At the end of November 2021, Wind farm Bovenwind achieved a financial close and the final notice to proceed was issued to wind turbine manufacturer ENERCON and contractor Van den Heuvel. Partly through the efforts of cooperative Wij Duurzaam Staphorst (WDS) and the water board WDO Delta, and the pleasant cooperation with the ASN Bank,…
The construction of the Strekdammen wind farm is progressing well. Pondera and Rebel are working to deliver two wind turbines in the Eemshaven estuary with a total capacity of 11 MW. The American firm GE is delivering turbines made especially for these brackish conditions. Contractors VolkerWind and Alsema are responsible for the construction. The turbines are…
In late October 2021, the Rijn & IJssel Regional Water Authority signed the delivery and maintenance contracts for two Enercon E-138 EP3 E2 wind turbines. These wind turbines, with a joint installed capacity of 8.4 MW, are due to be installed on the site of the sewage treatment plant on the InnoFase industrial estate in…
Between 10 and 12 November 2021, the BIXPO event was held in Gwangju, South Korea. At the invitation of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), Eric Arends, vice chairman of the Pondera group, gave a presentation on ‘Offshore wind power business development and operation in South Korea’. Afterwards, guests including Ban Ki-Moon, former secretary-general of…
Pondera has been in existence for over 14 years, and in that time it has grown into a flourishing business employing around 70 people in the Netherlands and abroad. The energy transition is associated with many different complex issues. In order to be able to continue to respond to future developments, we have decided to…
Pondera in Arnhem has undergone a metamorphosis. On 25 October 2021, we moved into the new office next to Arnhem Central Station. The open look, fresh colours and a combination of open and closed work areas provide an inspiring and comfortable working environment. Naturally we have opted for sustainable materials and ergonomic furniture. The concept…
Pondera is conducting research for the Unie van Waterschappen (Dutch Association of Water Boards) into a sustainable solution to make sewage treatment plants less dependent on the electricity grid. This has led to the idea of a Smart Energy Hub: an electrolyser installed at a sewage treatment plant to produce green hydrogen. Combined with a…
In order to assess the performance of existing wind farms, specifically whether a wind farm is achieving its intended energy yield, Pondera has developed a method for preparing what is commonly known in the market as a Post-Construction Assessment. By using this method, Pondera is able to analyse SCADA data from the wind farm (an…
With the energy transition in full swing, the Dutch energy grid is becoming increasingly burdened. As a result, the supply of renewable energy to the grid is limited in some regions which therefore impedes the realisation of new renewable energy projects. This effect is also known as curtailment. To achieve further progress in sustainability, creative…
On Thursday 16 September 2021, Pondera joined the online Trade Mission and was introduced to several interesting Vietnamese organisations. Pondera recognizes Vietnam as a strong potential growth market for renewable energy. Since 2017, our organisation is making efforts in becoming an important player in the Vietnamese energy market. The Trade Mission took place online, as…
Pondera and SolarDuck, a key player in the floating offshore solar market, signed a memorandum of understanding detailing the development of 555 MWp of offshore solar projects over the coming years. The companies plan to develop these projects between 2023 and 2025. Near term projects shall be located in the Netherlands, while those further into…
Tom Herfs has been working at Pondera since June 2021. Within the team Environment and Spatial Planning, Tom is a junior advisor on renewable energy and is involved in, among other things, feasibility studies and GIS analyses. Tom has a special affinity with the social aspects of renewable energy projects. In 2020 he obtained a…
Pondera has been active in Vietnam for several years and is currently preparing a permanent stay with the setup of a local branch office. We consider Vietnam a very promising growth market, due to great resources for renewable energy, the country’s urgent need for electricity to power the ever-growing economy, and the Vietnamese government’s commitment…
Fortunately it is a rare occurrence, but wind turbines can fail in such ways that they pose a risk to the safety of the surrounding area. Imagine the damage caused by a (part of a) rotor blade breaking off, the tower collapsing or the nacelle falling down. Although incidents almost never occur, research into the…
At the end of June 2021, the cooperative Wij Duurzaam Staphorst signed the supply contract for three Enercon E-138 EP3 E3 wind turbines for wind farm Bovenwind – the first wind turbines of this type to be built worldwide. Pondera supervised the tendering process on behalf of the cooperative and successfully completed the contract negotiations…
The fact that our blog on wind turbine noise and health from 2018 is still being read to this day and is the most read blog on our website leads us to conclude that the issue of health effects is relevant. It indicates that the subject is still topical and is of concern to many…
Mark van Doorn has been employed by Pondera since 1 May 2021 and works within the CBE team, which is involved in the Contracting, Construction & Exploitation of sustainable energy projects. Mark has been active in the wind industry since 2000 and gained his experience at Lagerwey, Harakosan, XEMC Darwind and the last 7 years…
On 28 May 2021, the construction of Windplan Groen officially started. The first activities were the decommissioning of several existing wind turbines in the area and the construction of the high-voltage substation on the Olsterpad. All wind turbines are expected to be online in 2022. Windplan Groen is an initiative in the southeast of Flevoland,…
The Pondera team welcomes four new colleagues: Mark, Rita, John and Tom. We are very confident that they’ll make a major contribution to our team. We would like to introduce our new colleagues to you: Mark van Doorn As a contract manager, Mark will be involved in the contracting, construction and operation of sustainable energy…
Pondera recently completed the first (contracting) phase of owner’s engineering services for Jeju Hanlim Offshore Wind in South Korea. Pondera and Korean engineering company Hanmi Global are working on this project since 2019. This 100 MW offshore wind project is located in the northwestern part of Jeju Island and is the third offshore wind project…
South Korean ambitions for the renewable energy transition South Korea has announced a series of renewable energy masterplans in the recent past years and indicated their goals to generate 20% of energy with renewables by 2030. In line with these goals, President Moon emphasized Korean’s ambition to increase the current 124.5 MW installed offshore wind…
Five enthusiastic students from the Bachelor’s program in Natural Science and Innovation Management at Utrecht University, in collaboration with Pondera, have attempted to answer the question of which energy storage techniques can offer opportunities for Dutch wind projects. Energy storage is a hot topic these days and is widely regarded as one of the pillars…
Pondera is always working hard to take sustainable energy projects a step forward. The Pondera team consists of juniors and seniors who contribute their expertise and knowledge to the energy transition and the use of natural resources. In the series Pondera’s Podium we’ll be putting our Ponderians in the spotlight via a short interview. We…
This week, the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE) published the Top 250 Growth Companies for the fifth time. This time around Pondera is on the list as one of the 12 growth companies in Gelderland. Justin Jansen, professor of entrepreneurship and academic director of ECE says: “The companies are progressive in developing new solutions, but…
Positive advice from the EIA Committee and a good example for other municipalities and regions The municipality of Enschede wants to produce at least 8% additional sustainable energy by 2030. How that goal will be achieved is described in the Energy Vision. On behalf of the municipality, Pondera has drawn up an Environmental Impact Assessment…
On 1 April 2021, Egbert Jansen became team leader of the CBE (Contracting, Construction and Exploitation) team. The CBE team deals with the contracting, construction & exploitation of sustainable energy projects. Egbert succeeds Angelique Strijker who has left Pondera. Egbert has been with Pondera since 2018. Coming from the contracting industry, he felt at home…
Colleagues at Pondera decided to fight against sitting down all day and motivate each other to clock up as many kilometres as they could for a good cause. The Ponderians have been forced to spend lots of time at home during lockdown. So, to motivate each other to keep moving, we created the 1000-Mile-Challenge. Over…
‘Need to know’ for wind farm procedure choice On 1 January, 2022, the Environmental and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) will come into force according to the official schedule, although according to news in recent days, it seems to be heading for another postponement… However, as long as that postponement has not yet been formally announced, we…
At the end of 2020, Shell acquired all the project rights of Energiepark Pottendijk from project developer Deddens. Pondera played an active role in making this acquisition possible. This agreement brings the construction and delivery of the energy park a huge step closer. For Pondera, the project has a long history. To facilitate the sale…
To formalise the cooperation between Pondera and Eneco and to make it run more smoothly, Pondera has again concluded a framework agreement at the initiative of Eneco. Pondera and Eneco have been working together successfully for several years on various projects, such as Windpark Maasvlakte 2, Windpark Oranjepolder in Oosterhout and Windpark Nieuwe Waterweg. The…
The installation of the wind turbines at Fryslân Windpark commenced in March 2021. The inter array cables for the wind farm were buried in the lakebed of the IJsselmeer. These cables with a diameter of 15cm were transported to the IJsselmeer on large reels. A large team buried the cables at a depth of two…
Pondera is to start works in Estonia. We will use our expertise in environmental impact assessment for the Saaremaa offshore wind farm. The wind farm is expected to consist of a maximum of 100 turbines with a total capacity of more than 1,000 MW. Preparations for the Saaremaa Offshore Wind Farm started in 2015. In…
At the end of 2020, Pondera and Rebel completed the financing for the Strekdammen Windpark (WPS) with ABN AMRO. Pondera and Rebel are planning to build two GE wind turbines with a total capacity of 11 MW in the estuary of Eemshaven. With the financial close completed, Pondera and Rebel, in collaboration with various stakeholders,…
The Pondera team continues to grow. These three recent graduates started with us in February. We are very pleased with this strengthening of our team and would like to introduce our new colleagues to you: Anne de boer As a recently graduated student of Complex Systems Engineering and Management, Anne will work as a Sustainable…
The construction of the Molenbosch Solar Park in Oldeberkoop is progressing steadily, with all the solar panels of the 2.4 hectare solar park now in place. The grid connection and the transformer station have also already been installed. After the start of the test phase, the first electricity from the solar park will be supplied…
Now that the US has rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, offshore wind developers in that country foresee a bright future. In this new era, the US can make a giant leap and become an offshore wind energy forerunner in the foreseeable future. Pondera’s Maarten Jaspers Faijer outlines his vision on this development in his blog…
In 2021, Pondera will again welcome new colleagues to the team. The brand new Ponderians Frank and Bas started in January. We are certain that they will make a major contribution to the team. We would like to introduce our new colleagues to you: Frank Schellen With more than 10 years of experience in spatial…
US Offshore wind take-off In the last few months, a lot has been written on the potential take-off of offshore wind in the United States. Now that the US is ‘back in the game’ and is taking up on climate change by rejoining the Paris agreement, offshore wind developers foresee a bright short term future…
In recent weeks, the regional newspapers have paid attention in two weekend editions to some important pillars of the climate agreement: wind and solar energy. In the Energy of the Future series, readers were informed in short and actually quite bluntly about the consequences for nature and the landscape and the nuisance for the environment.…
For the Sharjah Electricity, Water & Gas Authority, the state-owned utility of the emirate Sharjah in the Gulf, Pondera will conduct a 3 year high-tech meteorological measurement campaign. The measurement campaign will be conducted with a small network of meteorological stations, amongst others sampling wind speed and direction, solar radiation and extensive dust measurements. The…
Since 2020, the two high-voltage connections Borssele Alpha and Beta have been operational. Borssele offshore grid transports two times 700 MW of wind energy from the Borssele offshore wind energy area to the national high-voltage grid. In this video some nice images are shown of the construction of the two offshore platforms, the offshore cables,…
I would like to invite you to read my blog. The reason for this blog is the publication of a series of articles in the media entitled: Energy of the future. In a nutshell, readers are informed about the consequences for nature and the landscape and the nuisance for the environment due to the arrival…
In the summer of 2020, Pondera was commissioned to perform a short wind measurement campaign to determine the effect of the existing wind farm Eemshaven on the wind speed. Earlier this year, Pondera Development purchased the right to build 2 wind turbines at the Dutch coastal project called Strekdammen, just to the north of Eemshaven.…
The EIA Commission has issued a positive assessment advice for the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Wind Park Maasvlakte 2. The Commission believes that the EIA contains the essential information to be able to take a decision on the Wind Park Maasvlakte 2, in which environmental interests are fully taken into account. Pondera prepared the…
The construction of Strekdammen Windpark is getting closer. At the end of 2020 Pondera and Rebel completed the financing of the wind farm with ABN AMRO. This means that the contractors VolkerWind (KWS Infra bv Leek / van Hattem en Blankevoort) and Alsema from Zuidlaren, will soon be able to start building the two wind…
