• 25/07/2013
  • |     BB

Japanese Sumitomo enters offshore wind energy market

Japanese invest in two offshore wind farm projects off the coast of Belgium. 'We have plans to expand our renewable energy portfolio wordwide", the company says.

Trefwoorden: #Belwind, #Colruyt, #Northwind, #parkwind, #Sumitomo

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( Foto: Fabricom, loading of transformator station for Belwind park )

ENGINEERINGNET.EU - The two offshore wind projects Sumitomo will be investing in consist of Belwind 1 (165MW), in operation since late 2010 and Northwind (216MW) which is currently under construction. Both parks are located in the North Sea, about 40km off the coast of Belgium.

Sumitomo states it will acquire a 39.0% stake in the Belwind 1 project and a 33.3% stake in the Northwind project.

The interest of long-term investors in renewable energy and offshore wind energy is no surprise. The global wind power generation market is expected to quadruple by 2025, and about 10% is expected to come from offshore projects. Having different types of renewable energy generation in their portfolio, allows them to spread the risk.

The Belgian projects will be the first offshore wind farm project that Sumitomo has undertaken worldwide, but 'we have extensive experience in the operation of onshore wind farms in Japan, China, the US', the company says in a press release. Recently it has begun construction of one of the first large-scale wind IPP projects in South Africa.

As to the future, the Belgian Parkwind holding company and Sumitomo have also entered into a project agreement to work together on the development of the Belwind 2 project, a 165MW offshore wind farm adjacent to the Belwind 1 wind farm.

Sumitomo also gave another important signal: it stated to have plans to expand its portfolio globally in not only wind energy but also 'other renewable energy sectors'.