EIB considers financing Rentel offshore wind farm
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has revealed on its website it is considering providing a €400 million loan for the construction of the 294 MW Rentel offshore wind farm in Belgium.
The project involves the design, construction, operation and maintenance of an offshore wind farm located in the North Sea, 42 km from Ostend harbour, in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Belgium.
Rentel is owned by Otary, a consortium comprising ELECTRAWINDS Offshore NV, Rent-a-Port, DEME NV, SRIW Environment, Aspiravi Offshore NV, Z‐kracht NV, Power@Sea NV and Socofe NV.
Siemens will install a total of 42 turbines SWT 7 MW 154 model. The contract also includes a maintenance agreement for a period of 15 years.
Whit a hub height of 106 m and a rotor diameter of 154 m, the turbines will be the largest ever within the Belgian North Sea. The offshore wind farm will have capacity to generate over 1 GWh of electricity.
Project financing of €1.25 billion (US$1.38 billion) is expected to be completed by 2016, while construction works are set to begin by 2017-2018. The new facilities would be operational by late 2018.
