wind turbine fault is shown. The malfunction had already<br />
occurred several times, resulting in production loss. With the PQ<br />
failure analysis it was possible to determine what the cause was<br />
and how to<br />
solve this.<br />
WHAT MAKES YOUR COMPANY DIFFERENT FROM<br />
OTHER COMPANIES?<br />
VeriteQ focuses on PQ failure analysis only, while<br />
larger companies aren’t that specialized. Outram<br />
research, the company we do business with, is<br />
already working in PQ since 1980, so we have very<br />
competent support.<br />
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR THE DUTCH<br />
WIND SECTOR?<br />
Professor Cobben of the Eindhoven University of<br />
Technology told that PQ disturbances will increase<br />
due to the increase in alternative energies.<br />
DOES YOUR OFFER LOWER THE KWH PRICE OF WIND<br />
ENERGY?<br />
That is hard to say. Having to stop a wind turbine<br />
due to faults is of course very expensive. We help<br />
resolving or preventing malfunctions. Politician Ed<br />
Nijpels has said that there will be a rabbit pulled<br />
out of the hat in terms of the costs of climate<br />
measures. The question remains whether the KWh<br />
price will go down.<br />
IN FIVE YEARS, WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A COMPANY?<br />
We have been active for 8 years now, and we are<br />
slowly improving. I am convinced that PQ will become<br />
an increasingly important issue and therefor<br />
work will grow.<br />
CAN YOU SPECIFY YOUR INNOVATION?<br />
A vertical axis wind turbine that is more suitable<br />
for the built environment. It produces less noise,<br />
is less high and has a smaller risk contour, about<br />
a quarter of a standard onshore wind turbine.<br />
This means that the Tulyp Wind turbine is allowed<br />
to be installed in closer proximity of houses<br />
and buildings. It can be better integrated into the<br />
landscape, in port, industrial and urban areas. The<br />
turbine has fixed blades that do not rotate, therefor<br />
minimizing the risk of damage. This means less and<br />
cheaper maintenance.<br />
WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE OVER LARGER ONSHORE<br />
TURBINES?<br />
If you want to use a large wind turbine, please do<br />
so, but many projects fail because the wind turbine<br />
cannot be fitted in the environment. Considering<br />
our turbine produces enough electricity to power<br />
at least 200 households, this is better than no<br />
turbine at al. By comparison, you would need an<br />
area the size of a football field full of solar panels to<br />
produce the equivalent of a Tulyp Wind turbine.<br />
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR THE DUTCH<br />
WIND SECTOR?<br />
Improving acceptance for wind energy on land.<br />
The industry is focussing on offshore wind and<br />
that’s fine, but it is also important to proceed with<br />
onshore wind. The Tulyps could play an important<br />
role in making large infrastructure projects, such<br />
as tunnels or the Afsluitdijk, more sustainable.<br />
IN FIVE YEARS, WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A<br />
COMPANY?<br />
We will have succeeded and the Tulyp is manufactured<br />
on large scale. We will be working on<br />
new applications, for example floating turbines or<br />
turbines that can be fitted on vessels. We will also<br />
be producing different sizes of the Tulyp, a smaller,<br />
backyard-sized version and a larger version of 80<br />
meters that produces 1 MW.<br />
www.tulypwind.com<br />
DOES THE TULYP EFFECT THE KWH PRICE OF WIND<br />
ENERGY?<br />
That is hard to say. The Tulyp makes it possible to<br />
install a wind turbine in areas where normal sized<br />
onshore turbines are not allowed. We calculated<br />
that the Tulyp costs 5 to 7 cents per produced<br />
KWh. This is cheaper than Dutch solar energy, so it<br />
is a good addition to the sustainable energy mix.<br />
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS<br />
• 300kW direct drive generator<br />
• Aerodynamic tulip-shaped foils<br />
• Hub height: 30m<br />
• Tip height: 60m<br />
• Blade span: 28m<br />
30 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 31
STARTUPS IN WIND WINDDAYS <strong>2018</strong><br />
CIRCULAR ENERGY<br />
QLAYERS<br />
Circular Energy plans to build an offshore installation that<br />
produces electricity directly from a gas field and supplies it<br />
via the electricity network at sea, where it can absorb the<br />
fluctuations in the production of wind energy. The CO 2<br />
that is<br />
released, is captured and stored in the gas field. Arnold Groot,<br />
CEO of Circular Energy:<br />
CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOUR TECHNOLOGY?<br />
We intend to supply flexible, CO 2<br />
-free electricity<br />
from natural gas via the electricity network at sea.<br />
This way the offshore electricity network is always<br />
used optimally and stable and fluctuations during<br />
periods of little wind can be absorbed properly, resulting<br />
in a balanced offshore grid. We achieve this<br />
by using an offshore gas-fired power station with<br />
CO 2<br />
capture and storage facility. In concrete terms:<br />
we are building an offshore platform with a gas<br />
extraction installation, a gas-fired power station<br />
and a CO 2<br />
-capture installation on top. The captured<br />
CO 2<br />
is stored in the gas field.<br />
WHAT MAKES YOUR IDEA DIFFERENT FROM OTHER<br />
COMPANIES WHO HAVE TRIED THE SAME?<br />
We do things slightly different and better. Firstly,<br />
Circular Energy properly cleans up the mess, that<br />
is CO 2<br />
, itself. Secondly, we are willing to wait a little<br />
longer for our Return on Investment. By integrating<br />
CO 2<br />
capture and storage into our business model<br />
and by doing everything at sea, our approach<br />
is slightly more expensive. However, we think we<br />
can develop a cost-effective method. Thirdly, we<br />
add value to small gas fields that would otherwise<br />
probably not be exploited.<br />
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR THE DUTCH<br />
WIND SECTOR?<br />
In our view, the biggest challenge lies in providing<br />
security of supply. Wind energy alone can’t offer<br />
it. The technology of Circular Energy makes it<br />
possible to offer flexible and yet very stable clean<br />
energy.<br />
DOES YOUR OFFER LOWER THE KWH PRICE OF WIND<br />
ENERGY?<br />
The average price for a kWh is not reduced by our<br />
plan, but we prevent the price on wind-poor days<br />
from increasing enormously.<br />
Qlayers, a startup from Delft, develops a robot printer for the automatic<br />
application of sharkskin coating, which makes wind turbines work more<br />
efficiently. Josefien Groot, Head of Business Development at Qlayers:<br />
WHAT IS YOUR INNOVATION?<br />
The automated application of a coating with microstructures,<br />
suitable for aircraft and wind turbines.<br />
We are working on the development of a sharkskin<br />
coating which ensures less frictional resistance.<br />
After that, we want to continue with self-cleaning,<br />
self-healing and anti-icing coatings.<br />
WHAT MAKES YOUR PRODUCT DIFFERENT FROM<br />
COMPETITORS?<br />
We actually only have one competitor, Fraunhofer,<br />
a big company. However, their way of applying coatings<br />
differs from how we do it. They use templates,<br />
a kind of rollers. We use a way of 3-D printing<br />
which is much more favourable for complex shapes<br />
such as airplanes and wind turbines. We receive a<br />
lot of interest for our product and we would now<br />
like to enter into a partnership with a wind turbine<br />
manufacturer so that we can test the lifespan of the<br />
coating offshore, for example.<br />
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN WIND ENERGY?<br />
Maintenance will become very important in the<br />
coming period. Installation is now in full swing and<br />
the bill for maintenance will soon come up. For<br />
offshore this will be a hefty bill. I think that is the<br />
biggest challenge until 2030.<br />
WILL YOUR PRODUCT CONTRIBUTE TO REDUCING<br />
THE PRICE PER KWH OF WIND ENERGY?<br />
Yes, by applying a sharkskin microstructure to a<br />
2-megawatt wind turbine, the energy efficiency<br />
can be increased by 6 percent, which results in an<br />
increase in the efficiency of 264,000 kWh per year<br />
(per wind turbine). When applied to larger turbines<br />
the results are even higher. By automating the<br />
coating process, repairs can be carried out more<br />
safely and overspray can be reduced. Currently the<br />
coating is done by hand and sometimes twice as<br />
much paint is used than needed.<br />
IN FIVE YEARS WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A<br />
COMPANY?<br />
Qlayers will be the market leader in the application<br />
of functional coatings. By then we have automated<br />
the coating process for storage tanks, wind turbines<br />
and airplanes. In addition, we will have started<br />
with the application of the shark skin structure on<br />
aircrafts, ships and high-speed trains. Developing<br />
technology takes a lot of time, and our goals are<br />
ambitious but I think these are within reach.<br />
www.qlayers.com<br />
Design of the offshore gas- fired power station<br />
with CO 2<br />
capture and storage facility<br />
IN 5 YEARS, WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A COMPANY?<br />
In five years’ time, our installation will supply<br />
200.000 households with CO 2<br />
-free electricity from<br />
Dutch natural gas. The amount of CO 2<br />
that we<br />
collect annually is roughly equivalent to removing<br />
100,000 cars from the road.<br />
www.circular-energy.nl<br />
32 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 33
STARTUPS IN WIND<br />
ORA OFFSHORE<br />
CUSTOMS<br />
CONSULTANCY<br />
Hadassah Vorm of ORA Offshore Customs Consultancy offers specialized customs<br />
advice to offshore companies, including offshore wind.<br />
WHAT SERVICE DO YOU OFFER THE OFFSHORE WIND<br />
INDUSTRY?<br />
We provide customs advice and arrange customs<br />
documents for the offshore industry. Nowadays<br />
a lot is coming from the offshore wind industry.<br />
Other customs agents also draw up customs documents,<br />
but we go a step further. We give specialized<br />
advice, I hold years of experience in the sector, so<br />
I know all the do’s and don’ts. In many companies,<br />
arranging customs documents is neglected, they<br />
do it at the last moment or leave it to the logistics<br />
service provider. Whereas it can save you a lot of<br />
money if you do manage it properly. For example,<br />
if you built wind turbines in Schiedam that will go<br />
offshore, you’ll have to arrange it so that there will<br />
be zero percent VAT on them.’<br />
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR THE DUTCH<br />
WIND SECTOR?<br />
I find that difficult to answer. As far as customs<br />
processing is concerned, it would be a good thing if<br />
all parties at customs are facing the same direction.<br />
In practice you see differences in attitude between<br />
the different offices. Rotterdam, Vlissingen and<br />
Eemshaven are good examples of how things can<br />
be organized correctly, they facilitate the offshore<br />
sector very well. I always pay attention to this in<br />
meetings between customs and the industry.<br />
DOES YOUR OFFER LOWER THE KWH PRICE OF WIND<br />
ENERGY? HOW MUCH?<br />
No idea, but properly prepared customs documents<br />
simply save money.<br />
COST<br />
REDUCTIONS<br />
BY INTEGRAL<br />
APPROACH<br />
PETER EECEN,<br />
Programme Development Manager Wind Energy<br />
at ECN part of TNO<br />
column<br />
There is less and less debate on the urgency to act on behalf of the climate<br />
and to develop a future CO 2<br />
-free energy system. Such system requires<br />
significant energy savings and massive amounts of renewable energy<br />
such as wind power. The energy transition will have significant impact<br />
on households, industry and society. However, the urgency to make fast<br />
progress is felt by many.<br />
The Dutch climate agreement that is a follow-up of the energy agreement<br />
shows this ambition. The urgency to make large steps in the<br />
energy transition is demonstrated by the ambitious goals to reduce CO 2<br />
emissions by 49% in 2030.<br />
To realize such large reductions within a relatively short period of time<br />
requires bold and ambitious implementation plans. Therefore, the main<br />
priority is to implement, for example, energy savings, gas-free houses<br />
and large wind and solar power plants.<br />
The energy transition is an enormous effort and will take several<br />
decades and requires continuous innovation. Not only does it require<br />
an energy system based on investments in fluctuating sources in the system,<br />
such as conversion to carriers like hydrogen, storage, interconnection,<br />
etc., but the transition after 2030 also requires innovations and new<br />
solutions. An ambitious innovation agenda and a strong implementation<br />
agenda are needed to achieve those ambitious plans.<br />
The energy research activities of the Energy research Centre of the<br />
Netherlands, ECN, have been merged with TNO to create the institute<br />
“ECN part of TNO”. From April 1st, this new institute within the TNO<br />
organization is dedicated to energy-innovation. In the vision of ECN and<br />
TNO the optimal solutions are found by an integral approach. Therefore,<br />
combining the multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise of both organisations<br />
into a new institute ‘ECN part of TNO’ will enable the development<br />
of essential innovations required for the energy transition that will<br />
benefit the CO₂ reduction as well as the Dutch economy.<br />
WHAT DO YOU DO DIFFERENTLY THAN THE BIG<br />
COMPANIES?<br />
The personal approach. I always meet my clients<br />
face to face so I can properly determine what they<br />
need, where there are challenges and how I can<br />
solve these for them. I am 24/7 available. If a vessel<br />
arrives or leaves with goods, I will be available, that<br />
is absolutely a requirement in this sector.<br />
IN FIVE YEARS, WHERE DO YOU STAND AS A<br />
COMPANY?<br />
I am busy scaling up my team with more professionals.<br />
My mission is to have more women working<br />
in the port, so also more women in our company.<br />
Recent tenders for Dutch offshore wind farms have shown amazing<br />
cost reductions; the conditions at the designated sites were so favourable<br />
that a subsidy-free offer has been made and accepted (excluding<br />
grid connection). To enable the shown cost reductions, everywhere in<br />
the supply chain costs will need to be reduced drastically. An effective<br />
measure is the increase in size of wind turbines and the rotors in combination<br />
with substantially higher nominal power: every turbine produces<br />
more and more power. Although these larger wind turbines look similar<br />
from the outside, important technology developments are essential to<br />
realize these larger and larger turbines at lower cost per MW and MWh.<br />
To minimise the risk and maximise the reliability, more accurate design<br />
tools are required because the design limits are approached. In addition,<br />
innovations are required to beat the so called square-cube law. ECN<br />
part of TNO is an attractive partner to assist the development of 10+MW<br />
wind turbines and is involved in prototype development. In-depth knowledge<br />
of aerodynamics for large blades, combined with integral design<br />
capabilities for large, offshore turbine design is key.<br />
A commercially attractive turbine is the result of an integral design<br />
approach. Turbine and wind farm design optimization should take into<br />
account (apart from costs and production) impact on installation, connection<br />
to the grid and operation and maintenance. The turbine should<br />
be designed to minimize the associated costs and maximise the value of<br />
the yield. The combined knowledge of Dutch R&D centres into ‘ECN part<br />
of TNO’ is essential for the integral design optimization.<br />
34 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 35
OFFSHORE NEWS<br />
OFFSHORE NEWS<br />
PONDERA AND ARCADIS TO<br />
INVESTIGATE MOST EFFICIENT<br />
TRANSPORT METHODS FOR<br />
FUTURE OFFSHORE WIND FARMS<br />
By 2030 offshore wind is estimated<br />
to provide up to 40% of the national<br />
power consumption. The Dutch Government<br />
has recently ordered consultancy<br />
companies Pondera and Arcadis<br />
to conduct a strategical study on the<br />
best possible methods to transport<br />
energy from future large-scale offshore<br />
wind farms to the Dutch mainland. The<br />
companies will perform the study in<br />
collaboration with TSO TenneT. In the<br />
study several elements are taken into<br />
consideration, such as environmental<br />
effects, costs and technical feasibility<br />
but also the different possible ways<br />
of relieving the energy grid in case of<br />
high wind peaks offshore and whether<br />
each option is futureproof. The study<br />
will be performed by means of setting<br />
up an assessment framework and<br />
an environmental impact study. The<br />
outcome of the study will contribute<br />
to future assessments of offshore wind<br />
grid connections.<br />
VAN OORD ADDS 3RD SRI<br />
VESSEL TO ITS FLEET<br />
On May 21, Van Oord christened its<br />
new Subsea Rock Installation vessel<br />
Bravenes at the Wilhelminakade in<br />
Rotterdam. The vessel was baptized by<br />
the wife of CEO Pieter van Oord. The<br />
ceremony also resembled the start of a<br />
2-day celebration marking the company’s<br />
150th anniversary.<br />
Bravenes is the third SRI vessel for Van<br />
Oord. They are used for stabilizing and<br />
protecting subsea pipelines, cables and<br />
other constructions at water depths up<br />
to 1,500 metres. A unique feature of<br />
the Bravenes, in its class, is its ability<br />
to install rocks in three different ways;<br />
using the traditional way via a fallpipe<br />
inserted through the moonpool, via<br />
a fallpipe over the side or through a<br />
tremie pipe over the side. This enables<br />
the vessel to install rocks more closely<br />
to the offshore platforms. Another<br />
feature is its ability to install large and<br />
heavy rocks, making it especially suitable<br />
for the offshore wind and cable<br />
industry. The first project will be in<br />
Norway, serving at several projects in<br />
the North Sea.<br />
Photo: Van Oord<br />
NEW TRENCHER DIG-IT<br />
Earlier that month, Van Oord also<br />
announced its new trencher, the Dig-<br />
It. This tracked Remotely Operated<br />
Vehicle (TROV), also known as the Q<br />
Trencher 1600, is used for burying<br />
cables in the seabed at depths up to<br />
3 metres, depending on the configuration<br />
and soil characteristics. It can<br />
be operated in two modes, jetting and<br />
chain cutting, and uses its tracks as<br />
primary way of propulsion. With a total<br />
installed power of 1,200 kW, the Dig-It<br />
is the most powerful in the Q-trencher<br />
series and expands the company’s<br />
cable laying and burial capabilities and<br />
the ability to offer its offshore wind<br />
clients a complete service package.<br />
The Dig-It has now started on its first<br />
project, in the German offshore wind<br />
farm Borkum Riffgrund 2, where it<br />
is mobilised on the offshore support<br />
vessel Rem Saltire. Van Oord’s cable<br />
laying vessel Nexus is doing the installation<br />
work. Cable laying activities are<br />
expected to be completed in July. Van<br />
Oord was awarded the contract from<br />
Ørsted in 2016.<br />
KEEL-LAYING CEREMONY FOR<br />
DAMEN’S 2ND SOV<br />
On 8 May, a keel-laying ceremony<br />
for Damen Shipyards’ second purpose-built<br />
SOV (Service Operations<br />
Vessel) 9<strong>02</strong>0 took place at Damen<br />
Shipyards Galati, in Romania. It is also<br />
the second SOV 9<strong>02</strong>0 for Bibby Marine<br />
Services who received the first one, the<br />
Bibby Wavemaster 1, only last year.<br />
The second Service Operation Vessel<br />
with Walk-to-Work capability only<br />
differs slightly from its sister vessel,<br />
being some changes to the warehousing<br />
layout, removal from the sauna for<br />
more gym space, reconfiguration of the<br />
bridge and a different gangway package<br />
and crane, this time from SMST.<br />
The new vessel is due for delivery in<br />
August 2019 and has been contracted<br />
by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy<br />
and EnBW for maintenance operations<br />
on two wind farms in German waters;<br />
Hohe See and Albatros. The final name<br />
will be announced later.<br />
FCS 2710<br />
Earlier that month, Damen announced<br />
the introduction of a new model to<br />
its Fast Crew Supplier range, the FCS<br />
2710. It retains much of the fundamen-<br />
Photo: Damen<br />
tal design of the successful FCS 2610<br />
that was introduced by the company in<br />
2011, but has been adapted to current<br />
requirements in the offshore energy<br />
industry. For the design of the vessel,<br />
Damen listened to feedback from<br />
several clients and end-users. This<br />
resulted in a vessel that delivers more<br />
flexibility, more tank capacity, greater<br />
deck space, increased comfort and<br />
more accommodation.<br />
The FCS 2710 design retains the twin<br />
hull and axe bow but is one metre longer<br />
and one metre higher than the FCS<br />
2610 and, as a consequence, increased<br />
hull volume and performance ability in<br />
wave heights of above two metres. By<br />
changing the deck layout from a stepped<br />
layout to a levelled one, without<br />
losing desk space for cargo, more passengers<br />
can be fitted, 26 in its standard<br />
configuration. There is also a choice of<br />
propulsion systems with conventional<br />
shafts, water jets, IPS and Voith Linear<br />
Drives available as options.<br />
The first vessel is currently being built<br />
at Damen Shipyards Antalya for its<br />
future owner High Speed Transfers Ltd.<br />
It is due for delivery in July and will<br />
be shown to the public at the Seawork<br />
International event in Southampton<br />
that same month.<br />
ACTA AURIGA STARTS ON<br />
FIRST OFFSHORE WIND<br />
PROJECT<br />
In March Acta Marine welcomed its<br />
new Walk To Work service vessel Acta<br />
Auriga. This latest addition to its fleet<br />
is now working on its first project, at<br />
the 400 MW German wind farm BARD<br />
Offshore 1, located approximately 100<br />
km north of the isle of Borkum in the<br />
German North Sea. It has been chartered<br />
by the wind farm’s owner and<br />
operator Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH<br />
& Co. KG on a two-year contract.<br />
Ocean Breeze Energy will use the Acta<br />
Auriga, via service company REETEC,<br />
for maintenance activities on the wind<br />
farm, which is Germany’s first commercial<br />
offshore wind farm. Since 2015<br />
support vessels are used for maintenance<br />
work on BARD Offshore 1 and<br />
this new vessel is expected to further<br />
optimize the logistics concept. The<br />
new design by Acta Marine and Norwegian<br />
shipyard Ulstein should allow<br />
for more productivity of the personnel,<br />
under safe circumstances. This should<br />
contribute in turn to ensuring and<br />
increasing the technical availability of<br />
the turbines.<br />
The Acta Auriga features a SMST<br />
3D-compensated gangway and 3D-crane<br />
and the special Ulstein X-BOW and<br />
X-STERN hull design. These allow for<br />
safe transfer cargo and personnel at<br />
significant wave heights of up to three<br />
metres. The state-of-art hotel facilities<br />
can accommodate up to 120 persons.<br />
Photo: Acta Marine<br />
BLIX TO PROVIDE EXPERT<br />
SUPPORT FOR SOLI<br />
INVESTIGATIONS ON HOLLANDSE<br />
KUST WEST<br />
In May, the RVO awarded BLIX and<br />
partners an assignment for expert<br />
support for soil investigations for the<br />
offshore wind farm zone Hollandse<br />
Kust West. Along with partners<br />
Reynolds International, Wind Support,<br />
RPS, Periplus and Marine Geological<br />
Advice, BLIX will manage the geophysical<br />
and geotechnical surveys, the<br />
morphodynamical study and perform<br />
the quality check of the soil investigations.<br />
The collected data of the soil,<br />
water and wind conditions in the zones<br />
will be used as information package for<br />
those planning to tender for the wind<br />
site.<br />
US OFFSHORE WIND:<br />
OPPORTUNITIES &<br />
CHALLENGES<br />
During the ‘US Offshore Wind Strategy’<br />
meeting on 16 May interested parties<br />
were informed on the possibilities and<br />
challenges for participation in the US<br />
offshore wind developments. The export<br />
platform meeting was organised<br />
by the IRO, NWEA and HHWE. Invited<br />
speakers were Arjen Schutten (HHWE),<br />
Matthew (Mac) Bernstein (Partner at<br />
DLA Piper LLP (US), Chris van Beek<br />
and Albert Ploeg (Deepwater Wind).<br />
The US had a rough start with the Cape<br />
Wind project which failed in the end<br />
but has learned from its lessons. At<br />
the moment Block Island is the only<br />
operating offshore wind farm but the<br />
prospect for offshore wind is looking<br />
good.<br />
The North East Coast region offers the<br />
best opportunities for offshore wind<br />
due to growing energy demand from<br />
its dense and growing populated areas,<br />
good winds and relatively shallow waters.<br />
Existing facilities are old and will<br />
have to be replaced in the near future<br />
and there is a broad political support<br />
for renewable energy. Massachusetts<br />
requires 1,600 MW form offshore<br />
wind by 2017, New Jersey has set a<br />
goal of 3,500 MW from offshore wind<br />
by 2030, New York seeks 2,400 from<br />
wind energy and Rhode Island has set<br />
a goal of 1,000 MW from clean energy<br />
by 2<strong>02</strong>0.<br />
However, Dutch companies interested<br />
in getting involved in US offshore wind<br />
developments do face some challenges<br />
which they need to take into consideration.<br />
Firstly the supply chain is not<br />
fully in place and the development of<br />
a local industry remains an important<br />
factor. Secondly, the Jones Act offers<br />
limitations for international vessels<br />
operating in US coastal waters. Other<br />
challenges involve available infrastructure,<br />
permitting and Easements and<br />
environmental concerns.<br />
36 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 37
ONSHORE NEWS<br />
GENERAL NEWS<br />
WINDPARK WESTFRISIA REACHES<br />
FINANCIAL CLOSE<br />
Windpark Westfrisia, a project by<br />
Westfriese Windmolencooperatie, will<br />
be located along the Westfrisiaweg<br />
near Zwaagdijk, in the province of<br />
Medemblik. The wind farm consists of<br />
5 turbines which will be delivered and<br />
installed by Enercon. Each turbine, type<br />
E92, has a capacity of 2.3 MW. KWS and<br />
Visser & Smit Hanab are responsible<br />
for the local infrastructure and connection<br />
to a yet to be built power station.<br />
The environmental permit was received<br />
in September last year. The first<br />
construction activities have already<br />
started and the wind farm is expected<br />
to be completed by mid-2019. Windpark<br />
Westfrisia has awarded BLIX with<br />
the construction management scope.<br />
BLIX was already responsible for the<br />
tendering and contract negotiations of<br />
the turbines, civil and electrical works<br />
and the grid connection.<br />
GREEN LIGHT FOR WINDPARK<br />
INDUSTRIETERREIN MOERDIJK<br />
Nuon can start building the wind farm<br />
in Moerdijk. In May, Windpark industrieterrein<br />
Moerdijk got the go-ahead<br />
when the Administrative Jurisdiction<br />
Division of the Council of State declared<br />
all issued appeals against the zoning<br />
plan unfounded. It is not possible to<br />
appeal against the decision. According<br />
to the plan, seven turbines will<br />
be installed along the Westelijke and<br />
Zuidelijke Randweg in the west and<br />
southeast sections of the Zeehaven- en<br />
Industrieterrein Moerdijk. Depending<br />
on the turbine type selection, the wind<br />
farm could have a capacity ranging<br />
from 21 to 35 MW. This is enough to<br />
power at least 24,000 households. Construction<br />
is expected to start in 2019.<br />
The wind farm could become operational<br />
in 2<strong>02</strong>0.<br />
type E-126-EP4 turbines. Each 4.2 MW<br />
turbine has a height of 135 metres and<br />
a rotor diameter of 127 metres. The<br />
project is financed by a consortium<br />
of ABN AMRO Bank, Rabobank and<br />
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.<br />
Once fully operational, the wind farm<br />
could provide electricity to over 24,000<br />
households. A 16-year PPA was signed<br />
with Eneco Group. The two companies<br />
worked together on wind projects in<br />
the Netherland before.<br />
PROVINCE OF SOUTH HOLLAND<br />
INTRODUCES INTERACTIVE WIND<br />
MAP<br />
The province of South Holland has set<br />
a target to install 735.5 MW of onshore<br />
wind up to 2<strong>02</strong>0. At the moment it has<br />
realised about half of its ambitions.<br />
In the next few years, existing, old<br />
turbines are replaced and new turbines<br />
are added. For interested parties the<br />
Province has now developed an interactive<br />
wind map detailing the locations<br />
of existing and planned wind farms and<br />
the project developers.<br />
MINI TURBINE INSTALLED ON<br />
NOISE BARRIER<br />
so-called ‘Energy Wall’ should consists<br />
of replaceable panels that each hold a<br />
different function, such as generating<br />
energy from wind or solar or filtering<br />
particulate matter. During a year it<br />
will be investigated what the options<br />
are for integrating wind energy in the<br />
noise barrier. Measurement equipment<br />
were already fitted to the existing noise<br />
barrier to investigate the main wind<br />
directions and forces.<br />
Based on the results from those<br />
measurements, a mini wind turbine, the<br />
Windleaf, was selected to be installed<br />
on the existing noise barrier. It will be<br />
tested for a maximum of 3 months to<br />
measure the level of noise production<br />
and how much energy is produced.<br />
Part of the test is to see whether wind<br />
against the noise barrier is pushed up,<br />
producing higher wind speeds on top<br />
of the barrier. The outcome should help<br />
define whether installing a small wind<br />
turbine is an effective solution, technically,<br />
economically and socially. A second<br />
Windleaf is installed in a meadow<br />
nearby to compare results.<br />
Photo: Province of South Holland<br />
will strive to announce the winners<br />
before the summer.<br />
10 MW WIND TURBINE TO BE<br />
INSTALLED ON TWEEDE MAAS-<br />
VLAKTE<br />
The city council of Rotterdam, in its<br />
attempt to stimulate the development<br />
of wind in the region, is planning to<br />
build a 10 MW wind turbine on the<br />
Tweede Maasvlakte. The turbine should<br />
be able to provide electricity to around<br />
8,000 households. The Council is now<br />
investigating if the location is suitable<br />
for the installation of such a big<br />
turbine. It expects that the construction<br />
of the turbine could be completed next<br />
year, provided the permits are in place<br />
shortly. The first two years will be used<br />
to test the turbine. After that, it can<br />
be fully implemented in the grid. The<br />
name of the turbine manufacturer has<br />
not been released by the Council.<br />
SUBSIDY SCHEMES FOR ENERGY &<br />
CLIMATE TO OPEN ON JULY 2<br />
On July 2nd several subsidy schemes<br />
for energy and climate innovation will<br />
open. The schemes are initiated to<br />
make the Netherlands more clean and<br />
economically stronger. The scheme<br />
round is divided in several areas:<br />
chemical recycling of plastics, MVI (Socially<br />
responsible innovating) Energy,<br />
Geo-energy, hydrogen, CCUS (Carbon<br />
Capture, Utilisation and Storage) and<br />
system integration on the North Sea.<br />
For the latter it concerns the integration<br />
of large quantities of offshore wind<br />
energy into the national grid at socially<br />
acceptable prices. Related themes are<br />
ways of transport, energy storage and<br />
tuning of supply and demand.<br />
The scheme is administrated by<br />
the RVO, by order of the Ministry of<br />
Economic Affairs and Climate and the<br />
Ministry of Infrastructure and Water<br />
Management.<br />
RUUD SONDAG NEW CEO ENECO<br />
GROUP<br />
On 25 May Eneco announced the<br />
official appointment of Ruud Sondag as<br />
new CEO of Eneco Groep NV. He will be<br />
replacing Jeroen de Haas as of immediately.<br />
In the press release Sondag<br />
stated that his highest priorities are to<br />
continue the Group’s leading position<br />
in the energy transition, and the<br />
privatisation process. Sondag was CEO<br />
of waste processing company Van Gansewinkel<br />
Group for eleven years and<br />
was shareholder at recycling company<br />
Scherpenzeel. In addition, he holds<br />
several supervisory board positions,<br />
at, amongst others, ProRail and Faber<br />
Halbertsma Group.<br />
Photo: Eneco Group<br />
FINANCIAL CLOSE FOR WINDPARK<br />
SPUI<br />
On May 2, Japanese Eurus Energy<br />
Group and developer YARD ENERGY<br />
announced that financial close was<br />
reached for the 21 MW Windpark<br />
Spui. The onshore wind farm is located<br />
along the Spui between the cities of<br />
Nieuw-Beijerland and Piershil, in the<br />
municipality of Korendijk in South<br />
Holland. It will consist of five Enercon,<br />
At the end of <strong>2018</strong> maintenance works<br />
will take place on the N470, in the<br />
province of South Holland. Part of the<br />
works is replacing the existing noise<br />
barrier between the entranceway A13<br />
and the residential area Emerald with<br />
a new one. It is here where the Province<br />
wants to explore whether the new<br />
barrier could not only reduce noise<br />
but also produce energy, as part of a<br />
project called ‘N470 Geeft Energie’. The<br />
LATEST SDE ROUND NOT FULLY<br />
USED<br />
In total, around 5.3 of the 6 billion<br />
available was applied for. With the exception<br />
of the applications for solar PV,<br />
the applications per technology were<br />
significant lower, especially for onshore<br />
wind. For onshore wind, 47 applications<br />
for a combined total of 68 MW<br />
were received, resembling a subsidy<br />
amount of 150 million euro. The RVO<br />
38 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy<br />
WindEnergy 2-<strong>2018</strong> 39
Smart Maritime Technology <strong>2018</strong><br />
Disruptive Technology in the Maritime Sector<br />
windcijfers<br />
2005<br />
2010<br />
<strong>2018</strong><br />
Wind energy installed power in the Netherlands<br />
VNAB<br />
Rotterdam<br />
14 June <strong>2018</strong><br />
WIND ENERGY<br />
Q4-17 & Q1-18<br />
ONSHORE<br />
3.292MW<br />
2.017 wind turbines<br />
Commissioned in Q4 2017 and Q1 <strong>2018</strong><br />
!( 3 MW<br />
!( 4,2 MW<br />
Decommissoned in Q4 2017 and Q1 <strong>2018</strong><br />
.D
agenda<br />
13 & 14 JUNE, ROTTERDAM<br />
WindDays <strong>2018</strong><br />
www.winddays.nl<br />
19 & 20 JUNE, MANCHESTER, UK<br />
Global Offshore Wind<br />
events.renewableuk.com<br />
25 & 26 JUNE, NANTES, FR<br />
Eole Industrie <strong>2018</strong><br />
www.eole-industrie.fr<br />
28 JUNE, KOUDEKERKE<br />
North Sea Offshore Ports<br />
www.northseaoffshoreports.com<br />
3 - 5 JULY, SOUTHAMPTON, UK<br />
Seawork International<br />
www.seawork.com<br />
21 - 23 AUGUST, BREMEN, DE<br />
Offshore Substations <strong>2018</strong><br />
www.offshore-windpower-substations.iqpc.<br />
de<br />
25 - 28 SEPTEMBER, HAMBURG, DE<br />
WindEnergy Hamburg<br />
www.windenergyhamburg.com<br />
4 OCTOBER, ROTTERDAM<br />
Innovation Expo<br />
www.innovatie-estafette.nl<br />
16 & 17 OCTOBER, WASHINGTON, USA<br />
Offshore WINDPOWER<br />
www.awea.org<br />
22 - 24 OCTOBER, AMSTERDAM<br />
Offshore Energy<br />
www.offshore-energy.biz<br />
30 OCTOBER, ABERDEEN, UK<br />
Floating Offshore Wind <strong>2018</strong><br />
www.renewableuk.com<br />
31 OCTOBER, ABERDEEN, UK<br />
Cables <strong>2018</strong><br />
www.renewableuk.com<br />
27 NOVEMBER, EDINBURGH, UK<br />
Onshore Wind Energy <strong>2018</strong><br />
www.renewableuk.com<br />
MORE INFORMATION ON<br />
WWW.WINDENERGIE-<strong>MAGAZINE</strong>.NL<br />
42 2-<strong>2018</strong> WindEnergy
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