Work to Start on Belgium's Nobelwind Offshore Windfarm

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Work has started on one of Belgium's largest offshore wind projects, following the securing of 460 million euro ($504 million) in final financing.

The 165-megawatt (MW) Nobelwind windfarm now will proceed, according to development partners Sumitomo Corporation Europe, part of Japan's Sumitomo Group (Tokyo, Japan), developer Parkwind (Leuven, Belgium) and Dutch company Meewind (Haarlem, Netherlands). It is the first time that a Japanese corporation has invested in a European offshore wind project. Sumitomo acquired a 39% stake in the project last summer.

Nobelwind, the fourth-largest windfarm in Belgian waters, will be capable of supplying enough power to approximately 186,000 households when it goes live in 2018. The project, which lies 45 kilometers (km) north of the Belgian coast in water depths of approximately 30 meters, will cost an estimated $718 million to complete. It forms the second phase of the Belwind offshore project; the first 165-MW phase is already operational. It will use 50 turbines, rated at 3.3-MW each, from wind turbine generators from Vestas Wind Systems A/S (Aarhus, Denmark).

The project has received $274 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

EIB Vice President Pim van Ballekom commented: "Since 2009 the EIB has invested more than 1 billion Euro ($1.1 billion) in wind energy projects in Belgium to ensure a safe, affordable and diversified supply for a large portion of the Belgian population. Fighting climate change is a long-term goal for the EIB, and we hope to see more projects like this one in Belgium in the coming years."

He added: "The development of offshore wind energy will support EU and national targets for renewable energy generation and contribute to security of energy supply and environmental objectives."

Jens Tommerup, chief executive officer of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, said: "We are proud that Parkwind has once again decided to partner with MHI Vestas to supply turbines for the Nobelwind project. When the project is completed, MHI Vestas and Parkwind will have together installed over 500 MW in Belgium, with all projects serviced by MHI Vestas technicians working out of our site office in Oostende."

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