Nobelwind has reached financial close at its 165MW Belwind 2 offshore wind farm.
The developer revealed the project off the coast of Belgium is now on track for commissioning in 2017.
Nobelwind head Frank Coenen said: “Things have been going very smoothly and according to plan and we are confident we will be able to stick to our construction schedule.”
All major agreements for the project have been signed with Jan de Nul as the lead foundation contractor. The Luxembourg-based group will deploy its jack-up vessel Vidar to install monopiles, transition pieces, and turbines in up to 39m of water.
A new kind of foundation designed by Denmark’s Ramboll will be installed. The inter-array cables will be pulled through a hole at the bottom of each of the 50 EEW turbine substructures and then run upwards inside them. Monopiles and transition pieces are bolted together.
The developer says the design is easier to install and saves steel. It is more efficient than pulling the infield cabling through external steel pipes fixed to the foundation.
The inter-array cables will be provided by Prysmian Norway and installed by Deep Ocean using the Maersk Connector. CS Wind will supply the transition pieces that will be bolted to the monopiles and the towers.
“Load transfer and repair works will be easier to carry out at bolted structures compared to grouted ones”, Coenen added.
Belwind 2 will feature 50 Vestas V112-3.3 wind turbines. They will be shipped directly from the port of Ejsberg to the offshore site located 45km off the Belgian coast. The project’s offshore substation will be provided by Bladt Industries and Semo Maritime. EEW will also provide the transformer station’s monopile foundation.
The project’s first 45MW will receive a subsidy of €107/MWh with the remaining capacity being subsidised with €90/MWh. Nobelwind will sell the electricity on the energy market and intends to partly hedge with futures.
Construction works at Belwind 2 are set to kick in by the first half of next year and wrap up in 2017. Nobelwind includes Parkwind, Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corporation, and Dutch fund Meewind.
Image: Belwind 1 (Van Oord)
