About 722,000 MWh of renewable energy was produced by 181 turbines located in the Belgian part of the North Sea in the first quarter this year.
The produced electricity at Thornton Bank, Belwind and Northwind wind farms was enough to power around 800,000 households in the same period.
With a total installed capacity of 712 MW, the offshore wind industry represents a significant part to the energy supply of the Belgian energy market.
In the coming years, five more offshore wind farms are planned to go online – Seastar, Mermaid, Northwester2, Norther, RENTEL, as well as the second phase in the Belwind.
Once all eight projects are fully realized (2020), they will have a total capacity of 2,200MW and will produce over 8 TWh annually. It corresponds to 10% of total electricity consumption in Belgium.
“This again confirms that offshore wind energy already became an important area concerning the Belgian supply. With the further development of the parks this proportion will increase even more,” said Jean de Leu, president of the Belgian Offshore Platform.