RWE has erected three wind power plants with installed capacity of 7.5 megawatts — running its wind turbines on a sea dyke in Eemshaven, within the Dutch province of Groningen.
RWE relied on innovative installation methods in order to safely install the individual components in this particular location. RWE used a special climbing crane was used, which climbed upwards by inserting individual segments as construction progressed, for the installation of the upper turbine components, RWE said in a news statement.
RWE erected the wind turbines on CSM (Cutter Soil Mixing) panels for setting up the wind power plant. In this process, the existing soil is strengthened by mixing it with concrete and covered with a layer of sand on which the foundations are then built. In this way, the wind turbines are not directly connected to the subsoil and can safely move with it if the dyke settles.
“Three turbines will generate sufficient green power to supply up to 7000 Dutch households annually. We have gained insights from completing this project, which will enable us to erect wind farms on dykes in other locations too,” Katja Wunschel, CEO Onshore Wind and Solar Europe & Australia at RWE Renewables, said.
RWE and the owner of the dyke, the Noorderzijlvest Water Board, analysed the installation process, with a view to dyke safety and the potential environmental impacts of the project, and incorporated this into a technically complex design. The important aspect of the project development process was protection of the dyke to ensure its flood-water prevention function was not impaired in any way.
In February 2022, RWE signed a power purchase agreement with ASML, the world’s largest provider of lithographic systems for the semiconductor industry, for the supply of green power.