Belgian offshore wind farms generated 6.7 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2020, a record thanks to surging capacity.
The Belgian Offshore Platform (BOP) said the total represents 8.4% of the country’s total electricity consumption for the year.
No corresponding figures for 2019 were supplied but it is thought to be the highest-ever output from the country’s fleet, which was bolstered by the commissioning of the 219MW Northwester 2 and 487MW Seamade in the last 12 months.
BOWP said completion of the two projects, bring total capacity in the Belgian North Sea to 2.7GW, which will deliver 8TWh annually.
The commissionings also mean the first offshore energy zone has been completed, it said.
However, construction works are expected to remain at a standstill for a few years while awaiting the official tender procedure for new developments in the more western Princess Elisabeth Zone, where space is already allocated for doubling wind capacity at sea to 4.5GW.
“Wind energy at sea is a particularly important cornerstone of the sustainable energy transition in Belgium,” said Hugo Canière, BOP secretary-general.
“Given the great importance of offshore wind energy in the European Green Deal and the European recovery policy, it is now more than ever time to speed up the further development of this technology, which can generate green electricity on a large scale and at the same time offer interesting economic opportunities, also in Belgium.”