Vattenfall is to repower the community owned 38MW Jaap Rodenburg wind farm in the Netherlands.
The wind farm, located in Almere-Pampus in the province of Flevoland, is owned by energy cooperative Almeerse Wind.
After the repowering is complete in early 2021 it will feature 10 wind turbines, two of which will be owned by Almeerse Wind.
Vattenfall construction project manager Hidde Seidel said: “It’s a unique project.
“Almeerse Wind will generate its own energy with two of the 10 turbines.
In addition, local residents were given permission to decide the location of the wind turbines and a local construction company, Reimert Bouw en Infrastructuur, will take care of the construction of the wind farm prior to the installation of the wind turbines.”
In 2000, the first wind turbines were installed near Almere.
Vattenfall asset development manager Joost de Gooijer said:
“Vattenfall will take responsibility for the development of the wind farm, Almeerse Wind for the support for the farm.
“It is a sympathetic initiative: we are helping to make it possible for residents of Almere to benefit from the wind farm in the future.”
“In the coming years we will see more of these kinds of initiatives in which we develop and operate part of a wind farm through local ownership. We will therefore work more often with local owners in the development of wind farms and this project is a good opportunity to gain experience.”
Residents from the various residential areas surrounding the initiative in Almere were given the opportunity to discuss the location of the wind turbines.
The municipality of Almere conducted a digital survey among 15,000 addresses, where residents were asked about four alternative variants for the location of the wind turbines.