Belwind Reschedules Kick-off for Zeebrugge Offshore Windfarm Expansion

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--Belgium's leading offshore windfarm developer, Belwind NV (Zeebrugge, Belgium) has rescheduled the construction of 165-megawatt (MW) Belwind II Offshore Windfarm project. The project, which was initially slated to kick-off by the end of 2013, has now been deferred by a year due to the delay in development of interlinking power evacuation system for connecting the windfarms in the area to an Offshore High Voltage Substation, which is associated with the 216-MW Northwind offshore windfarm.

Also known as Bligh Bank Offshore Windfarm, the Belwind II windfarm is situated 42 kilometers (kms) off the coast of Zeebrugge, a zone dedicated by the Belgian Government for construction of windfarms. Belwind II offshore windfarm would involve installation of 55 V90 offshore wind turbines of 3 MW, each supplied by Vestas Wind Systems A/S (Aarhus, Denmark) (OMX: VWS).

Meanwhile, Northwind offshore windfarm, situated 38 kms off the coast, is under construction. Due to be commissioned in mid-2014 the windfarm will have 72 Vestas V112 wind turbines of 3 MW each. The construction of Belwind II will begin only after the completion of this windfarm.

The 165-MW first phase of the Belwind offshore windfarm was commissioned in 2010. Constructed in record time of 3.5 years, the windfarm consists of 55 V90-3.0 MW Offshore wind turbines. It now provides green electricity to over 160,000 Belgian households and also cuts carbon dioxide emission by 160,000 tons per year compared to fossil fuel power plant.

A part of the offshore windfarm, Belwind II in the North Sea, is being used by Alstom for testing in stringent, real-life offshore wind and sea conditions in the North Sea where Alstom's newly launched Haliade 150-6MW offshore wind turbine has recently been installed.

Belwind NV, the developer of the Belwind II project, is owned by five major companies with the Colruyt Group (Euronext: COLR) (Halle, Belgium) having the largest stake of 37.27%.

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