Highest wind turbine foundation uses TenCate geotextiles

The use of geotextiles in the construction of wind farms results in savings on materials and reduces the carbon footprint.

The highest wind turbine in the Netherlands has been installed at De Ambtenaar wind farm at Wieringermeer. This is a wind turbine of the type Enercon E-126, with a capacity of 7.5 MW.

This new wind turbine provides green electricity for the 13,000 inhabitants of Wieringermeer and each year reduces carbon emissions by some 12,000 tons. The turbine was installed at a height of 135 metres and the blades achieve a tip height of more than 198 metres.

In order to install this, the tallest mobile cranes in the Netherlands were called into action. These cranes temporarily needed a stable platform in order to hoist a turbine of 280 tons and other machinery to a height of 135 metres.

It was an enormous challenge since this all had to be carried out on the subsoil of the Wieringermeer polder, which has poor load-bearing capacity. In order to provide these cranes with a stable base, a special crane platform was built. After detailed calculations, it was decided to opt for soil reinforcement using TenCate Polyfelt Geolon PET 1000.

Increase in wind farms

The market for renewable energy is growing. Since 1995 for example the number of wind farms has increased at an unprecedented rate and the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects an upsurge in numbers in the years ahead. Geosynthetics can play an important supporting role in the construction of wind farms. Their use in this application has produced savings on materials and reduced the carbon footprint, resulting in cost savings.

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