Offshore construction at the 309MW Rentel offshore wind farm off the Belgium coast will get underway in the spring after the project backers confirmed a €1.1bn debt finance haul.
The Rentel consortium said today it has secured the cash to build the 42-turbine wind farm and confirmed a supplier teamsheet featuring Siemens 7MW hardware, ABB export cables and an STX Europe-made offshore substation.
Onshore construction is expected to get underway straight away and first power is due in mid-2018.
Full commercial operation is slated for the end of 2018 with some 285,000 homes to be powered by the Belgian North Sea project.
“Thanks to this investment we do not only contribute to achieving the international, but also the Belgian climate objectives,” said Rentel chief executive Nathalie Oosterlinck.
“The realization of the new wind farm generates approximately 1400 direct jobs and another 1400 indirect jobs during development and construction stage. During the exploitation stage 100 permanent jobs will be created.”
A total of nine banks have been tapped to provide debt, including the European Investment Bank (EIB), AG Insurance, ASN Bank, Belfius, ING, KBC, KfW Ipex-Bank, Rabobank and Societe Generale.
EIB will provide €250m through the European Fund for Strategic Investments and fund a further €50m that will be guaranteed by Delcredere/Ducroire, while EKF will guarantee a €208m tranche.
The project is owned by eight shareholders: DEME; Rent@Port Energy; SRIW Environmental; Socofe; Z-kracht; Power@Sea; Elicio Offshore; and Aspiravi Offshore.
DEME will design, supply, transport and install foundations and infield cables.
Image: a DEME offshore installation vessel at work (DEME)
Rentel under starter’s orders
Contracting line-up confirmed for construction on 309MW project off Belgium
By EBS