Building start Olsterwind & Zeebiestocht windfarms after reaching Financial Close

The financing process for Dutch windfarms Olsterwind & Zeebiestocht was completed at May 12, a milestone marking the construction start of in total 15 Nordex N163 turbines. Their cumulative calculated annual energy production will be well above 300,000 MWh.

The windfarms

The windfarm locations are in the North-Eastern part of the Flevopolder Province and integral part of Windplan Groen, which aims at building 90 new wind turbines in the area with a total installed capacity of around 500MW. Repowering Olsterwind & Zeebiestocht is a first major step in reaching this ambitious goal.

The wind turbines

The selected Nordex N163 model features one of the wind industry’s largest onshore rotor diameters and is the latest platform addition of the globally successful Delta4000 series. N163 advanced technology features enable minimized environmental impact, making this turbine ideal for Flevoland-typical wind conditions. A Dutch market novelty is that Olsterwind & Zeebiestocht will become the first wind locations with N163 turbines.

The construction phase is preceded by the decommissioning/removal of the old smaller turbines, already destined for a new leash of life in foreign wind markets. Furthermore, all the concrete of the old foundations will be recycled/reused for new turbine foundations as well as reinforcing installation crane stands. Windfarm’s construction start is planned for mid-2022.

The project initiators

The developers of both windfarms are committed farmers and local residents with a passion for wind power. The initiator’s motto reads: ‘A windfarm of the people, built by the people’ Current Olsterwind & Zeebiestocht turbines have produced clean power in the stakeholder’s own area for over 15 years.

This initial initiative was the outcome of a collaborative effort, which is now being repeated with the new windfarms.

Topwind Consultancy

The Olsterwind & Zeebiestocht management in early 2020 engaged Topwind Consultancy for the new wind farm’s tendering, contract negotiations and project finance. The parties recently agreed to also delegate construction phase management to Topwind.

Topwind assists and supports project initiators during their procurement and construction management of their (wind) energy-related ventures. This can be expanded by assets optimizing and long-term upkeep management, performance monitoring, contract issues, and project finance.