Full Power for 600-Megawatt Dutch Offshore Windfarm

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Canada's Northland Power Incorporated (OTC:NPIFF) (Toronto, Ontario) has announced the completion of one of Europe's largest new offshore windfarms off the Dutch coast.

The 600-megawatt (MW) Gemini windfarm cost 2.8 billion euro ($3 billion) to construct and uses 150 wind turbines rated at 4 MW each from Germany's Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany). Located in the North Sea, 85 kilometres (km) above the coast of Groningen, Gemini will produce 2.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year, enough to supply 1.5 million people. It is the largest offshore windfarm in the Netherlands. All of the150 turbines have been operating since October 2016, Northland said, and have so far generated over 250 million euro ($274 million) of net pre-completion revenues.

The project is 60% owned by Northland, with additional investors Siemens Financial Services (20%), Van Oord (10%) and HVC (10%)--a joint venture of 48 Dutch municipalities and six water regulatory authorities.

"Today's announcement is a remarkable achievement and the result of exceptional collaboration between all involved," said John Brace, CEO of Northland. "I would like to commend the Gemini project team; Siemens, who supplied, erected and commissioned the turbines; Van Oord, who designed, procured and installed all other aspects of the project; and everyone engaged with the debt restructuring for their significant efforts. The successful completion of our first offshore wind farm -- ahead of schedule and under budget--combined with the loan restructuring, reflects Northland's proficiency in delivering high-quality sustainable energy infrastructure that provides attractive shareholder returns."

The Dutch government has set a target of 6,000 MW of onshore wind power by 2020 and 4,450 MW of offshore wind power by 2023. If successful it will form the key contributor to the country's goal of 14% of its total energy coming from renewable sources by 2020, rising to 16% by 2023.

Northland is an independent power with interests in 1,394 MW of operating generating capacity and 642 MW of generating capacity under construction. In addition to its majority stake in Gemini, it holds an 85% equity stake in Nordsee One, a 332-MW offshore wind project, located in the North Sea. It also recently announced the acquisition of a 100% equity stake in the 252-MW Deutsche Bucht (DeBu) offshore wind project, which is currently in "advanced development" in the North Sea.

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