The 219 MW Northwester 2 wind farm has been completed and is now supplying the Belgian grid electricity by all of its 23 fully operational wind turbines producing 9,5 MW each.
This wind farm, owned by Parkwind (70%) and Sumitomo (30%) is the first to use the MHI Vestas V164-9.5 MW turbines in commercial operation. The first turbine was installed in December 2019.
This is the seventh wind farm in the Belgian North Sea, which now brings the total offshore energy capacity to 1,776 MW and moves Belgium closer to reaching the goal of supplying 10% of energy demand with offshore wind by the end of 2020, Parkwind said Thursday.
Peter Caluwaerts, Parkwind’s Project Director said: "As we started the offshore construction of our fourth wind farm back in July last year, we could not have imagined the circumstances under which we would be completing this project. Following the powerful storms over the winter that caused some temporary disruption, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to deal with an unprecedented level of uncertainty. We managed to keep the project on track though."
"Following an excellent dialogue with the Belgian government and a great collaboration with our contractors, all operating procedures were re-designed to continue the construction works, ensuring the health and safety of all people involved and safeguarding their safe return home during this COVID-19 pandemic. "Today we can proudly say ‘we did it’. commented Peter Caluwaerts, Parkwind’s Project Director,
"‘We are grateful to every individual that has contributed to the timely and – most importantly – safe realization of the Northwester 2 project. Everyone has demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills, courage, resilience and determination to successfully complete this project.”
Now that Northwester 2 is completed, Parkwind said its focus would shift towards exporting its offshore expertise internationally.
"Arcadis Ost 1 (Germany) and Oriel (Ireland) are both in development and will bring an additional 577 MW of capacity to its portfolio while other opportunities in Europe, Asia and North America are under review," Parkwind said.