Vattenfall opens largest onshore wind farm

Today will see the official opening of Vattenfall’s Zuidlob wind farm in the central part of the Netherlands. With its 36 turbines and a total of 122 MW of installed capacity, it will be Vattenfall’s largest onshore wind farm and will supply 88,000 households with renewable electricity annually. The investment cost is SEK 1.4 billion.

The construction of Zuidlob was rapid. Work on the project did not start until the end of 2011 and the first unit was connected to the grid only four months after construction began.

“I’m pleased for several reasons: Zuidlob was completed in only 17 months, on time and in budget, which helps fulfil Vattenfall’s ambitions in the area of renewable energy and its financial targets,” says Peter Smink, Head of Sustainable Energy Projects at Vattenfall.

The initial plans for the construction of a wind farm in Zuidlob were drawn up back in 1998 by 63 landowners in the area. But it wasn’t until 2005 that the plans became reality and the local authority, the provincial government and the landowners together launched a pilot project known as Zuidlob.
The then Nuon signed a partnership agreement for Zuidlob in 2008 and was given the task of building the wind farm.

Vattenfall is one of the pioneers of wind energy in the Netherlands and has been active in the wind energy sector since 1982. It currently supplies around 15 per cent of the total wind energy generated in the Netherlands. The energy is generated by 24 onshore wind farms with a total of 234 turbines which generate in total an annual 0.8 TWh of renewable electricity or enough electricity for 200,000 households.

Over the last six years Vattenfall has invested SEK 40 billion in wind energy and this year it has decided to invest in four new facilities in Europe.

With its official opening today, the wind farm will change its name to Princess Alexia Wind Farm.

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