Electricity transmission company TenneT and regional grid administrator Enexis are building a new high-voltage substation in the town of IJsselmuiden in the east of the Netherlands. The station, being constructed on Hagedoornweg, is needed to carry renewable electricity produced by glasshouse horticulture firms in Koekoekspolder to TenneT's high-voltage grid.


There is a sharp rise in locally generated electricity in the polder area of Koekoekspolder around IJsselmuiden due to the increasing use of combined heat and power (CHP) installations for glasshouse horticulture. In the years ahead the existing grid in Koekoekspolder will be insufficient to move this energy. It was therefore decided to build a new high-voltage station near IJsselmuiden. An underground cable will connect the station to the high-voltage line that runs between Kampen and Zwolle.


Construction of the station requires an investment of approximately €10 million. The first pile for this 'high and medium voltage station' will be driven into the ground later this month. The new high-voltage infrastructure is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2011.


In recent years more and more glasshouse horticulture firms have taken advantage of the possibility to produce electricity by means of combined heat and power installations. Glasshouse horticulture currently accounts for 13% to Dutch production capacity (3,300 MW). TenneT is busily creating more high-voltage lines in other horticultural areas of the Netherlands to meet the growing demand for capacity. Measures include expanding the high-voltage grid at various places in the provinces of Drenthe and Limburg and in the Westland region near the North Sea coast.