Norther Delivers First Power

The 370MW Norther offshore wind farm has delivered first power to the Belgian grid.

The project’s first four MHI Vestas 8.4MW turbines were connected to Stevin, Elia’s new high-voltage station in Zeebrugge today, 26 February.

Half of the generated wind energy will be sold to Engie and the remaining half to Eneco, Norther NV said.

Van Oord’s vessel Aeolus began installing the turbines earlier this month and has so far positioned 12 out of 44 units.

“The first connection of Norther to the power grid is a landmark event in realising the targets for renewable energy in 2020,” said Chris Peeters, CEO of Elia.

“Through our Stevin connection point, that was taken into service in 2017, we can inject offshore wind power into our grid. In that way, Norther and Elia contribute to the integration of renewable energy in Belgium’s electricity grid.”

Norther is Belgium’s wind farm to feature wind turbines with a capacity of 8MW or above. It will be the largest offshore wind farm in Belgian waters once operational this Summer.

“With this project, Belgium takes a big step forward in reducing its CO2 emissions. This is a landmark for everyone working on this project: the team, the contractors, the shareholders and the authorities. Without them, we wouldn’t be at this point,” said Dennis Sanou, Norther Project Director.