RWE is installing 12 Enercon 7.5MW turbines along the Ijsselmeer lake in the Netherlands. The turbines will be the largest onshore turbines to be installed at a commercial project.
The turbines will be supported on 131-metre towers. The large towers will also be supported by steel cables stretching from the top to the base.
Installation of foundations at the project was completed in April. RWE said special foundations had to be manufactured because of the specific challenges of installing the large onshore turbines along the banks of the man-made dike.
According to RWE site manager Rick van Mensvoord, the three-metre-high foundation base plate only goes half a metre into the ground. Beneath that, 60 concrete piles were driven into the dike to secure the base. Each foundation is 26.5-metres in diameter and is made up of 180 tones of steel and 1,200 cubic metres of concrete.
Zuidwester forms part of the 429MW Noordoostpolder project, consisting of three projects, including the nearshore Westermeerwind development.
NOP Agrowind are also replacing older turbines at another part of the Noordoostpolder project. The final picture of the gallery shows a new Enercon 7.5MW turbine beside an old 300kW turbine.
