It is possible to install an offshore wind-turbine without the use of a sophisticated but expensive self-lifting sea-jack ship, like the Aeolus (see video at the bottom of this post). During installation the ship is held in place with the DP-2 dynamic positioning system.
The Netherlands has a rich tradition in exploiting wind energy, reaching back to the 17th century. However in modern times no Dutch big names operate in the wind energy sector. This probably has to do with the huge natural gas reserves that were discovered in the sixties and of course with the presence of Royal Dutch Shell. But smaller wind turbine builders do exist in the Netherlands: Lagerwey.
Sif Group in Roermond, the Netherlands, has been awarded to deliver all required 32 monopiles of 1,000 ton each, carrying 6.2M152 turbines. The new windpark Borkum-II will be located in the German sector of the North Sea and will have a nameplate power of 203 MW.
Gemini, that’s the two tiny trapezoids at the top of the map, measuring together merely 68 km2. In the Dutch part of the North Sea there is enough space for many, many Gemini’s more, in theory 57,000/68=838 more or 503 GW nameplate power, that could not only easily provide the Dutch electricity needs for 100% (Dutch average electricity consumption is 12.7 GW), but additionally could turn the Netherlands in a significant electricity exporter to the rest of the EU. Average EU electricity consumption 342 GW. Note that the Dutch part is only 25% of the 200,000 km2 North Sea that cold be utilized for fixed (monopile-based) wind turbines, amounting to, in theory, 2,000 GW nameplate wind power. If you divide that number by two to account for variability and maintenance, you arrive at 1,000 GW, which is still three times the EU current electricity consumption. Note that there is also the Irish Sea and Baltic with plenty of opportunity.
Dutch part Continental Shelf of the North Sea, with 57,000 km2 larger than the Netherlands itself (41,543 km2).
Live data from the with 600 MW (currently) 2nd largest offshore wind farm in the world: Gemini in the Dutch part of the North Sea.
Damen Shiprepair yard at Schiedam in the Netherlands has been awarded to carry out the upgrading of the Van Oord Aeolus offshore wind installation vessel. The existing 900 tonnes crane will be replaced by a 1,600 tonnes LEC (Leg Encircling Crane) in order for the Aeolus to be able to install larger wind turbines. Work is to begin in September 2017 and the upgraded vessel will be operational in Spring 2018.
The Aeolus was previously active in offshore wind projects Gemini, Luchterduinen and in the Irish Sea and will take on new projects after her upgrade like offshore windfarm Borssele 3 & 4 in the Netherlands and Norther in Belgium.
[vanoord.com] – Van Oord signs contract for modification offshore installation vessel Aeolus
[Google Maps] – Damen Shiprepair Schiedam
Largest electric bus fleet in Europe, made in Eindhoven, driving in Eindhoven. The buses are so quiet that they are equipped with a tram bell.
Dutch 18:00 News: by 2025, all 5000 buses in the Netherlands will be electric. Today 43 electric buses are operational in the Southern city of Eindhoven, and 41 elsewhere in the Netherlands. Later this year 100 electric buses will be driving in the Haarlem-Schiphol Airport region. World-wide the Netherlands is second, behind China, in promoting electric bus transport. The comfort level is higher as with petrol driven buses and much more quiet.
[nos.nl] – Nederland loopt voorop in elektrisch busvervoer
[vdlbuscoach.com] – VDL Bus & Coach introduces the Citea LLE Electric
[vdlbuscoach.com] – Citea Low Floor Electric (SLF Electric)
[wikipedia.org] – VDL Bus Chassis
E-bikes are a serious alternative for the car to bridge commuting distances. The “problem” is: some of these e-bikes are simply too fast to be treated as a bike in normal traffic. In the Netherlands the average ‘back and forth’ commuting distance is 32 km. With the advent of 45 kmh e-bikes you can easily bridge this distance, even without sweating and get your necessary daily exercise in the process.
New legislation in the Netherlands has now categorized “speed pedelecs” as moped’s and as a consequence banned them from the Dutch bicycle lanes, you need a moped drivers licence and helmets are now obligatory.
[trouw.nl] – Ruim baan voor de supersnelle fiets helpt ook de trage trapper
There is an alternative for choosing between buying kWh’s from your utility company, with a few % “green electricity added to the mix” or having solar panels on your own roof, namely running your own small energy company with a few hundred neighbors.
An example of this approach is “Zonneweide Bergen” (“solar meadow”) in Bergen in the Netherlands.
Area: 1.9 hectare Panels: 9.234 of 125 Watt Power: 1.15 MW (peak) Financial return: 5-6% (possibly 8-9%) CO2 reduction: 635 ton/year Lifespan: 25 years Share unit: 870 euro or 6 panels Payback time: 10 years Max. share: 15-25 units
Precondition: you need to live in the ZIP-code area of the solar meadow.
At least 15 years energy tax reduction.
Capital: 20% private participants, 80% bank loan, to be paid back from kWh’s in 10 year.
Customer electricity: grid
Upshot: after 10 years the installation has paid itself back and the remaining 15+ years of free electricity are yours. It is a safe investment of 5-6%/year or more in case of increasing electricity prices.
[bergenenergie.nl] – Zonneweide Bergen Fase 2
[trouw.nl] – Een blauwe zonneweide maakt Bergen weer een stukje groener
[trouw.nl] – Zonneweide Bergen staat klaar voor mooi weer
[duurzaambouwloket.nl] – Bouw Zonneweide Bergen Begonnen
[Google Maps] – Location: Bergerweg, Bergen, the Netherlands
Over-fishing is a real problem in the modern world. A lot of fish is used for the production of protein, to be used for instance as food for animals. That protein can be obtained from another unexpected source: insects. There are about 1400 edible insects in the world. To name a few: crickets, cockroaches, worms, fruit flies, moths… Are you still there? These insects can produce high quality protein, suitable for humans as well. Europeans currently refuse to eat insects, but Africans and Asian do. Insects are cold-blooded so they don not need food to keep their body temperature high.
A big plus of insect farming: no harmful methane production. Operating farm temperature: 28 degrees Celsius. Regarding efficiency:
Insects are nutrient efficient compared to other meat sources… For every 100 grams of substance crickets contain 12.9 grams of protein, 121 calories, and 5.5 grams of fat. Beef contains more protein containing 23.5 grams in 100 grams of substance, but also has roughly 3 times the calories, and four times the amount of fat as crickets do in 100 grams. So, per 100 grams of substance, crickets contain only half the nutrients of beef
Farming method (crickets):
Crickets are usually housed in small (4′ x 8′) containers, furnished with simple items like egg cartons to provide shelter. Heat is a necessity for breeding crickets as they require temperatures around 90° Fahrenheit. House crickets live up to about eight weeks. Until they are twenty days old they are fed high protein animal feed, most commonly chicken feed, that contains between 14% and 20% protein. In the days before harvesting the crickets at around forty to fifty days old, they are often fed various vegetables, fruits and other plant matter. This is done to improve the taste of the insects and reduce the use of expensive, high protein animal feed. Crickets are normally killed by deep freezing, where they feel no pain and are sedated before neurological death. In some parts of the world crickets are baked or boiled.
[protix.eu] – Protix home page
[wikipedia.org] – Entomophagy (insects as food)
[wikipedia.org] – Insect farming
[thrillist.com] – We dare you to eat these 8 insect recipes
[fao.org] – Environmental opportunities for insect rearing for food and feed
[journals.plos.org] – Article expressing slight skepticism.
The Dutch national news reported today that there is a spectacular growth in demand for corporate solar installations in the Netherlands, measured by subsidy applications: 1 billion euro in the 2nd half of 2016 and 3.2 billion so far in 2017.
The demand is so high that China is unable to deliver the required quantity and now the production of solar panels will return to the Netherlands, where it left Europe completely since recently the last German manufacturer SolarWorld went bust. China has always massively supported the buildup of a domestic solar sector, but Europe not so much.
The knowledge of building solar panels has always been present in the Netherlands, that preferred to build solar panel factory lines for export, rather than operating these lines themselves. The Frisian company Powerfield will build a new factory in the Groningen province that will produce 1 million panels per year, half of them for the construction of large “in-house” solar parks.
So far 2% of Dutch electricity production originates from solar, but this is expected to increase rapidly soon. With solar system payback time of 7-9 years, followed by 20 years of free electricity, investing in solar panels gives far more return than leaving money in a savings account.
[nos.nl] – Straks weer ‘made in Holland’ zonnepanelen
[powerfield.nl] – Powerfield home page
Exasun produces solar panels like roof tiles in the Netherlands as as niche product. Works with German and Belgian parts only.
Rain and wind are big in the Netherlands and few foreigners will visit the country for a beach holiday. Nevertheless, a family from the city of Eindhoven, home of the Technical University TUE, was invited to test a car, designed and produced at the TUE, entirely driven by solar energy.
A predecessor model of this solar car won the Solar Challenge Race in Australia:
[deepresource] – TU Eindhoven Wins Solar Challenge 2013 (Cruisers)
Operation: ocean vertical temperature gradient of 25 degrees Celsius. Continuous production of electricity has been demonstrated in pilot projects, like Hawaii 210 kW plant between 1993-1998. Minimum capital cost: 6$/Watt for a 50 MW plant. If only 10 km offshore, $4.2/Watt and $0.07/kWh is achievable. Hawaii could generate 100% of its electricity needs from OTEC.
2 billion hectare, that’s 20 million km2 or twice the US or 2/3 of Africa or more than Russia including Siberia. Currently the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is 2.13 billion ton, in the ocean it is 38 billion ton. The carbon ratio atmosphere/vegetation is 750/560. Regarding vegetation, most carbon is stored in trees. In other words, if 20 million km2 vegetation could be added to the planet, this would significantly reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
[rtlz.nl] – Land Life Company krijgt 2,4 miljoen om nóg meer bomen te planten
The company has collected 2.4 million euro internationally to expand its tree planting business. The biodegradable donut contains 25 liter of water, of which half a cup per day is fed via (capillary) “fuses” to the plant. For a few months the box is a “lifeline” for the plant, after that the plant is on its own. The trick is to plant a few thousand trees that form a “community” that offers shelter to each other. In 2016 50,000 trees were planted, this year it should be several hundreds of thousand. The aim is for hundreds of millions. Expansion of production in Mexico and China is planned, where currently all boxes are manufactured in Germany. Local production is desired though. Price cocoon 8 euro and decreasing. After two years the box is gone. A lot of volunteers use the cocoon from an idealistic motivation. Next three “Central Park sized” projects underway in Mexico, Spain and California. So far 2 billion hectare degraded land (US + China together), with one Greece added to that amount every year, but that can be upgraded again.
In a not too distant past (until ca. 2003 after which Asia took over), Rotterdam was the largest harbor in the world, thanks to its very advantageous location in the Rhine and Maas river delta, potentially servicing a European Hinterland of 500 million people. These folks from Rotterdam are no strangers to prestige projects.
In order to cope with the ever growing flow of goods, Rotterdam acquired a new piece of reclaimed land in the North Sea, called “Tweede Maasvlakte” (“Second Maas River Plain”).
Construction Tweede Maasvlakte since 2009
Last year the Rotterdam Greens party proposed to use the Tweede Maasvlakte to realize an extremely ambitious renewable energy project: building 250m high mega-wind turbines of 50 MW each. Note that the largest wind turbines on earth and currently in test phase can generate 8 MW max.:
The Rotterdam municipality accepted the plan. The point is: where to get 50MW windturbines? Enter the University of Virginia and wind-turbine giants General Electric and Siemens. These parties are working on a wind-turbine concept called Segmented Ultralight Morphing Rotor (SUMR), see video above. It will take quite a few years though for this concept to mature, no doubt to the relief of the treasurer of the city of Rotterdam.
[arpa-e.energy.gov] – University of Virginia (UVA) – 50 MW Segmented Ultralight Morphing Rotors for Wind Energy
[gizmodo.com] – Gigantic Wind Turbine With 650 Foot Blades Will Channel the Power of Hurricanes
[cleantechnica.com] – Mammoth 50 MW Wind Turbine Blades Could Revolutionize Offshore Wind In US
[Google Maps] – Location “Tweede Maasvlakte”
No this is not the beginning of the end of offshore wind energy, it is merely a sign of the wind energy sector achieving maturity. After 22 years of service these four wind turbines of 0.5 MW each with sub-optimal 2-blades, located in Medemblik in the North-West of the Netherlands had reached economic end of life and had become an embarrassement and were standing in the way. Youtube text:
Nuon has dismantled four offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 2 MW at the Lely wind farm in Ijsselmeer, some 600 metres off the port of Medemblik. The wind farm has been in service for 22 years and is the first offshore wind farm operated by Nuon to be decommissioned and dismantled. Nuon decided to decommission the wind farm as it was approaching the end of its operating life and was becoming less profitable. Watch the time lapse video of the dismantling which was completed in three weeks.
New massive wind-parks are planned/realized for the neighboring Wieringermeer:
