IJsselmeer Dam is in need of renovation. This is the perfect opportunity to make it suitable for other uses besides flood defences. All the waves, currents, sunshine and wind could be utilised for harnessing energy. Paul Lako, of ECN Policy Studies, envisages a dyke that can be used for generating sustainable electricity in three or four different ways twenty years from now. “After 75 years, it would be a pity not to have the courage to do more with IJsselmeer Dam than just make it a metre higher.”
Now that the sea level is rising and we increasingly have to contend with storms or heavy rainfall, IJsselmeer Dam can only protect us if we adapt it to the new circumstances. That calls for renovation but why not ‘upgrade’ at the same time? The Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management called on parties in the market to present their ideas on a multifunctional IJsselmeer Dam, with space for nature restoration projects, recreation, tourism and harnessing energy. Four of the ideas presented were worth working out in more detail. ECN Policy Studies was asked to conduct a critical investigation of the claims concerning options for harnessing energy. Paul Lako dubbed it a sanity check. “Given the available budget, we were unable to determine the precise details of what the prospects are. However, we were able to provide a realistic estimate of the potential and feasibility of the ideas that were suggested.”
Sun and wind
Wind energy is at the forefront as an option for harnessing energy at IJsselmeer Dam. “There's space for between fifty and a hundred and fifty wind turbines; they're relatively cheap and would provide a combined total of up to 450 megawatts of electric power; that's enough to supply one percent of the electrical power required in the Netherlands”. Wind turbines are a sensitive issue. Previous plans for a wind farm in the Province of Friesland were rejected. Despite the considerable potential turbines offer, plans that include them are always presented hesitantly and cautiously.
“Solar energy is a safer option in terms of public opinion. However, covering the IJsselmeer side of IJsselmeer Dam from the water line up to the level of the road with solar panels would only provide the same amount of energy as one large 3 megawatt wind turbine. Solar panels are also currently so expensive that theft would be a serious risk.”
Tidal current
Hydropower is a third source of energy and experiments are already underway along IJsselmeer Dam. A submersed, anchored turbine is driven by flowing water, the force of the tides for example. This is known as tidal energy. Lako thinks hydropower could in time be a realistic option. “The technology is beginning to emerge. A lot of work in this field is underway in Great Britain. There's a strong tidal current off the coast of Scotland which offers great potential. Turbines may be available in the future that will be able to generate electricity reliably and continuously using the force of both incoming and outgoing tides, provided there's a strong current. The current at IJsselmeer Dam would be strong enough for this but only if a new drainage complex is built, and this is indeed projected in some plans. Possibilities already exist in the area around IJsselmeer Dam, at Marsdiep, between Den Helder and Texel, for example.”
Illustratie: SeaGen Tidal Power
Artist Impression of a submersed turbine which generates tidal energy.
Blue energy
The most advanced way discussed in the plans for IJsselmeer Dam of harvesting energy is blue energy, energy harvested using osmosis. If seawater and freshwater are brought together via a semi-permeable membrane, the salt water flows to the freshwater and high pressure develops in the compartment containing freshwater. The pressure can drive a turbine. “It works in laboratory conditions,” says Lako. “However, a lot of research and development will be necessary before the technology is ready for use. The country leading the way in this is Norway, where many glaciers flow into the sea. IJsselmeer Dam could also offer possibilities in due course. Blue energy is attractive because of the compactness of the power station, so it doesn't create an eyesore in the landscape.”
Benefiting from Europe
Lako believes that making IJsselmeer Dam ‘energetic’ will require patience and foresight. “The Netherlands shouldn't think that it will be possible to develop the new technologies independently. That won't be necessary either; it's much wiser to work with other European countries. That will bear fruit in time. It would be advisable to include the preconditions for utilising new energy in the building plans for the dam now. That would avoid precluding the possibility of installing solar panels at a later date, for example, if they become cheaper, and of using hydropower or blue energy once the technology is more developed.”
Master plan
Is the client, the Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, pleased with ECN's sanity check? “Definitely,” says Lako. “However, our assessment is a confrontation with the facts. Exactly what we want isn't available. Wind energy is politically sensitive but it offers great potential. Blue energy is undisputed but currently unavailable. We found other ideas lacked relevance for the foreseeable future (such as harvesting bioenergy from algae or seaweed, and storing energy in a ‘fall lake’ which would be created by building a dyke alongside IJsselmeer Dam, ed.).”
The goal according to Lako would be a master plan to achieve the greatest potential around IJsselmeer Dam step-by-step in twenty years. “If we could utilise three of the four energy sources we'd have a nice mix. Over time that would mean that IJsselmeer Dam could supply two to four percent of the total electricity requirement in the Netherlands. The difficultly with the Master Plan will be balancing all the interests concerned with the energy supply, recreation, the economy, landscape, environment and nature conservation. This will have to be done successfully, before IJsselmeer Dam can be seen as promising.”
Contact
Paul Lako
ECN Policy Studies
Tel.: +31 22 456 4418
E-mail: Paul Lako
Text: Mariette Huisjes
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