News

Electrabel Obtains Permission for Wallonia Wind Farm

August 08, 2002 by Jeff Shepard

Electrabel (Brussels, Belgium) announced that it has obtained permission to build the first wind farm in Wallonia after three years of consultation. The approval covers construction of four turbines in Bütgenbach of 2MW capacity each. The Euro 9.6 million wind farm will generate 16,000,000kWh a year, sufficient for 5,000 homes.

Excluding offshore wind farms, the company has applied for permission to build 86 turbines in Belgium with a total capacity of 130MW, including 34 in Wallonia with a total capacity of 72MW. Construction of foundations should start before the end of summer, with a six-month installation for turbines and the first generation expected by early next spring.

Last month, Electrabel received operating permits to build the first offshore wind farm in Belgium, to be located 12km into the North Sea. The 100MW Seanergy project will install the first 10 Vestas V80 turbines next spring, to be followed by 40 more in 2004. The total investment is expected to be Euro 220 million, but the wind farm will generate 300,000,000kWh of electricity a year and displace the annual emission of 180,000 tonnes of CO2.