Heavy plate from Dillinger for
Belgian offshore wind farm
Northwester 2
Belgium’s highest building is made of Dillinger steel
The 12 km2 Northwester 2 wind farm is located in the Belgian North Sea, approximately 50 km off the coast of Ostend. It is the first offshore wind farm to be equipped with the world’s most powerful wind turbine, the 9.5 MW V164 turbine manufactured by MHI Vestas. Comprising 23 wind turbines, the total production capacity of the wind farm reaches 219 MW, thus being able to meet the clean electricity needs of 220,000 households in Belgium, this means 9,500 households per turbine! It makes a significant contribution to European climate and energy policy, saving around 500,000 t of carbon emissions per year, the equivalent of 170,000 cars.
Record breaking wind turbines stand on monopiles
These wind turbines are not only the most powerful in the world but also the highest. And with their 190 m, they become the highest building in Belgium! Each direct drive wind turbine has a three-bladed rotor with a diameter of 164 m and a swept area of 21,124 m². One blade is 80 m long and weighs 35 t, while the nacelle is 20 m long, 8 m high and 8 m wide.
At water depths of 25 to 40 m, they are installed on monopiles foundations fabricated by Bladt Industries with diameters of up to 8 m, lengths of up to 82 m and a weight of about 900 t each. The transition piece that is mounted on the monopile has a diameter of 6.8 m and a length of 20 m and weighs 210 t.
For these monopiles foundations, Dillinger supplied around 25,400 t of heavy plates in thicknesses up to 100 mm
