Broken windmill Zeewolde came to a standstill last night after an error message: ‘We were just about to send a technician’ | Zeewolde

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updates | with videoA havoc in Zeewolde today: part of a windmill has broken down along the Eemmeerdijk (N704). Debris of the colossus is scattered along the road, in the roadside and in the meadow. Striking: the evening before, the windmill had already stopped due to an error message.


Directed by Klein Hegeman, Daan van Eendenburg

4 Jan. 2023


Latest update:
4:32 pm

This is one of the windmills along the dike in the municipality of Zeewolde. The top part of it broke off and fell down. The path next to the dike is barricaded by the large obstacle. The rest of the windmill is located on the verge of the road and against the dike. The large rotor blades have landed on the piece of land next to it.

25 years old

Judging by the debris, the fall must have ended with a loud bang. The top of the nearly 25-year-old windmill is in pieces. The Flevoland fire brigade is present and has cordoned off part of the site. The Eemmeerdijk has remained free of debris and remains open to traffic. The other wind turbines (there is a whole row) have been put in a safe position.


Quote

At the moment the wind is too strong to get it out safely

Geertjan Veenstra, Flevoland Security Region

The upper part of one of the windmills along the Eemmeerdijk near Zeewolde broke off. © AS Media/PMN

According to Geertjan Veenstra, spokesman for the Flevoland Security Region, the strong wind is probably the cause of the incident. ,,It is right on top of the mills”, by which he means that the wind blows directly against the front. “The technical men of Vattenfall, who own the wind turbines, are investigating the exact cause.”

Tuesday evening already error

The windmill was already stopped on Tuesday evening around 11 p.m. due to an error message. Vattenfall does not know what exactly that error message was related to. “This can be from a broken fuse to a part that needs to be replaced,” said the spokesman.

The fallen windmill next to the Eemmeerdijk near Zeewolde. © AS Media

In the event of an error message, a windmill stops itself. The energy company intended to send a technician on Wednesday. “But before we could do that, we already received a call from a farmer this morning that the windmill was on his pasture.”

Inspections

The energy company says that the latest inspections did not indicate any acute danger. The turbines in the wind farm in Zeewolde were installed in 1998, so they are a somewhat older model. This species is not found in other places in the country. Vattenfall therefore sees no need to shut down more wind turbines as a precaution.

Not the first time

A windmill on the Eemmeerdijk has already collapsed. That happened in 2006. It was the first wind turbine in the Netherlands that could not withstand the strong wind. According to Weeronline, the wind is also quite turbulent this Wednesday. Inland there is a fairly strong to strong wind with gusts of 60 to 70 kilometers per hour.

The head of the windmill has punched a hole in the path due to the impact.
The head of the windmill has punched a hole in the path due to the impact. © Fire Brigade Flevoland

The weather bureau cannot say how hard it has blown exactly in Zeewolde. “Measuring point Lelystad is the closest. There, the gusts of wind were less than expected last night and it became a bit more turbulent at the end of the morning with wind gusts of about 68 kilometers per hour. These are not very high or special values,” says meteorologist Matthijs van der Linden. “Last weekend we also had that in Flevoland. It is expected to remain a bit windy today. Later in the afternoon and especially in the evening the wind will decrease slightly, but the wind will not die down.”

Other windmills ‘not dangerous’

According to Veenstra of the Flevoland Security Region, the other windmills along the Eemmeerdijk do not pose a threat. “If one plane crashes, it doesn’t mean that all planes crash. We are now discussing how to get rid of the mill. At the moment the wind is too strong to do that in a safe way.”

Parts of the fallen windmill near Zeewolde.
Parts of the fallen windmill near Zeewolde. © Fire Brigade Flevoland

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Tags: Broken windmill Zeewolde standstill night error message send technician Zeewolde

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