Norther is an

offshore wind farm Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of ca ...

in the Belgian

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, within the Exclusive Economic Zone of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, approximately 23 kilometres from the Belgian port of

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

. The concession was granted at the end of 2009, which is when the actual development of the project began. The wind farm has a total of 44 Vestas V164-8.4 MW turbines on

monopile foundation A pile or piling is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven or drilled deep into the ground at the building site. A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from th ...

s for a

nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, maximum effect or gross capacity,capacity factor The net capacity factor is the unitless ratio of actual electrical energy output over a given period of time to the theoretical maximum electrical energy output over that period. The theoretical maximum energy output of a given installation is def ...

of 43.1% and the average consumption of almost 400,000 households. The wind farm spans an area of 38 km² with water depths up to 33 m. A

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

farm is planned between the turbines. The Norther offshore wind farm was developed through a joint venture between Elicio NV, a Belgian renewable energy producer operating internationally; and the Dutch utility company

Eneco Eneco, the trading name of Eneco Groep N.V., is a producer and supplier of natural gas, electricity and heat in the Netherlands, serving more than 2 million business and residential customers. The company's headquarters are located in Rotter ...

, who is a major producer and supplier of renewable electricity, natural gas and heat in the Netherlands and Belgium; and Diamond Generating Europe Ltd, is a fully owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation and cover power and water generation projects, as well as power downstream business in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Offshore wind is expected to be a key element of Belgium's future

energy mix The energy mix is a group of different primary energy, primary energy sources from which secondary energy for direct use - such as electricity - is produced. Energy mix refers to all direct uses of energy, such as transportation and housing, and ...

and is projected to represent around 10% of total generated electricity by 2025. Norther Wind is operational since 2019.

References

External links

* {{official, norther.be
Elicio

Eneco
Offshore wind farms in the North Sea Wind farms in Belgium 2019 establishments in Belgium Energy infrastructure completed in 2019

See also

References

External links