France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles has commissioned a first round of bond funding to cover 30 megawatts of development (EDF) at the Thorntonbank offshore wind farm being built in Belgium.

Once completed, the installation is set to be one of Europe’s largest offshore wind farms.

As part of the first pilot 30-megawatt phase, six high-power wind turbines of 5 megawatts each have been installed off the coast of Zeebrugge on the Thorntonbank sand bank. The first offshore project built in Belgium, the wind farm — when fully completed — will feature some 60 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 300 megawatts. That would be enough to meet the annual electricity needs of a city of 600,000 inhabitants, and would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 450,000 tonnes per year.

Construction of the entire wind farm, which is structured in several phases, is expected to be completed in 2013.

EDF Energies Nouvelles holds an equity interest of 18.3 per cent in the project, which is owned by a group of companies brought together in the Belgian C-Power consortium.

Tags: wind energy