Vattenfall and Cargill are entering into a partnership with Windpark Hanze, a new wind farm to be built near Dronten. The wind farm with a capacity of 90 megawatts should reduce CO2 emissions by around 350,000 tonnes on an annual basis. According to the parties involved, this is equivalent to the emissions of about 95,000 Dutch households.
Windpark Hanze is a wind farm that will be located near Dronten in Flevoland. The farm will be equipped with 15 wind turbines, with a combined capacity of 90 megawatts. Preparatory work for the construction of the park has already started. Hanze Wind Farm should be fully operational from 2023.
Wind plan Green
Windpark Hanze is part of the umbrella Windplan Groen. This Windplan Groen is in turn part of the Regioplan Windenergie of the province of Flevoland. In the regional plan, the province is divided into four subareas. The initiators in a subarea jointly develop a plan that meets the objectives of the regional plan. Windplan Groen is the plan for the East project area, which consists of the eastern part of the province. The area is located in the municipalities of Dronten and Lelystad.
Wind Plan Green includes the construction of 90 new wind turbines, which together are expected to be able to generate around 1.9 billion kWh of energy on an annual basis. This is equivalent to the annual energy consumption in the entire province of Flevoland.
Initiative of 19 farmers
Windpark Hanze is an initiative of the Vereniging Windpark Hanze. This association consists of 19 farmers who are developing a wind farm between the Hanze line and Ketelhaven along the Hoge Vaart and the Hondtocht. Earlier, Waterschap Zuiderzeeland announced its participation in the wind farm. The participation will enable the water board to meet its energy targets as early as 2023 by providing its own electricity in a CO2-neutral way.
So now Vattenfall and Cargill also announce that they will enter into a cooperation with Windpark Hanze. Of the expected 90 megawatts generated, 78 megawatts will be purchased by Vattenfall. The energy company will enter into a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for this purpose. Agro-industrial group Cargill in turn enters into a so-called Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) with Vattenfall. The company will purchase 2.9 terawatt hours from Vattenfall as part of this 10-year agreement. This will enable Cargill to make 90% of its Dutch energy consumption more sustainable. This is the first CPPA signed by Cargill in Europe.
'Important step in greenhouse gas reduction'
"At Cargill, sustainability is a top priority, and we weave that into our global operations through sustainable energy projects, such as this unique collaboration with Vattenfall and Windpark Hanze," says Michiel Smets, EMEA Electricity Lead at Cargill. "With this CPPA, we are making almost the entire Scope 2 emissions of Cargill's operations in the Netherlands more sustainable. This is an important step towards Cargill's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its operations by 10% by 2025 compared to 2017."
"Vattenfall is strongly committed to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees and has recently increased its CO2 reduction targets," said Martijn Hagens, CEO Vattenfall Netherlands. "The climate crisis is real and we, as leaders in the energy transition, have a responsibility to tackle it seriously. Working together with Cargill and Windpark Hanze will reduce CO2 emissions from the Dutch industrial sector. Moreover, by doing so, we support the construction of renewable capacity, further increasing the share of green electricity in the Dutch energy mix. Collaborations like this accelerate the energy transition and bring closer our mission to enable a fossil-free life."
"This unique project has been made possible thanks to a consortium of 26 farming families committed to building 15 wind turbines on their land," says Gerrit de Regt, director of Windpark Hanze. "Farmers understand better than anyone else the need to take care of the land and natural resources. By doing so, we secure a future for our own farms and for future generations. Windpark Hanze is very proud that the renewable energy produced will be supplied to Cargill, a family business that has such strong ties to the agricultural sector."
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source photo: Pixabay / Steppinstars
