Van Oord to build largest wind farm in Belgian waters

Belgian offshore contractor Van Oord has signed a contract with Norther for the construction of the Norther offshore wind farm, located 23 km off the Zeebrugge coast in Belgium.

With a maxim capacity of 370 MW, Norther is set to become Belgium’s largest offshore wind project. After completion it will be capable of delivering renewable energy to 400,000 households. The Norther offshore wind farm will contribute significantly to Belgium meeting its target of generating 13% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

The Van Oord contribution to this project will include the engineering, procurement, supply and installation of the WTG foundations for the 44 turbines and the offshore high voltage station. The company will also be responsible for laying and connecting the inter-array and export cables for the project and the installation of the turbine structures. For the transport and installation of the foundations and turbines Van Oord intends to deploy its offshore installation vessel Aeolus and for the cable connections it will use its cable-laying vessel Nexus. The construction is scheduled to start in 2018.

Pieter Van Oord, CEO said: "As one of the leading marine contractors we have completed several prominent offshore wind projects in the past fifteen years. 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”. Project Norther is a joint venture between Elicio, Eneco and the Mitsubishi Corporation.