‘With Wind Farm Fryslân we are creating a sustainable future for Fryslân’, says Sander de Rouwe, member of the Provincial Executive of the province Fryslân. ‘Because think about it: we will be able to provide some 500,000 households with green energy.’ Mr De Rouwe: ‘Of course there was some resistance to the construction and the location of the wind farm. But then there are two things you can do: either you get angry, or you take part and make the best of it.’
‘I think the negotiations with Wind Farm Fryslân went very well and will give the local residents and the rest of the Fryslân population a fine array of possibilities. For example, we found it important to involve companies in Fryslân in the preparations as well as the construction phase. Meanwhile, there are now many Frisian small and medium-sized companies as well as people who are self-employed involved in the realisation of Wind Farm Fryslân.’
‘We underline our promise of a wind farm from and for the province of Friesland, in the local language ‘fan en foar Fryslân’, by investing every year hundreds of thousands of euros from the returns of sustainable initiatives in various cities, towns and villages throughout Fryslân. And so green returnsspring forth from other green returns, thereby creating a chain of sustainable investments. And everybody benefits because every village and every city is eligible. Also, we as province invest a third of our revenues in projects in the IJsselmeer area.’
‘In addition to investing the revenues, we will issue bonds as soon as the wind farm is in operation. The population of Fryslân can then benefit directly by buying bonds. For approximately 500 euros you can buy a bond and so be part of the Wind Farm project. There are no strings attached, the return is yours to keep. Mr De Rouwe: ‘In this way, we can truly give something back to the people of Fryslân and something extra for those living near the wind farm.’
‘There will also be money for projects along the IJsselmeer shoreline made available through the independent Omgevingsfonds (Surroundings Fund) founded by Wind Farm Fryslân together with the municipality of South West Fryslân. For the next twenty years, Wind Farm Fryslân will pay some €720,000 into the fund. The Omgevingsfonds supports the sustainability, connection, improvement and reinforcement of the quality of the living environment, not only in front of but also on top of and behind the IJsselmeer dike. The fund will start looking at projects at the beginning of 2021.’
‘We underline our promise of a wind farm from and for the province of Friesland, in the local language ‘fan en foar Fryslân’, by investing every year hundreds of thousands of euros from the returns of sustainable initiatives in various cities, towns and villages throughout Fryslân.
Sander de Rouwe – deputy Provincie Fryslân
Wind Farm Fryslân is being built in the Frisian part of the IJsselmeer, at Breezanddijk alongside the Afsluitdijk. The fact that this is a unique location was confirmed again for De Rouwe some two-and-a-half years ago when he was at De Harmonie together with astronaut André Kuipers and a great many schoolchildren. ‘The Afsluitdijk is an icon, the Grande Dame of the Netherlands, says Mr De Rouwe. ‘From space, the Afsluitdijk had been the only construction work that Kuipers had been able to identify. That in itself is already quite extraordinary. We are now building this dike for a sustainable future. Wind Farm Fryslân will help build this future of new energy and new connections.’
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