As part of the deal, a consortium of seven commercial banks, together with the European Investment Bank, has agreed to lend $1.16 billion (€877 million) to the $1.7 billion (€1.29 billion) project.
REpower Systems delivered and installed six turbines during the first phase of the Thornton Bank project in 2008, about a year before the wind farm was put into operation. In its first half-year of operation, the project achieved a technical availability rate of 94 percent; in the second half-year, this increased to 97 percent.
The latest turbines to be ordered from the Hamburg-based unit of Suzlon Energy Ltd., India’s biggest wind-turbine manufacturer, will be installed during phase two and three of the project, which is being developed about 28 kilometres off the Belgian coast. It includes the participation of companies from Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Installation of the first 24 turbines provided by REpower Systems is scheduled for the spring of 2012, with the remaining 24 turbines to be installed by mid-2013.
“We are extremely delighted about the trust once again put in REpower,” said Andreas Nauen, the company’s CEO. “The fact that we have been chosen as turbine supplier for the next two phases of the first Belgian offshore wind farm shows that the client is convinced by the quality and reliability of our offshore technology, proven in phase 1.”
During phases two and three, the scope of delivery for REpower Systems includes the production and delivery of the nacelles, towers, blades and hubs as well as pre-installation in the port of Oostende.
Once installed, REpower Systems will commission and test-run the turbines.
Speaking of the deal at an Antwerp (Belgium) signing ceremony, Fillip Martens, CEO of C-Power said, “This financial close is a demonstration of the trust that shareholders, contracting parties and the finance community are giving on a well-structured project, setting a good reference for the many more offshore wind farms to be financed in the near future”.
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