The offshore company Eldepasco chooses Vestas Offshore A/S as its preferred negotiating partner for the delivery and maintenance of wind turbines for the third offshore wind farm in the Belgian sector of the North Sea.
With this move, it takes a significant step towards realizing the project. If, before long, the financing too can be finalized, the offshore wind farm Eldepasco can be built, starting in the spring of 2012.
Eldepasco and Vestas Offshore A/S have signed a term sheet which lays the negotiating basis for a delivery- and maintenance contract, to be fleshed out in the course of 2010. The proposed alliance covers the delivery, installation, maintenance and the permanent monitoring of the wind turbines over a long period.
If the negotiations are concluded successfully by the planned deadline, then Eldepasco will be the first-ever offshore wind farm with the new V112-3.0 MW wind turbine.
Meanwhile, negotiations have also started with other parties for the foundations and the electrical works and Eldepasco intends, by early 2011, to have reached an agreement on the funding of the entire project which is put at ca. EUR 800 million.
In its capacity as a Belgian company, Eldepasco would like to stress that the construction and maintenance of the proposed offshore wind farm will be undertaken from a Belgian seaport. During the construction phase, this will create additional employment opportunities in the region, namely 100 direct and indirect jobs over a 2-year period. Once the project is fully operational, Eldepasco will provide employment for over 40 people over the full operating period (which is estimated at 20 years).
The predicted annual yield of the Eldepasco wind energy farm is put at 800,000 MWh, which represents 1 % of the (current) total energy production in Belgium (grey = ordinary electricity and green electrical power). Together with the other planned offshore projects in the North Sea, Eldepasco will make a considerable contribution towards achieving the European ‘20-20-20’ climate goals. Of the 13 percent renewable energy production that Belgium must achieve by 2020, about a third will be sourced from wind energy in the North Sea.
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Source: electrawinds, September 05 , 2010;