I live in France since 20 years, have almost always used electricity to heat my house and always saved money with respect to the neighbours who used other means. First some details on the Netherlands electricity sector. Established 1983. Rod, you must live in Albania E.ON wanted to put my tariff up from 9.79p to 13.87p. Train tickets for international journeys can be purchased from NS International. I think the trains in the Netherlands use 1.5kVDC anyway bet there are no wind turbines producing that directly. You may have a battery bank to store some of it in case of an outage, but mostly it will go to the electric company and they credit you. These sites are also surveyed centrally by the government allowing developers to avoid costly and multiple surveys.[11]. Its own wind farms, built in the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, and Sweden, aim to generate enough energy to fulfill NS's demand of about 1.4 terawatt-hours for 2017 (enough to power a million . Furthermore, both solar panels and wind turbines are capable of functioning under cold . In 2017, our trains in the Netherlands became the first in the world to run for 100% on wind energy, giving travellers the option of travelling without CO2 emissions. The T1 standard relates to telecommunications. Transmission costs of 1.4 eurocent/kWh is to be added as TenneT is required to take power from sea to shore. Its standard accounting practice. Were these conditions to repeat themselves now, and if NSs trains were powered exclusively by wind, they would almost certainly come to a halt. 01-13-17 Dutch Railways' Electric Trains Now Run On 100% Wind Energy Now 1.2 million people per day can commute without raising their carbon footprint. The Dutch railways network (NS) started using wind energy generated by the turbines owned by electric company Eneco two years ago when they signed a ten-year agreement. Several commercial parties have now caught onto the PR value of claiming they are not getting government subsidies for their investment in renewable energy. One wind turbine running for an hour can power a train for 120 miles, the companies said. Apart from the first rather obvious problems, anyone with the most basic understanding of electrical enrgy, as taught before 16 at school, would immediately know this was a wholly untrue technical assertion., Thats the whole point, Brian There are hardly any people with a basic understanding of electrical energy If most would have an understanding, there would be no renewables at all The whole charade would not even have started in the first place , Just as Otter says above, on different forums, lots of people are claiming Im 100% renewable (because I have a 100% RE contract with Essent, or Lampiris, or Belpower, or ENI, or ), Neither humour (so you got all the wind power this morning, because there was none left for me !, nor hard facts (for the 8-day period 27/12 03/01, that I just took a look at for another discussion, Wind and Solar provided a grand total of 4.6% of all electricity used in Belgium Was that enough for all of them 100% RE contracts ? Grid power in fact reflects the overall generation mix, which in the case of the Netherlands is dominantly gas and coal with only a small contribution from wind. "Since 1 January, 100% of our trains are running on wind energy," said NS spokesman, Ton . This has already led to a savings of 1.43 billions kilograms of C02 emissions. I paid 1100 Euros/year for a 150 m2 house, at 1000 m altitude on the French alps, heating, hot water, everything included. Only a small fraction of the power delivered to its trains actually comes from wind.. Reply to Rod above went to the wrong place and left off the smiley after Albania. It sharply cut subsidies down to 1.5 billion, leaving private sector to carry over wind turbine investments should these be beneficial.[6]. See the table below for the current situation. Everybody should buy only 100% RE. NS would only care for the environment as a PR stunt, not for the betterment of the planet. Because theyre just one part of a wider grid, most train operators use electricity from a mix of different sources coal-fired generators, nuclear plants, hydropower or, in the case of Nederlandse Spoorwegen, exclusively from wind turbines. As of the 1st of January, 2017, electric Dutch trains are now completely powered by wind energy, according to NS, the national railway company. The Netherland's national railway company, NS, has announced that all of its electric passenger trains are now 100 percent powered by wind energy. The Netherlands is the first country in the world where all electric trains are. Many of the numerous smaller and older wind farms in the Netherlands consist of much smaller turbines compared to those typically deployed today. Our ambition is also to use more of our own resources (buildings, property) to generate sustainable energy. The turbines have a hub height of 135 metres (443ft) and each new turbine can generate as much electricity as all 50 turbines of the old wind farm combined. But none of this wind power is directly connected to the NS rail system. Their goal was to operate all NS trains on electricity produced by wind turbines by January 2018. The claim by the Dutch railway network, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), is almost entirely a sleight of hand. What Was It Like When The Universe First Created More Matter Than Antimatter? Electricity backed 100% by low-carbon generation, Its also why we make good on our supply promise for homes on our Blue tariffs: well match every unit you use with electricity generated from low-carbon nuclear sources.. We do something like this California with biogas. World-famous for their picturesque windmills, the Netherlands has always had a love affair with wind energy. On-board energy storage systems, such as batteries; An overhead wire that the train connects to; or. More than 12% of the Netherland's electricity is generated from renewable sources, mainly biomass and waste (5% of the total) and wind (7% of the total). New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Press J to jump to the feed. Especially since there are no green electrons. [13] The wind farm demonstrates the growth in scale in wind power as between 1987 and 1991 it was the largest of its kind in Europe with 50 turbines and a total nameplate capacity of 15 MW. http://ast.lv/eng/power_system/current_situation_in_power_system/state_of_power_system/ The company said all electric trains were now powered by wind energy. These include the 580km NorNed submarine cable (700 MW) link to Norway, the 1,000 MW BritNed cable link to the United Kingdom and the COBRA cable link to Denmark (700 MW). NO. The role of the third (or conductor) rail is to ensure that the electricity is always directly available, so its installed alongside, or in between, the pair of running rails (Keep an eye out for it when youre next on an underground train). 2015 was a record year for the countrys wind industry according to the Global Wind Energy Council, turbines capable of generating 586 MW of electricity were installed between January and December. An earlier version said all Dutch trains were now 100% powered by wind-generated electricity, according to the national railway company NS. How Dutch and German train and bus firms are taking British taxpayers for a ride, Solar panel researchers investigate powering trains by bypassing grid, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Plus, it turns out that about half the electricity NS uses to power its rail system comes from outside of the Netherlands. This is the cause of the very bright, blue-white spark you sometimes see near the third rail, as well as flickering carriage lights. With this, offshore wind energy makes an important contribution to achieving the increased climate target of 55% less CO2-emissions. Initially, trains in the Netherlands were set to run entirely on renewable energy by 2018. This record was immediately beaten the following year with another 766 MW being added. One thing I should have mentioned in the post is why NS doesnt get all its wind power from Netherlands wind farms. How much wind? Putting these numbers together indicates that only 10-15% of the electricity consumed annually by NSs electric trains will come from wind, with the rest a mixture that includes mostly Dutch gas and coal plus a small amount of Belgian and German coal, nuclear and lignite and maybe even a little German solar, Andrews explains. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. The 50 Hz, with 3000 RPM generators in Europe, may be due to various reasons, Here is an explanation. Thats true, of course. As of January 1, all trains in the Netherlands now run entirely on wind power (that is to say electricity generated by wind farms, not masts and sails). Such as happened earlier this year in the UK when we had several days of around only 300MW of total metered wind power. Berlin Neighborhood to Experiment With Eliminating Parking Spaces, High PFAS Levels in Norwegian Arctic Ice Pose New Risk to Wildlife, Report: London Ultra Low Emissions Zone Succeeded in Curbing Harmful Air Pollution, Studies Find Louisiana Government Helped Create Cancer Alley, Prestigious Engineering Prize Awarded to Pioneering Solar Team, Leaked Video Shows Sediment Release in Deep-Sea Mining Test, After Record-Breaking 2022, China Told to Brace for Another Year of Weather Extremes, Seed Saving 101: Everything You Need to Know. Consumer unions help by auctioning for grouped members. The commercials know that the public will probably think that the commercial parties are spending out of the goodness of their hearts, to save the planet. Whilst there are a growing number of large onshore wind farms in Holland, most of the onshore farms in 2015 consisted of a large number of small wind farms, including many single installation turbines as well as farms of between 110 turbines. Since 2019, the buses have been powered by HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) made from processed deep fryer oil and industrial fats. The third that by purchasing wind power that would otherwise have gone elsewhere NS is leaving the door open for more wind projects and more CO2 reductions is the only one that offers any tangible benefits. You buy green energy elsewhere to offset your fossil fuels. So, the fact that they can now reliably produce it from wind is big news. That is, a windmill could spin until it falls apart and never generate as much energy as was invested in building it. [1] In 2019, the wind turbines provided the country with 12% of its electricity demand during the year, a figure that is growing but somewhat below the average of 15% that wind power provides across the whole of the EU's electricity consumption. Just whatever serves your agenda. The electrons that run the electrified portion of the NS system come from many sources, including wind, but also from coal, natural gas, and nuclear. When the train doesn't run, NS schedules buses instead. In total there were 3,004 MW of onshore wind power at the end of 2015. http://www.djtelectricaltraining.co.uk/downloads/50Hz-Frequency.pdf. Sign up for our email newsletter! But you can arrange for a proxy burn of biogas in another state, say Colorado, and buy the rights to say you consumed it. (my emphasis). Supply from all generators is monitored in any case, all youd have to do is add up the Started operations 2009. The energy required to power trains in the Netherlands comes from newly built wind farms in the Netherlands as well as in Belgium and Finland. There are ~40 utilities with sharp price competition in NL. The Eneco Luchterduinen wind farm was officially opened in September 2015 and is a 50/50 joint venture between Dutch energy company Eneco and Japan's Mitsubishi corporation. [37] Other large wind farms are located in Delfzijl-zuid (43 MW),[30] Lelystad (46 MW), Terneuzen, (Koegorspolder, 44 MW), and Biddinghuizen (WP Kubbeweg, 34 MW). Wind contributes 4,117MW, representing 13% of the capacity mix. The question is: how long must a windmill generate energy before it creates more energy than it took to build it? Only about 2% of Finlands generation mix is wind, and by the time it passes through the Finnish, Swedish and German grids on its way to the Netherlands it will effectively have disappeared. [1] [2] [7] The project cost $272 million and is cooperatively owned by Royal Dutch Shell and the Dutch utility company Nuon. Founded in 2004, Produced at least 12 models at 250, 500, 750, 900 and 2000kW. But its a funny read. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Ad Meskens. The construction of these wind farms along with others in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Finland helped NS and Eneco to hit their target so far ahead of schedule. The company is also looking for a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Updated [5 February 2019]: Original version of this article attributed this quote to Thomas Homer-Dixon. [21], In November 2011, the Dutch government decided to no longer fund 6 billion per year to maintain subsidized wind kWh at 0.18. A book co-edited by Thomas Homer-Dixon contained a passage stating that windmills "might never generate as much energy as was invested in building [them]." Bolthouse Farms Sued After Smoothie With 100% Fruit Juice Tests Positive for PFAS, EPA Announces $27 Billion Fund to Help Low-Income and Disadvantaged Communities Transition to Renewable Energy, Derailed Train Cars in Ohio Were Not Labeled Hazardous, Wind Turbine Giant Proposes New York Factory That Would Create 420 Jobs and $500M in Local Investments. 600,000 passengers daily are "the first in the world" to travel thanks to wind energy. The Netherlands currently has a total of 2,200 wind turbines across the country, according to DutchNews.nl. Fossil fuel-fired power plants produced over 80% of the electricity in the Netherlands, mainly natural gas (42%) and coal (35%). Their original goal was to transition the trains to 100 percent renewable energy by 2018, but that target was moved up after reaching 75 percent in 2016. NS Dutch Railways has partnered with energy company Eneco to use its wind. It seems that NS may be outsourcing costs as well as power. And given that the company carries 600,000 people per day, the amount of electricity they need isnt trivial around 1.2 billion kWh of electricity a year. It goes back to the start of 2016, and includes the Netherlands as well as Belgium and the Nordic countries (and Germany) that NS claim to be supplied by. Thanks for the correction Lars. But how does NS know the power it imports is wind? http://www.litgrid.eu/index.php/sistemos-duomenys/79. It doesnt add up, I would say about Euro 47 million is big money especially when you consider it`s for nothing.. This is about two-thirds of the system. 150, 200, 225, 300, 500, 750, 850 and 1300kW. Homer-Dixon did not write this viral quote, but he did comment on it in a May 2018 blog post entitled: "No . You still technically get your power from the electric company, but you pay little to nothing for it because you are supplying them electricity. HomerDixon.com. Why cant, errr sorry, why Dont you? You can't pull line between your house and a windmill and hope you have 100% power for all the time. Good for Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Eneco has agreed to supply 1.4 terawatt hours (TWh) of wind-sourced power by 2018, which is roughly the same amount of energy consumed by all the households in Amsterdam, the capital city. . I guess I could have found something cheaper still if Id looked hard enough. What Is (And Isn't) Scientific About The Multiverse. [15], In February 2022 the Netherlands announced it increased its offshore wind target to 21 GW by 2030. Yeah, that'show energy works. According to Statistics Netherlands, gross electricity generation was approximately 110 billion kilowatthours (BkWh) in 2015. If you would like to know more, click here. (CONTINUED), London Underground trains use two conductor rails to manage their electricity needs (Image courtesy [+] of BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images), In all cases, this regenerated electricity can be returned to the power line via the conductor rail. But it really doesnt matter which countries the Finnish wind power passes through on its way to the Netherlands. Does anyone even believe that? Every electric train on the Dutch railways NS network now gets 100 per cent of its energy from wind energy. All day so far. The historical land of windmills is leading . As of October2022[update], wind power in the Netherlands has an installed capacity of 8,304 MW, 29.6% of which is based offshore. Since Lithuania has a chronic power shortage the flow normally goes North-South. But if youre reading this and thinking How can trains run on electricity?, fear not. . 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