RWE has begun to produce power for the first time at the Zuidwester wind farm in the Netherlands, parts of which are still being built.
50 turbines originally installed on the dyke along the banks of the Ijsselmeer are being replaced by 12 large new turbines in a €150m, 90MW investment.
The first of 12 Enercon onshore wind turbines has started to produce power and been successfully put into operation. The new turbines are the largest in the world, 135m high with a capacity of 7.5MW
Each new turbine is able to generate as much electricity as all 50 turbines that were used previously combined.
RWE Innogy chief executive Hans Bunting said: “Between 1987 and 1991, the wind farm at this excellent site was not only our largest wind project, but also the largest of its kind in Europe with 50 turbines and a total capacity of 15 megawatts.
We are now building the Zuidwester wind farm with twelve turbines and a total capacity of 90 megawatts, which again makes it one of RWE’s largest wind farms. Technological progress is taking on concrete form here.”
Image: First tower up at Zuidwester (RWE)
