SeaMade can now build windmills in the North Sea

SeaMade can now build windmills in the North Sea

The SeaMade consortium can begin building windmills in the North Sea in Summer 2019. The project’s budget has been finalised and the last two batches of windmills should be operational by 2020.

With 70% of the shares under its belt, a consortium of Belgian renewable energy specialists, Otary, remains Seamade’s main shareholder, while the remaining shares are held by Electrabel (17.5%) and Eneco Wind Belgium (12.5%).

The Otary consortium comprises Deme, SRIW, Socofe, Aspiravi and Elicio companies.

Two Windmill parks, Seastar and Mermaid, are to be created. Together, they will make up the biggest windmill complex in the North Sea. Seastar will be located about 40 km from the coast, between Belwind and Northwind. Mermaid will be some 50 km off the coast.

The SeaMade Project will have a total of 58 windmills, each with a rotor diameter of 167 metres, manufactured by Siemens Gamesa. The windmill park will be able to supply 485,000 households with green electricity annually and avoid 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually. Underwater electricity poles will be linked to the network of the Elia company, which manages high-tension networks. Twenty-eight km of high-tension cables thus need to be installed under water.

Work on the new network will begin by Summer 2019. The parks will produce energy from late 2020.

Total investment is estimated at 1.3 billion euros and all concessions currently available will be used. Belgium’s State Secretary for the North Sea, Philippe De Backer, indicated over the weekend that he hoped to double the country’s offshore energy capacity in the North Sea.


The Brussels Times


Copyright © 2024 The Brussels Times. All Rights Reserved.