First Wintrack pylon erected in Zeeland
Rilland is the first area in the Netherlands to have a new high-voltage pylon. This Wintrack pylon was developed by TenneT and is the first of a total of 114 pylons that will be erected in the Zeeland landscape in the coming years. Together they will form the 48-kilometre-long new high-voltage connection between Borssele and Rilland. VolkerWessels Telecom is supplying and installing the pylons. Our VolkerWessels sister companies Van Hattum and Blankevoort and KWS are providing the building roads and mast foundations. Our cooperation partner VDL will produce the pylons.
Advantages of Wintrack pylons
To connect the new high-voltage substation in Rilland to the existing high-voltage connection in Borssele at the end of this year will require 12 (out of 114) Wintrack pylons. With the connection of the new station, there will be three separate connections to Borssele, Geertruidenberg and Zandvliet in Belgium. This will create more flexibility in the distribution of electricity in the region. There is currently only one connection in the region, which means, for example, that no maintenance can be carried out on the high-voltage connection from Borssele without switching off electricity. Moreover, there is currently insufficient connection capacity available for new energy suppliers (local energy producers of solar and/or wind energy) and for offshore wind. This has to be provided under the Energy Agreement.
Belgium
This connection capacity is also very important for the connection with Belgium. Electricity is increasingly being transported across land, over long distances. An interconnected European energy market will make it easier to accommodate large-scale generation of renewable energy and to ensure the lowest possible electricity prices. A stable 380-kV high-voltage grid is required to enable such transport.
Wintrack pylon
The Wintrack pylon consists of two pillar-shaped steel poles. One of its big advantages is that the wires are suspended in such a way that the connection provides a calmer scenic image. The magnetic field at the pylons with a single 380 kV connection and at the pylons where a 380 kV and a 150 kV connection are combined is smaller than at the existing connections with the traditional lattice pylons. The Wintrack pylons are also more maintenance-friendly. They are about 350-400 metres apart and on average about 60 metres high.