Belgium Finishes Largest Offshore Windfarm

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The last turbine has been installed in Belgium's first offshore windfarm which will boost the capacity at Thornton Bank to 325-megawatts (MW), enough to power approximately 300,000 homes.

REpower Systems AG (ETR:RPW) (Hamburg, Germany) completed Phase III of the project by installing the last of 48 turbines, rated at 6.15 MW each. Thornton Bank was the first windfarm in the world to start using turbines with a generating capacity in excess of 6 MW. It is also one of the largest project-financed offshore wind farms in Europe, involving eight European commercial banks, and the European Investment Bank (EIB), which provided vital funding of €900 million ($1.28 billion) for Phases II and III of the project. For additional information, see December 2, 2010, article - Belgium's Thornton Bank Windfarm Gets 900 Million-Euro Uplift.

"We are very proud to have installed the largest fleet of 6 megawatt turbines worldwide," commented Andreas Nauen, CEO of REpower Systems."Thornton Bank confirms the long-term potential of the market."

Germany's RWE Innogy, the renewable energy division of RWE AG (PINK:RWEOY) (Essen, Germany), has managed the development of Thornton Bank and is the largest shareholder with a 26.7% share.

The second phase of Thornton Bank was fully commissioned in February this year, adding 148 MW of green energy to the country's electricity mix. For additional information, see August 21, 2013, article - Belgium's First Offshore Windfarm gets Bigger.

Belgium relies on nuclear power for more than half of its electricity but wants to phase out nuclear power by 2025. It has ambitious renewable energy goals and government-funded reports have suggested that the country could transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050.

In January this year, the government outlined plans to build an island dedicated to storing electricity created by wind energy. Renewable energy from windfarms is dogged by the dual problems of intermittency and storage. The three kilometer island, which will be shaped like a horseshoe and sit a few kilometeres offshore near a windfarm, will have a deep reservoir located in the centre and use a pumped-hydro system to store excess wind energy generated during off-peak hours. During off-peak times, power from the turbines would pump water up 15 meteres to a reservoir. To generate electricity during peak times, the water will be released to turn a generator. This stored energy can then be released when needed or when the wind is not blowing.

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