City centre Assen
The city centre of Assen is undergoing a major reconstruction since the end of 2023. This ambitious project is being carried out by Enexis, water supply company WMD, Ziggo, and a combined contractor. We are relocating cables and pipelines and replacing the low-voltage cable in order to facilitate the energy transition. This work is taking place in the narrow streets of Assen, often close to old and sometimes monumental buildings. Important attention points in this project are the accessibility of shops and the safety of the shopping public while the work is being carried out. Communication within the project team is taking place via the Construction App, that is managed by the contractor's site manager. Our civil engineering manager is supervising the work of our gas and electricity team.
Project Nieuw-Weerdinge
We replaced our District Station (DS) in 2023 in Nieuw-Weerdinge because it was difficult to access. We opted for a pilot project to install a new, modular prefab DS. The in- and outflow cables were already installed in advance. The reason why we initiated this pilot project is that installation after the foundation and the set has been installed requires a lot of effort on the part of our technicians and an uncomfortable working position.
Gas pipeline under the Bergsche Maas
Enexis and the Dutch Department of Waterways and Public Works worked together in 2023 on the A27 motorway Houten-Hooipolder project. We carried out three important drillings to relocate gas pipelines and other utilities. The regulations for gas pipelines have been changed so that the gas pipeline may no longer be attached to the Keizersveer Bridge. Moreover, the pipeline runs partially under the planned expansion the A27 motorway. This is why we are drilling the gas pipeline under the Bergsche Maas to the new protection pipes that were installed in the road verge of the Keizer Napoleonweg. We will use advanced technology for the drilling to follow the drilling route exactly without causing a lot of inconvenience for shipping traffic or road users. To limit inconvenience, we are communicating extensively with the municipalities and the residents. Unexploded explosive could possibly be lying in Hank; therefore, we have rescheduled the drilling to the fall of 2024.
Upgraded mid-voltage station in Waalwijk
We completed our modernised mid-voltage station in Waalwijk in 2023. We modernised and expanded this station together with TenneT in order to take the next step in future-proofing the electricity grid in Noord-Brabant. As a result of the expansion, we were able to provide new or upgraded connections to various large-volume customers in the region. Additional expansions in the high-voltage grid are necessary to be able to use the full capacity of this modernised station.
Upgrade for brick factory in Beek
Enexis is drilling deep underground to upgrade the transmission station in Beek and Elsloo. We are doing this for the new, electric-powered drying rooms that the brick factory VanderSanden in Beek is building to save one million m3 of gas per year. From the high-voltage station located nearby, we are upgrading the transmission station over a distance of 3.3 kilometres. This is a major operation. Enexis is drilling horizontally over 1.9 kilometres of the planned route. We chose this solution in order to avoid inconveniencing the residents of Beek and Elsloo as much as possible. During the drilling, we have to take the cables for data and pipelines for high pressure gas, sewage, and water into account. We are also drilling under the railway and under a railway crossing. In addition, there is a through road on the planned route over which around 10,000 cars drive daily. In total, we will be carrying out nine horizontal drillings. The 80-ton drill equipment can drill a length of 308 metres up to a depth of 17 metres. We will be drilling in roughly three phases. A small drill head will go into the ground in the pilot drilling, which will be monitored and redirected if necessary. We will then send a larger drill head from the exit point to make the drill opening wider. Finally, we will use a pull head to pull the drill through the protective pipes to the exit point and pull the cables through the pipes.
New station Reuver
On the corner of the Broeklaan and the Sint Annastraat in Reuver, an old transformer station was replaced by a new station with a larger capacity. The reason for the new station was the request for two new customer connections for two solar parks in the municipality Beesel. One offshore and one on land. The connections had already been approved for subsidies and therefore they had a deadline. But the existing mid-voltage installation did not have the capacity for expansion. The first plan - a new location - turned out not to be feasible. A new station on the existing premises was possible with some creative solutions to make optimal use of the limited space. The replacement of the transformer station and the realisation of new customer connections made it possible to improve the energy supply in the region and to provide power to the solar parks on time.
High-voltage station Meeden
Enexis Netbeheer and TenneT worked together in 2023 on expanding the high-voltage station Meeden. This station plays an important role in the electricity supply. Not only in the region, but also in the rest of the Netherlands and even in Germany. The station in Meeden consists of three sections of 110 kilovolt, 220 kilovolt, and 380 kilovolt. Existing and new components are being expanded and adapted for all of these voltage levels. Up to 2026, we will be installing in total seven new transformers, so that Enexis and TenneT can continue to supply electricity in the future. The above-ground high-voltage connection between Meeden and Veendam will be reinstalled underground at the station and in the wooded area. The above-ground connection with three masts was torn down in 2023. The work has to be completed in 2030.
Vierverlaten
Vierverlaten is regarded as the biggest socket in the north of the Netherlands. We took new high-voltage fields and three power transformers with accompanying mid-voltage installations into use in April 2023. As a result, in one go 270 megavolt amperes extra in connection capacity became available for the region Groningen. This is an important step in increasing sustainability and being able to connect more large-volume business customers. Thanks to the close collaboration between Enexis, Equans, TenneT, and Volker Energy Solutions, we were able to realise this project within two years after the design. Parallel to this project, another project is running in Kolham, in which we are relocating twenty cables and connecting 16 new cables. We plan to complete this by the end of 2024.
Replacing a gas pipeline in Zwolle
Due to a gas leak in the Dijkstraat in Zwolle, we replaced a gas pipeline over a route of 300 metres in 2023. When carrying out an initial examination of the soil, it turned out that the soil was partially contaminated, so we combined the work with soil decontamination. What was special about this project is that the Dijkstraat is a busy, through road to the centre of Zwolle. In order to limit the inconvenience as much as possible, we made sure, together with our partners in this project, that the work was completed before the summer holiday.
New mid-voltage installations and distribution station in Oudleusen/Dalfsen
Enexis is replacing the obsolete mid-voltage installations in the distribution station Om de Landskroon in the rural area around Oudleusen and Dalfsen. The floor of the station is also being renovated. The function is being taken over by a temporary mid-voltage installation and a temporary distribution station. These will be removed when the new station is installed, and the electricity cables are connected again to the permanent station. This is the first time that two temporary containers are needed to replace a mid-voltage station. The engineers drew up a detailed plan to switch the old installation to the containers. Local residents showed a lot of interest in the project.
