The Netherlands’ national railway company, NS, uses wind energy to power its electric train network. They achieved their goal of using wind power as the sole energy source for trains a year ahead of schedule due to the growing number of wind farms in the country. One hour of wind turbine operation generates enough electricity to power a train for about 120 miles. However, the NS train fleet still consumes a lot of energy, using 1.2 billion kWh of electricity each year.
The Dutch have used wind power to move water and grind grain for centuries, and the windmill is one of the most iconic symbols of the Netherlands. Today, the national railway company of the Netherlands, known as NS, uses wind energy to power its electric train network. NS makes around 5,500 train journeys every day, carrying around 600,000 passengers to their destinations. The Netherlands had hoped that wind power would be the sole energy source for trains by 2018, but they actually achieved that goal a year ahead of schedule in January 2017. The early achievement of the goal is due mainly to the growing number of wind farms throughout the Netherlands, as well as offshore.
Blowing in the wind:
According to NS and energy company Eneco, a wind turbine running for an hour generates enough electricity to power a train for about 120 miles (200km).
When the blades of a wind turbine rotate, they drive a shaft, which in turn powers a generator, producing electricity.
However, the NS train fleet still consumes a lot of energy. Each year, the trains use 1.2 billion kWh of electricity, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of energy used by all Amsterdam households in one year.
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