Northwester 2 Completes Turbine Installation of First 9.5MW Platform

April 16, 2020 | Renewables | Energy Facts Staff Writer | 3min

The 219 MW Northwester 2 project in Belgium has now seen all 23 turbines fully installed.

In a joint operation with MHI Vestas and Jan De Nul Group, Parkwind completed the final installation of turbines at the Northwester 2 offshore wind farm. The 219 MW project is located in the Belgian North Sea, approximately 50km off the shore of Ostend, Belgium, and is the first project to use the world’s highest rated V164-9.5 MW turbines in commercial operation.

The installation works started in December 2019. Following a good start, exceptionally adverse weather in the first months slowed the pace of the installation works down. To accelerate operations, a second installation vessel, the Scylla, was brought in mid-March to operate in parallel with Jan De Nul’s Vole au vent. All parties have closely worked together in a professional manner to overcome challenges and succeeded to maintain operational control until completion of the last WTG installation.

Peter Caluwaerts, Parkwind’s Project Director said: “Upon securing a second installation vessel to make up for the time lost in the first months of the year, the COVID-19 crisis broke out threatening to undo all our efforts. However, the extraordinary dedication we witnessed from the different teams, in the midst of an unprecedented context and with all additional safety measures, has been humbling. We are grateful towards all our stakeholders who have supported us in reaching this stage. We now confidently look towards the completion of our wind farm.”

Flemming Ougaard, MHI Vestas Chief Operations Officer noted: “We are pleased to have completed installation at Northwester 2, particularly during this challenging time related to COVID-19. The V164-9.5 MW turbines we have utilised at this project are built on proven technology, and will reliably support this project for decades.”

Stan Logghe, Senior Project Manager Northwester 2 at Jan De Nul Group said: “A challenging project has now successfully been completed. We are proud of the team achievements, involving the foundation design and procurement as well as the installation works of these foundations, all cables and all WTG’s of the Northwester 2 windfarm.”

MHI Vestas also holds a 15 year service agreement at Northwester 2, to maintain the V164-9.5 MW turbines.

Northwester 2 was installed on an expedited schedule, due to a highly collaborative approach being taken, supply chain readiness, and the industrialisation of offshore wind in Belgium.