The Netherlands now has the biggest freshwater wind farm on the planet. It’s referred to as Windpark Fryslân and has 89 wind generators producing sufficient electrical energy to energy about half one million properties.
World’s largest freshwater wind farm
Windpark Fryslân started development in 2020, and, by the autumn of 2021, was already producing energy. In 2022, the wind farm generated 1.236 terawatt hours. And its builders anticipate it should attain 1.5 terawatt hours yearly. That’s roughly 1.2 % of the all of the electrical energy used within the Netherlands. It’s sufficient to energy round 500,000 properties.
Hexagonal windfarm meets power and environmental necessitieshttps://t.co/Ja5jbMCuBK#NearshoreWind #Netherlands #WindparkFryslân pic.twitter.com/Pj7Jr2HMF0
— Wescott Group Ltd (@LtdWescott) November 21, 2019
Establishing the wind farm
Establishing a wind farm in a lake (Lake IJssel within the central Netherlands) was difficult, to say the least. However the Netherlands has expertise with constructing dikes and dams for flood control. One of many firms that helped construct the wind farm, Van Oord, mentioned:
A significant constraint was the scale of ships that may very well be used to move development supplies and turbine parts to the positioning. The vessels needed to each match via the locks within the dike and function within the shallow waters of the lake.
As well as, putting in the rotors, that are 130 meters (430 toes) in diameter, required discovering home windows of relative calm in a naturally windy place.
So, ultimately, they efficiently constructed two units of locks, considered one of which is situated on the tiny village of Kornwerderzand, which was constructed on a man-made island created in the course of the dam’s development. The world is now additionally a hen and nature sanctuary. Moreover, this small island is about 5 acres (2 hectares) surrounded by 60 acres (25 hectares) of shallow water that may be a habitat for fish.
So the Dutch now have a wind farm producing power and a brand new wildlife behavior. And so they intend to make use of the realm for different leisure actions. For instance, this fall, Windpark Fryslân will host a crusing race that weaves via the turbine.
It’ll be referred to as the Windmill Cup.
Backside line: Windpark Fryslân is the biggest freshwater wind farm on the planet and might generate sufficient energy to run about 500,000 properties within the Netherlands.
Read about the London Array, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, situated 12 miles (20 km) from England’s Kent and Essex coasts within the Thames Estuary, the place the River Thames meets the North Sea.
