Van Oord Hired to Build Belgium’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm

Photo credit: Van Oord

Dutch marine contractor Van Oord has been hired to build Belgium’s largest offshore wind farm project located approximately 23 kilometers off the Zeebrugge coast in Belgium.

Van Oord announced Friday it has signed a contract with developer Norther to provide Balance of Plant works for the Norther Offshore Wind Farm. With capacity to generate 370 MW, the wind farm will be Belgium’s largest and will deliver renewable energy to approximately 400,000 households.

The Van Oord services will include the engineering, procurement, supply and installation of the 44 WTG foundations, the Offshore High Voltage Station and the inter-array and export cables, and the installation of the turbines. For the transport and installation of the foundations and turbines Van Oord says it intends to deploy its offshore installation vessel Aeolus and cable-laying vessel Nexus.

With the use of wind energy increasing, specifically in places like northwest Europe, Van Oord says it is positioned at the forefront of truly sustainable project.

“As one of the leading marine contractors we have completed several prominent offshore wind projects in the past fifteen years,” said Van Oord CEO, Peter van Oord. “We have also made large investments by adding the world’s most advanced offshore wind equipment, such as installation vessel Aeolus and cable laying vessel Nexus, to our fleet. Thanks to our dedicated people, innovative solutions and specialised equipment we can contribute in making offshore wind a common form of sustainable energy.”

Construction on the Norther Offshore Wind Farm is expected to start in 2018.

The project is expected to contribute significantly to Belgium meeting its target of generating 13% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

Dennis Sanou, Norther Project Director, commented: “Project Norther and its shareholders Elicio, Eneco and Mitsubishi Corporation are proud to conclude that after a long period of intense preparation and thanks to all parties involved we have been able to achieve financial close. We are sure that the construction and commissioning of Norther in 2018 and 2019 will be a successful endeavour with reliable and experienced partners as Van Oord.”

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