Two wind parks. Twenty wind turbines arranged in two rows which stretch for kilometres across the landscape: the Mammoeth-tocht and the Neushoorntocht near Lelystad. With this project, GTI Infra BV has connected up the largest privately-owned wind park in the Netherlands. The official opening of the park is planned for the end of this year. Together with the Kubbeweg wind park (17 turbines) which was opened earlier this year, GTI Infra has realised an electricity network in which a total of 37 wind turbines are connected to one single sub-station in Biddinghuizen. With this project GTI Infra has not only consolidated its prominent position in developing, realising and exploiting privately-owned electricity networks, it has become the overall leader in the market.

Windnet
Windnet is the first private electricity network in the Netherlands to be specifically designed for large-scale wind parks. GTI Infra has been commissioned by Windnet to manage and exploit the network and the sub-station for the next twenty years. GTI Infra designed, supplied and installed the network for the Kubbeweg, Mammoeth-tocht and Neushoorntocht parks. The network distributes its electricity along 23,000 volt power lines and is connected up to the 150,000 volt national power grid. To convert from 23,000 volt to 150,000 volt, GTI Infra realised a sub-station on the Rietweg in Biddinghuizen. This sub-station is not just the connecting point for the power generators, customers can also be connected up to it.

Wageningen UR
Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR) commissioned GTI Infra to construct the electrical infrastructure for the Mammoeth-tocht and Neushoorntocht parks, which was put in place this year. The connection of these two turbine parks means that the feed-in capacity of the transformer in the sub-station can be optimally utilised and still leave enough supply for business users. The wind turbines of the Kubbeweg en Wageningen UR parks can be adjusted and monitored via a gsm network which has been incorporated into the design. The Wageningen UR has an annual output of 70 million kilowatt-hours, enough electricity to meet the energy needs of around 21,000 households for a year. The festive opening of the wind park will follow at the end of this year.

Future plans
GTI Infra intends to supply more privately-owned networks for wind turbines over the coming years. Plans for a similar network in the town of Tholen in Zeeland have already reached an advanced stage. Besides this, GTI Infra sees a large potential market in the connecting up of business parks where customer and electricity producer are situated close to one another. 

Together with the companies Axima, Elyo, ENDEL, INEO, Tractebel Engineering and Fabricom GTI, GTI is part of SUEZ Energy Services.

SUEZ Energy Services, European leader in installation and technical services, develops value added solutions for its clients in the industry, the building services and the infrastructure as for design, realization and maintenance of technical installations along with energy management and long-term multi-technical management. SUEZ Energy Services employs 66,000 people and achieved revenues of € 10.3 billion in 2005. SUEZ Energy Services is one of the four business lines of the international industrial group SUEZ. SUEZ's stocks are  listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

More information for the press is available from:
GTI nv
Leen Geschiere, Concern Marketing and Communications
Kosterijland 50, 3981 AJ  Bunnik, the Netherlands; PO Box 210, 3980 CE  Bunnik, the Netherlands
Tel. No.: +31 (0)30 656 94 00; mobile: +31 (0)6 20 24 61 53; fax: +31 (0)30 656 94 15;
e-mail: info@gti-group.com; Internet: www.gti-group.com