The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide an undisclosed amount of funding for the construction of the Seamade offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea.
The project comprises the construction of two offshore wind farms, the recently merged Mermaid and Seastar, about 38 and 50km off the Belgian coast.
The wind farm will have a total installed power of up to 488MW, depending on the final design, and associated ancillary facilities, including inter-array cables, an offshore substation and export cable to connect to an offshore connection point to the national Belgian grid.
According to EIB, the project will further contribute to the bank’s transversal priority objectives for energy-sector lending related to renewable energy sources and climate action.
Seamade NV, a joint venture between Otary (70%), Electrabel (17.5%), and Eneco Wind Belgium SA (12.5%), aims to reach the final investment decision on the project by the end of 2018 and enter the construction phase in 2019.
The wind farm will comprise 58 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines slated for commissioning in 2020.