COMPANY PROFILE
2014
Parkwind
+32 16 24 07 90 | www.northwindenergy.eu
Northwind: Innovative green power for Belgium
Tim Hands
Since its founding in 2007, Northwind’s mission has remained unchanging; to develop, finance, construct and operate a windfarm capable of powering 230,000 households on the Bank zonder Naam (Lodewijkbank), located in the North Sea off the Ostend coast.
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Parkwind NV Financing for the project was finalised in
by Belgian dredging giant DEME to its
gave Sumitomo sufficient confidence to
June 2012, a financial investment plan
offshore affiliate GeoSea, while, in a move
join this project,” says Biesemans.
that was the result of four months’ work in
guaranteed to inspire the very best results,
total, undertaken by nearly one hundred of
the export cabling will be completed by
it terms the “future-oriented and exciting
the finest minds operating in the fields of
fierce competitor Jan De Nul.
sector of renewable energy,” developing,
The Aspiravi Group specialises in what
Parkwind entered into its strategic
investing in and operating projects for
represents a third of the offshore
partnership with the Japanese industrial
producing green energy. It is this vision
windfarms located on the Lodewijk Bank,
group Sumitomo in May of this year,
that sees it so firmly focussed on wind
37 kilometres from the Ostend coast,
providing the shareholders and
energy projects in Belgium, the North Sea
with its ownership divided up between
management team of Parkwind with a
and abroad.
three main parties: approximately 33.4%
further strong partner to allow for the
is owned by Parkwind, while Aspiravi
continued development of its offshore
management have combined to allow for
Holding NV and Sumitomo Corporation
wind activities.
a healthy growth over the past 10 years,
banking, legal and insurance. Northwind
hold 33.3% each. Northwind CEO Frank
This is a coming-together
A healthy financial situation and sound
and simultaneously enables the group to
Coenen underlined at its announcement
wholeheartedly welcomed by Wim
build at a steady pace on a sustainable
in 2012 how significant this project
Biesemans, CEO of Parkwind, who
future for the next generations. It is mainly
is for the Belgian energy in general,
reaffirms the support it brings to its
due to its participation in offshore wind
crediting the government’s commitment
energy that the Colruyt Group has, since
to this vital development and delineating
2011, managed to achieve the feat of
how Belgium is leading the way in its advancement: “Thanks to the framework created by the government, Belgium is at the top of offshore wind farms. We are the champions. Not only as far as construction of wind farms is concerned, but also as far as know-how in the field is concerned. We can be proud of that.” Construction began in March of the following year, 2013, and completion is currently scheduled to be imminent, in mid-2014. This followed the area
“Thanks to the framework created by the government Belgium is at the top of offshore wind farms. We are the champions.”
generating more power from renewable energy sources, both solar and wind energy, than it consumes. Colruyt Group operates in the food and non-food distribution sector in Belgium, France and Luxembourg, holding some 400 of its own stores and over 500 affiliated stores, and when it comes to constructing or renovating these buildings, it is without fail systematically examined whether solar panels are a feasible upgrade option to further drive its commitment to sustainable development.
concession being granted in 2006, and
An integral aspect of any offshore
the decision that the Belwind 2 project
commitment to innovation: “By teaming
would connect to Northwind, before
up with this partner, Parkwind strengthens
development is the ability to be able to
then connecting directly to the shore.
its ability to develop the production of
monitor, with the highest accuracy, the
The 216 MW park is comprised of 72
sustainable energy at sea. It confirms our
performance of the asset.
individual turbines, the cost of which is
position as a leading company in Europe
likely to top 850 million euros. It is an
in the field of developing, building and
partnering with the SynaptiQ Wind
investment whose majority is backed,
running offshore wind farms.”
monitoring platform, whose advanced
in the main, by the banks who provide
Ever since the Fukushima nuclear
Parkwind recently announced its
SCADA data analysis toolkit will deliver
70% of the necessary finance, with the
disaster in Japan, the country has applied
just this, with its independent reporting
project partners contributing the remaining
an even greater focus to its development
set to even further improve performance
30%. This responsibility will be fulfilled
of renewable energy sources, with the
for the company’s Belwind offshore wind
to the tune of 209 million by the Colruyt
collective know-how within the Northwind
farm.
Group, current shareholders of Parkwind,
project clearly appreciated at an
while about 70 million euros will be
international level and drawing Sumitomo
justified its selection of the system as
injected by Aspiravi alongside additional
into its first offshore wind project. “I am
such: “We chose SynaptiQ Wind for
financial investments from the investment
particularly proud that we were able to
our operations and asset management
company Gimv, the Colruyt family and
come to this partnership. The experience
because we trust the robustness of the
the Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen
gained and the reputation of our team
data collection and real-time database.
PMV. The building of the foundations
and our shareholders as well as the actual
We were looking for a customizable,
and turbine cabling has been contracted
coherent regulatory framework in Belgium
flexible tool that would help save time
Eric Antoons, Parkwind COO,
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optimised operation.
in reporting. SynaptiQ answers these
for the Northwind project will be provided
needs. The accurate reporting module is
by Vestas, whose products are designed
especially useful to our operations. It will
so that the completed windfarm will
a large number of standard components
also support our ambition to improve the
be fully compliant with the applicable
is excellent news for the ease of
operational performance of the assets by
grid codes at the point of common
maintenance and replacement, as these
an advanced and integrated monitoring.�
coupling. The company prides itself on a
can be easily sourced by several suppliers,
This will prove integral to maintaining and
commitment to innovative design founded
and in turn ensure a high level of both
improving the performance of the 165
on decades of experience in the field and
availability and reliability. The V112-3.0
MW windfarm, located on the Bligh Bank,
the V112-3.0 MW turbine exemplifies this,
MW three-bladed offshore turbine was
about 46 kilometres off the Belgian coast
taking tried and tested technology and
developed to yield the maximum possible
and operational since 2010, which is to be
improving it even further, via significant
output in the conditions to be faced by
extended with another 55 turbines that will
innovations in the areas of both blade
the Northwind park, delivering optimum
double its capacity to 330 MW by 2016.
and nacelle design, as well as its cooling
power in average wind speeds of up to
The turbines selected
systems and load-
That this design is also achieved using
ten metres a second, and this next great stride for modern energy seems the perfect fit for a project so significant to renewable energy as Northwind
Parkwind NV
Innovative marine and offshore solutions
Drilling and piling of large diameter monopiles
Installation works with jack-up platforms
Wind turbine erection
Accommodation units
Grouting activities
EPCI contracts
Offshore site investigation
Directional drilling
Jacket installation (pre-piling / post-piling)
Foundation and wind turbine maintenance and repair services
Foundation and wind turbine logistics
Installation of transition pieces GeoSea nv Haven 1025 – Scheldedijk 30 B-2070 Zwijndrecht, Belgium T +32 3 250 53 12 F +32 3 250 55 41 info.geosea@deme-group.com www.deme-group.com/geosea
Š Shell
member of the Deme Group PAGE 5
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