08.01.2015
Dutch electricity grid operator TenneT has started construction on the largest new ‘ 380KV electricity highway ‘ in the Netherlands.
The ‘North-ring’ is a brand new-60 kilometres long- 380 KV grid between the towns of Rijswijk and Beverwijk. For this new route TenneT commissioned ZJA to design and develop an all-new high voltage pole; the Wintrack.
The outlines for the new high-voltage pole were as ambitious as the new route. In close collaboration with KEMA, a leading testing and consultancy firm on high voltage electricity, ZJA developed the Wintrack pole, a slender and minimalistic electricity pole with an innovative spirit. The construction, shape and technique are integrally designed. For instance electric circuits have become structural elements. The new pole has a substantially reduced electromagnetic field of 60% in comparism with the conventional lattice poles. It’s sleek design and colour minimalizes the impact on both the landscape and environment.
“Designing the Wintrack was all about minimalizing the pylon's impact“, says architect Rein Jansma. “ With it’s rounded, slender and tapered shape it is unpretentious by nature. Yet the integral design and repetion strives for order within the landscape.”
A total of 302 new Wintrack-pylons will be placed along the North-ring. The first part of the new high voltage – ring structure, the South-ring, a 20-kilometre route between the towns of Wateringen and Bleiswijk was put into operation over a year ago. The new ‘ electricity-highway ‘ is scheduled for completion in 2018