Antwerp wind power project
Antwerp Port Authority has cemented its commitment to environmental stewardship by officially launching its project to build Belgium’s largest onshore windfarm on the bank of the Scheldt at the port.
During the first phase of development, 15 wind turbines will be erected, enough to supply 35,000 Flemish households with green electricity. But the ultimate aim is to build anything from 40 to 50 turbines at the port.
The state-of-the-art turbines with a capacity of 3MW, a rotor diameter of 113m and a shaft height of 115m will be supplied by Siemens Wind Power in Denmark. They will be installed on sites at the port belonging to Antwerp Gateway, Borealis, Euroports, Global Container Services, Indaver, Luiknatie, Norbert Dentressangle, Sea Port Terminals, Tabaknatie and Van Loon Transport.
Antwerp Port Authority said it will reinvest its share of the revenue from the windpower project, ploughing it back into the port via the Energy Fund whose task is to facilitate energy-efficiency investments and to co-finance innovative energy concepts within the port area.
“In this way we can all make our contribution towards the energy-efficient port of the 21st century,” said port alderman, Marc Van Peel.
The Energy Fund provides financial aid or offers practical assistance for companies to carry out energy audits, draw up strategic energy plans or carry out detailed lighting studies.
Initial planning permission to build the wind turbines was granted in June 2013 to Wind aan de Stroom NV, a public project company which includes the port authority as a partner. The company was set up to develop wind power on the left bank if the Scheldt.
Work on the foundations for the first turbines began at the end of 2014 and the first components for the foundations were delivered at the beginning of 2015. They are due to be handed over in October 2015.
By Anne-Marie Causer
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