RWE begins Zuidwester wind farm construction in the Netherlands

RWE has begun construction of the Dutch Zuidwester wind farm along the dyke on IJsselmeer.

In order to make optimum use of the site, 12 Enercon-supplied wind turbines of the 7.5MW class will be installed at the wind farm with a planned total capacity of 90MW.

Deputy from the Province of Flevoland Marc Witteman said, "This project is a good example of what we call the ‘Flevoland method’."
The wind farm is scheduled to be commissioned in 2017 while the investment totals more than €150m.

RWE Innogy CEO Dr Hans Bünting said, Just one of the Zuidwester systems will be able to produce as much electricity as all the 50 systems of the still existing wind farm taken together."

Essent CEO Erwin van Laethem said that the marvellous project will help achieve the Dutch targets for the development of renewable energies.

"Zuidwester will be able to supply 80,000 residential households annually with green power," Laethem added.

"This has become possible because political and economic partners have been working together hand in hand. This is how we can make the energy transition a success."

The towers construction will begin in early 2015 alongside the cables and electrical work.

The Dutch government aims to grow the share of renewable energies to 14% by 2020 in the Dutch electricity mix.

A part of the Dutch Noordoostpolder wind power project, the RWE’s Zuidwester wind farm will supply sustainable energy to 400,000 residential households in the future.