Offshore wind farms in Belgium broke a record in February as they produced 804GWh of electricity, according to the Belgian Offshore Platform (BOP).
The 804GWh, measured at the Elia grid connection point, corresponds to the annual consumption of 230,000 households, at 3,500kWh per year per family.
The last reported monthly record was in December 2019 when the country’s six wind farms generated 616GWh of electricity.
According to BOP, the new record is due to a higher installed capacity, which was increased in February by 60MW, from 1556MW to 1616MW.
This increase is due to the commissioning of the first turbines at the Northwester 2 offshore wind farm.
Compared to February 2019, installed capacity increased by 430MW, or 36.5%, 370MW for the Norther project and 60MW for Northwester 2.
Additionally, it was a record month in terms of wind conditions, as the average capacity factor was 74%, compared to the previous record of 70% from December 2015.
Over the last five years, the average capacity factor for February was 53%, BOP said.