First wind energy turbine erected for Thornton Bank offshore wind farm in Belgian North Sea

The Thornton Bank offshore wind project is 30 km off the coast and is the first offshore farm in Belgium. Six of the REpower 5M turbines each with a output capacity of 5MW is being installed in the first of three phases. The contract partner for this project is the Belgium company C-Power.

Dr. Martin Skiba, Head of the Offshore Business Unit at REpower, was quoted as saying; “With the installation of the first 5M for Thornton Bank, we have completed the first dozen and are thus the market leader for huge megawatt turbines, i.e. turbines with a rated output of more than 3.6 MW. This happened at precisely the right time: In view of concrete plannings for offshore wind farms in Great Britain and the North and Baltic Sea off Germany, there is a growing market for offshore turbines such as our proven and tested 5M. We are currently engaged in intensive negotiations with further key customers for major offshore projects.”

The multi-megawatt turbine which has just been erected in Belgium is number twelve of the type REpower 5M installed by the Hamburg-based company. Gravity based foundations were erected and carried out to sea to form the foundation for the six wind turbines in Thornton Bank. The installation method planned for Thornton Bank is one where various components are assembled individually: After erecting the two-part tower and the nacelle, the final stage involves lifting the rotor, already completely pre-assembled on land, into place. This innovative method developed by REpower is also cost-saving. All work at sea is performed in a water depth of around 25 metres using jack-up drilling platforms.

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