9 Wind Energy Research in the Netherlands

Interest in the application of modern wind energy grew in the Netherlands in the 1970s when the limit of fossil fuels became clear. Wind energy has been an important source of energy in The Netherlands for centuries and the country was known for the many wooden wind mills especially in the coastal regions. At the same time, research activities in the modern wind energy were started, which have led to the relatively large wind energy research community in the Netherlands today.

Wind energy research activities in the Netherlands are predominantly performed at the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and the Delft University of Technology (DUT). Both institutes are involved in wind energy research since the start of the modern wind turbines, the 1970s. These institutes match their research programs with each other as close as possible. ECN Wind Energy has a research staff of 55 scientists and DUT has a research staff of 15 permanent researchers and more than 35 PhD students. Another institute dedicated to wind energy research is the foundation Knowledge Centre WMC that has been founded by the DUT and ECN in 2003 with an additional research staff of 25 scientists. Although the major part of the wind energy research is concentrated in these institutes, many other universities and scientific institutes contribute to the research with dedicated and specialized research.

The current wind energy research and associated industrial activities are taking place in an international context, mostly the European context, therefore the research activities not only take account of the long-term energy research program of the Dutch government, such as the long-term energy research program EOS [1], but also of the R&D priorities defined in the international context, such as the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) of the wind energy sector [2]. The three wind energy research organizations are well represented in international bodies such as European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), European Academy of Wind Energy (EAWE), International Energy Agency (IEA), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Network for Harmonised and Recognised Measurements in Wind Energy (MEASNET), European Wind Energy Technology Platform (TPWind) and the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA).