All turbines up at Belgium's 219-MW Northwester 2 offshore wind park

All MHI Vestas turbines at the 219-MW Northwester 2 offshore wind farm being built in Belgian waters have been installed, the turbine manufacturer said today.

The project is a partnership between Belgian offshore wind developer Parkwind, which is a majority shareholder with a 70% interest, and Sumitomo Corp (TYO:8053) of Japan with a 30% stake.

The wind farm is being installed around 50km off the shore of Ostend, in northern Belgium, comprising 23 MHI Vestas turbines of the V164-9.5 MW model. According to MHI Vestas, which is a joint venture between Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS) and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (TYO:7011), this is the first project with this hardware that will achieve commercial operation.

Turbine installation at the site was initiated in December 2019 and carried out on an expedited schedule with the use of two installation vessels. MHI Vestas will maintain the power plant under a 15-year service contract.

Parkwind previously said it expects the wind farm to become fully operational before the summer. Its output, seen at around 800 GWh per year, will be bought by a unit of German energy group RWE AG (ETR:RWE) under a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed last February.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!