Belgium's 219-MW Northwester 2 reaches full completion

The 219-MW Northwester 2 offshore wind park in Belgian waters has been fully commissioned and all of its turbines are feeding power into the Belgian grid.

The milestone was announced on Thursday by Belgian offshore wind developer Parkwind, which is a majority shareholder in the partnership behind the project. Parkwind owns a 70% interest, while Sumitomo Corp (TYO:8053) of Japan holds the remaining 30%.

The wind farm, located around 50km off the shore of Ostend, in northern Belgium, comprises 23 MHI Vestas turbines of the V164-9.5 MW model. The machines were installed in severe weather conditions and during the uncertain environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Offshore construction works at the site were initiated in July last year.

The power plant’s output, seen at around 800 GWh per year, will be bought by a unit of German energy group RWE AG (ETR:RWE).

Parkwind noted that it will now direct its efforts to the development of the 257-MW Arcadis Ost 1 and 330-MW Oriel wind projects off the German and Irish coasts, respectively. The commissioning of Northwester 2 has lifted Belgium’s installed offshore wind capacity to 1,776 MW.

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