Report of Excursion Wind Farm and Solar Farm Weert 6 June 2023

Opening, welcome

After the reception with coffee, tea and Limburg flan, Richard Overkamp welcomed the visitors on behalf of KIVI Elektrotechniek. There are many people from Limburg and North Brabant, but also people from Gelderland, South Holland and someone from Drenthe.

About Weert Energie - Henk Lambrichts

Mr Henk Lambrichts, in his role as board member of Weert Energie, explained the goals and activities of the energy cooperative.

Energy transitions ambitions municipality of Weert (Energy Transition Roadmap, adopted 2021).

  • 2030 'everything' prepared to phase out natural gas

  • 2040 stop using natural gas in Weert (10 years earlier than national ambition)

The first solar farm and the Wind Farm were financed by a deposit from Weert Energie members and a bank loan. The new solar farm would not have a good financial business case with the current higher 6% interest rate for partial bank financing. Full financing through the members of Weert Energie did make it happen. Interest on the loan is 3.6% and the participating members also get their share from profits on electricity sales.

Through the SamenOM, energy can be supplied to residents in Weert. This is a mix of green power generated by solar farm(s) and wind farm in Weert and supplementary electricity purchased on the market (because of the incommensurability of generation and use).

In the Knowledge Platform, several members are looking at the availability and applicability of innovations in Weert (batteries, hydrogen, heat grid, very low temperature heat grid).

At the Altweerterheide solar farm, good landscaping has already been taken into account, including 0.5 ha sown with herb-rich flowers and plants and space under the fences for small animals. Under the panels is grass through, also serves as a wadi (rainwater collection).

Weert Energie is 50% owner of the NEW cooperative with 2 members (also Eneco) that owns Windpark Weert BV.

Weert Wind Farm - Henk Lambrichts

Four turbines were initially included in the plan. The westernmost turbine was dropped. This is because in this area there are fen areas on the north and south sides of the A2 where birds fly back and forth between them (and could too often collide with the turbine); the A2 runs right through the middle of it.

There are always residents near a Wind Turbine. The site was in principle already in the picture because few people live nearby. The Regional Energy Strategy 1.0 (RES) process had identified the site as a candidate for wind turbines.

Before the location of the turbines was determined, discussions were held with all landowners/residents in the area on how an amount of €150,000 per year - independent of the rent of the land - should be divided between people living or working near and further away (up to 500m) from the turbines. After discussions, this was established. It was then investigated what would be the most favourable locations of the turbines due to technical arguments (including temporary adjustments for installation and removal). Based on this, contracts with compensation were drawn up with those affected.

In addition, an amount of €1 per MWh (i.e. around €30,000 per year) is paid into an environment fund. Organisations in a circle with a radius of 3km from the Wind Farm have been approached, a foundation has been set up and a board elected. The funds are spent on social causes, if possible in the field of energy saving or topics positive for the environment or nature.

Through projects at primary schools, wind energy has been brought to the attention of children and, consequently, their parents. An artist incorporated winning ideas from children into a work of art. This was commissioned by Windpark Weert BV.

To prevent cast shadow from the blades near the one house north of the A2 motorway (600m away), Turbine2 is stopped in the winter period (with low sun position and long shadow) as long as the cast shadow would reach the house.

The turbines screen out some of the radar contact needed for flight guidance at low flight altitudes (from Nieuw Millingen in the Veluwe). The division of guidance between Belgium and the Netherlands resolved this.

Permit was finally fixed at the Council of State. This set the tip height at 200m (length of mast + vertical blade). Four years ago, there were only 2 turbines that met this. Bert ten Haaf: For ISDE subsidy, a tool from RVO must be used that knows the wind strengths for the intended location and height, and the MWh annual yield is prognosticated.

Lifetime: for dismantling after 25 years of operation, money is now set aside each year for dismantling. Blades: balanced as a set of 3, annual blade inspection to quickly identify possible damage from rain and hail.

Explanation by Henk on the slides of construction was added on the slides.

Break

Solar park Leveroysedijk/Galgenbergweg Weert - Bert ten Haaf

Weert Energie owns 50% of the NEW cooperative with 2 members (also Eneco) that owns Windpark Weert BV.

Explanation by Henk on the slides of the construction is added on the slides.

Additional information from WeertEnergie on kivi.nl

Weert Energie told about the Wind Farm in an earlier one-hour webinar on 7 January 2022.

An account of this webinar with links to the recording and relevant websites plus some photos of the (electrical) engineering of the turbines has been published by Jan Weerts of KIVI Limburg Zuid and Noord- en Midden-Limburg at KIVI Midden-Limburg at Retrospective: Online look at the construction of wind farm Weert

Break

Solar farm Leveroysedijk/Galgenbergweg Weert - Bert ten Haaf

An approximately 6-hectare solar farm is being developed on a former rubbish tip covered with cultivated earth in 1980. SDE from January 2020 was granted for it, but the original applicant Afvalzorg had to wait for a grid connection (i.e. laying a new MS cable of 5 km).

The licence was taken over by WeertEnergie. A medium voltage (MS) cable will connect the farm to the Wind Farm Purchase Station. After increasing the MS voltage from the original 10 kV to 20 kV, the grid connection came to 14.7 MVA. With the 12.6 MVA from the 3 wind turbines, 2.1 MVA can be fed into the grid by the solar farm anyway.

Large panels of 660 Peak under standard test conditions, 8,624 units in east-west rooftop arrangement are applied. This gives about 5.7 MWpeak of panels installed. They are translucent glass-glass panels so the ground under the panels can still be grazed by sheep.

Concrete foundation for frames and building at ground level, as piling through the subsoil with dumped rubbish would pose far too many risks. Groundwork started on 5 June.

The project is being carried out by several subcontractors

  • EPC Kieszon for construction of the park
  • DBT Energy for Transformers
  • Watt-Infra for MS route
  • Go4service for alarm and monitoring
  • Van de Kruijs for groundwork
  • Mols van Lierop for fencing and gates
  • Green space still to be chosen

The 26-week delivery time of the two 2000 kVA 800 V/20 kV transformers was decisive for the timing the realisation process.

Cable Pooling - Bert ten Haaf

Mr Bert ten Haaf then explained the application of Cable Pooling of the main connection of Windpark Weert to the electricity grid:

  • Simultaneous use of the connection by 'Wind' and 'Solar'
  • Main connection of Wind Farm: 14.7 MVA
  • Maximum capacity of wind: 12.6 MVA
  • Maximum capacity solar: 4 MVA (70% of the 5.7 MWp sum of the panel capacities)

(curtailment = limiting the outgoing power = capping).

What is important is the actual power supplied by solar and wind at any given time.

Solar farm power is 'curtailed' to give wind farm priority in supplying green power.

When will solar farm power be capped?

At times of strong wind (Wind Farm Output > 90% of 12.6 MVA) and cloudless sky and thus very strong sun. The output of the Solar Farm will have to be capped back from 4 MVA to what fits within the 14.7 MVA (worst case to 2.1 MVA)

The pooling is actually done on the 12.6MVA power of the Wind Farm.

  • Sum Wp of panels may be about 70% of 12.6 MVA at 3% loss = 9 MWp
  • So space for PV is 9 MWp + (14.7 - 12.6) = 11.1 MWp
    • Zon Weert bv park has 5.6 MWp as sum of Wp of the panels
    • Connection has room for another solar park of about 5.5 MWp of panels!

With 2 solar parks, capping will occur at more times:

  • The two parks together can supply a maximum of 8 MVA
  • Approximately 3% loss in MWh yield due to curtailment is then to be expected for the solar parks.

Closing at the site NMC De IJzeren Man

Host Richard Overkamp thanked both speakers for sharing information on the Sustainable Energy initiatives in Weert and presented both with a gift.

(And then to the Wind Farm)

Viewing the wind turbines

Turbine 1

Explanation at the foot of Turbine 2

Turbine 3

KIVI Engineering Society

We would like to meet you again at a next KIVI activity or webinar, but then perhaps as a KIVI member?

Kind regards,

Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers (KIVI)

Richard Overkamp

KIVI Electrical Engineering, E-South.

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