Office
Spanbroekerweg 162
1715 GV Spanbroek
The Netherlands
In this blog, I will take you along in one of our unique windmill projects. A special project that is being realized in Wesepe, The Netherlands. After 75 years of absence, Wesepe gets another iconic traditional windmill. A traditional mill on the outside, an exceptional piece of technology on the inside. A project in which WES does the engineering for the control works that is specific for this mill… I will explain what we will do, but first a bit of history.
The traditional grain mill, built in 1837, lost its blades in 1938 after 100 years of operation. The octagonal grain mill had an upper wheel. A turning system was needed to turn the blades into the wind, so that it could make optimal use of this and function as a grain mill. After 100 years of operation, the mill lost its purpose, and 7 years later it disappeared completely from Wesepe’s horizon.
At the end of the Second World War, the day before the liberation of Wesepe, the occupiers ordered the miller to set fire to the mill. The miller could not bear this. Given the severe sanction, whether the mill or the miller, his brother-in-law was compelled to do it, so the mill was completely burnt.
Mr. Henry Franken, resident of Wesepe, is passionate about historic buildings. Combined with the inhabitants’ desire to get a mill in the village again, the initiative has grown. A long journey of design, ideas and permits followed. Now, it is time to build the new, both traditional and innovative, windmill.
Now, the new windmill is being rebuild. An octagonal, four-winged mill is built according to the earlier, traditional design. Unlike its ancestor, this mill will not fulfill the traditional function as a grain mill.
This 4-winged thatched windmill will have a double function in the future. In the first place, both the mill and the concrete substructure will have a residential function, and secondly the generation of energy. Like the great cousins of this mill, the movement of the blades set in motion by the wind is converted into energy.
Quote from Mr. Franken: “I did not want to build a monument that deteriorates when I am no longer here. There is a revenue model behind it. The mill will soon generate electricity for about twenty households. A modern windmill system will be installed in the ridge. My house will be built in the mill and five more apartments, so-called “field rooms”, will be built under the mill. Those field rooms are rented out. I will live with my wife in the large house in the mill.”
At present, WES and Vaags have started an engineering process to investigate which control system will be best applicable in the authentic windmill. We will share with you how these steps proceed and what comes next.
The mill is planned to be operational in 2021. Follow our socials, we will keep you informed!
Spanbroekerweg 162
1715 GV Spanbroek
The Netherlands
We use cookies for the management of web statistics, advertisements and social media. During this process, personal data is collected. Click the Accept button if you are already informed about cookies.
AcceptRead our privacy and cookie policyWe may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.
If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:
You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.
privacy-and-cookie-policy