Belwind Offshore Wind Farm

In September 2009, the construction of the 165 MW offshore wind farm Belwind started. This offshore wind farm consists of 55 wind turbines and 1 offshore high voltage station on the Bligh Sandbank, 46 to 52 kilometers off the coast of Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Challenge in contracting

Aratis supported in 2008 and 2009 Econcern during the project development phase, when contracting the Balance of Plant contract, the wind turbine delivery and service contract. For this project, Aratis supplied two contract managers who were in the lead during the negotiations for both contracts.

Belwind is the largest offshore wind farm ever built, further from the coast than its predecessors and in deeper water. In addition, Belwind would apply non-recourse funding with strong requirements from potential financiers. Contracting became extra challenging by these aspects. Our experienced contract managers were always able to handle the various and sometimes conflicting demands of all stakeholders in the contracts.