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FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 001662 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR H (PLEASE PASS TO HOUSE COMMITTEE ON 
APPROPRIATIONS) 
STATE ALSO FOR OES AND EUR/WE (TSMITH) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG ETRD EINV BEXP NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS: CODEL PASTOR FOCUSES ON ENERGY 
EFFICIENCY AND WATER MANAGEMENT 
 
REF: THE HAGUE 1492 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  The August 23-26 visit of a delegation led by 
Arizona Representative Ed Pastor highlighted Dutch efforts to 
tackle issues related to increasing energy efficiency, 
utilizing alternative energy resources, and identifying new 
water management/climate adaptation strategies.  Visits to 
the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands, a wind turbine 
factory, and a wind farm showcased Dutch research and 
expertise in developing wind power as an renewable energy 
resource.  The delegation also heard about Dutch plans to 
develop an energy grid in the North Sea.  Meetings with Dutch 
Transport and Water Management officials focused on a need to 
shift away from "hard" defenses such as dikes to more natural 
defenses in the country's water management strategy.  Tours 
of a storm surge barrier and "Room for Rivers" climate 
adaptation project gave the delegation a first-hand view of 
Dutch efforts in this area.  This message has been cleared by 
Dixon Butler, Majority Sub-Committee Staff Director, 
Appropriations Committee.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  A delegation led by Representative Ed Pastor (D-AZ) 
visited the Netherlands August 23-26 to discuss Dutch efforts 
to develop alternative energy efficiency technologies and 
Dutch approaches to water management/flood protection and 
climate adaptation.  Other delegation members included 
Representative David Hobson (R-OH), Representative James 
Clyburn (D-SC), Representative Marion Berry (D-AR), 
Representative Kay Granger (R-TX), Representative Steve 
Israel (D-NY), Representative Phil Gingrey (R-GA), 
Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH), Dixon Butler, Majority 
Sub-Committee Staff Director, Appropriations Committee, Kevin 
Cook, Minority Sub-Committee Staff Director, Appropriations 
Committee, and Taunja Berquam, Professional Staff Member, 
Appropriations Committee.  The following provides highlights 
of the visit. 
ENERGY EFFICIENCY:  FOCUS ON WIND POWER 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  During a visit to the Knowledge Center for Wind Turbine 
Materials and Construction (WMC) in Wieringerwerf, in the 
north of the Netherlands, Peter Aubert, a member of the GONL 
Interministerial Energy Transition Group (IETG), stressed 
that identifying and developing renewable energy sources was 
a top priority of the Dutch government.  By the year 2020, he 
said the GONL expected renewable energy, including wind power 
and biomass, to provide 20 percent of the country's 
electricity needs.  Don van Delft, WMC General Manager, gave 
an overview of WMC applied research on materials and 
components for wind turbine structures.  He explained how new 
wind turbine blade designs were revolutionizing the industry. 
 Today, a single wind turbine can produce 2.5 megawatts of 
power, which is enough electricity to power 2000 homes.  This 
is five times more electricity per turbine than was possible 
just ten years ago.  Vincent van den Brekel, CEO of Darwind, 
a local wind energy company, noted that the new designs 
allowed for quieter and bird-safe turbines -- two of the main 
objections raised by opponents to wind turbines.  WMC, a 
joint venture between the Energy Research Center of the 
Netherlands (ECN) and the University of Delft, is the largest 
lab of its kind in the world and tests wind turbine blades of 
over 60 meters (200 feet) in length and turbine engines 
weighing up to 300 tons. 
 
¶4.  At a nearby ECN wind farm, Wim Stam, General Manager of 
the ECN Wind Turbine Test Site, demonstrated how prototypes 
of wind turbines from General Electric (GE) and Siemans were 
being tested under actual conditions.  He explained that new 
materials and designs helped make the turbines larger and 
more efficient, including GE prototype blades that spun 100 
meters across, covering a surface area larger than a 747 
jumbo jet.  While standing directly under an operating wind 
turbine with the delegation, Stam also noted that the turbine 
operated almost without any noise. 
 
¶5.  In separate briefings, Maurits Groen, also a member of 
the IETG, and Chris Westra, Director of the Dutch Wind Energy 
Association, outlined the GONL's plan to develop wind energy 
sources in the North Sea.  They explained that the GONL 
planned to finance the building of an energy grid in the 
North Sea with private companies investing in the actual wind 
turbines.  By investing in an energy grid, the GONL hoped to 
spur development in the sector and allow private companies to 
deliver electricity directly to consumers.  Westra noted that 
 
THE HAGUE 00001662  002 OF 003 
 
 
the Danish wind energy company Vesta had already begun 
building 60 wind turbines in the North Sea.  To store the 
electricity produced, Groen said the Dutch were considering 
the construction of a large elevated lake in the North Sea 
that would be filled with water pumped into it by the energy 
produced by the wind turbines.  During peak electricity 
demand periods, the water in the lake would be released to 
drive a hydroelectric dam. 
 
¶6.  At ECN Headquarters in Petten, Unit Managers Peter 
Alderliesten and Marije Lafleur briefed the delegation on 
recent developments in the areas of energy efficiency in the 
home and capturing heat waste in manufacturing.  ECN is the 
Netherlands' largest research lab devoted to energy and was 
recently selected as the main energy research institution for 
the European Union.  It plays a major role in shaping energy 
policy for the Netherlands and develops new technologies for 
renewable energy (wind, solar, biomass, fuel cell, and 
hydrogen) as well as coal, gas, and nuclear power.  It 
operates along the same lines as the National Laboratories in 
the U.S. (Sandia National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore 
National Laboratory).  While the GONL provides 30 percent of 
ECN's budget, the Center also generates revenue from joint 
projects with industry and through its research and patents. 
In a separate visit to ING Bank Headquarters "The Shoe" in 
Amsterdam, the delegation saw first-hand how some Dutch firms 
are responding to the GONL call for all new buildings to be 
carbon neutral by 2012. 
 
WATER MANAGEMENT: MANAGING THE UNAVOIDABLE 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  The delegation met in The Hague with officials from the 
Ministry of Transport, Public Works, and Water Management 
(MOT), including State Secretary for Water Management, Tineke 
Huizinga-Heringa, who addressed the importance of continuing 
U.S.-Dutch cooperation on water management issues. 
Huizinga-Heringa was accompanied by Mark Dierikx, 
Director-General for Water Affairs, Roel Gans, Director for 
International and European Affairs, Hans Balfoort, Senior 
Advisor to the Director General for Water Affairs, and 
Annelie Kohl, Senior Advisor to the Director-General for the 
Rijkswaterstaat, which handles national public works and 
water management. 
 
¶8.  Balfoort provided a brief overview of Dutch flood history 
and the current national flood prevention policy, which 
focuses on probability and risk management.  In the aftermath 
of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the United States in 2005, 
he said the Dutch refocused their own efforts to deal more 
with the consequences of flooding, such as evacuations, 
emergency management, and reconstruction.  He said this new 
strategy also included a shift away from "hard" defenses such 
as dikes to more natural defenses.  Kohl explained the 
implementing role of the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat (RWS/the 
Netherlands Department of Public Works), noting similarities 
with the work done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
(USACE) and the U.S. Federal Highway Administration in the 
United States.  She said a high-level of cooperation had 
already existed between the USACE and RWS prior to the 2005 
Katrina and Rita disasters, including a 2004 Memorandum of 
Agreement between the two bodies.  U.S.-Dutch cooperation and 
exchanges had continued to accelerate and improve since 2005. 
 In fact, the RWS was now turning to the USACE and other 
agencies in the U.S. for advice on how the Netherlands could 
best manage the consequences of a major flood or other 
natural disaster, Kohl added. 
 
¶9.  A tour of the Maeslantkering, a giant movable storm surge 
barrier that sits near the mouth of the New Waterway leading 
from the North Sea to the heart of the Rotterdam Port, 
provided the delegation with an up-close view of the most 
recent addition to the Dutch Delta Works.  The Delta Works 
includes various barriers in densely populated areas near the 
river mouths of the Rhine, the Meuse and the Schelde. 
Folkert Post, Director of the South-Holland Region of the 
RWS, explained how the Maeslantkering was built to avoid the 
need to raise the existing dikes around Rotterdam.  Its 
unique design -- a movable barrier -- can be closed when 
water levels threaten dikes in the area without hindering 
shipping into the Rotterdam Port. 
 
¶10.  A visit further inland to the "Room for the Rivers" 
project in Werkendam showcased Dutch efforts to adapt to 
 
THE HAGUE 00001662  003 OF 003 
 
 
climate change by managing the discharge of large volumes of 
water in the Rhine, the Waal, and the Meuse rivers.  The 
Mayor of Werkendam Henk Hellegers joined the delegation for a 
tour of the project and a presentation on how the system is 
designed to mitigate damage and loss of life from flooding by 
providing overflow capacity to these river deltas. 
 
¶11.  During a dinner hosted by the Netherlands Water 
Partnership (NWP), the delegation heard about NWP efforts to 
coordinate and to promote Dutch water expertise in places 
such as Louisiana, Florida, California, and New York.  The 
NWP is a a public-private consortium that includes the RWS, 
Dutch national water labs and research institutes, and 
various non-governmental organizations and private companies 
working in the area of water management.  Jos Dijkman, a 
Flood Management Engineer from WL Delft Hydraulics, the 
largest national water lab in the country, also briefed the 
delegation on current computer modeling efforts in the area 
of flood management. 
Arnall