The European Investment Bank will provide a €250 million (US$182 million) loan for the construction of the 165-megawatts Nobelwind wind farm off the Belgian coast.
A large portion of the amount will be proposed for backing under the European Fund for Strategic Investments . The total cost of the project is estimated to be €655 million, of which the EIB would provide approximately 38%.
The Nobelwind project will become the fourth biggest offshore wind farm in Belgian territorial waters and will be located some 45 kilometres off the coast from Oostende. Construction is set to begin in April next year. With 40% of the total EIB investment in the project proposed for a guarantee under EFSI, Nobelwind would be the largest project in Belgium under the “Investment Plan for Europe” to date.
The second phase of a larger offshore wind farm will have a total capacity of 336MW. MHI Vestas Offshore Wind received an order to supply 50 sets of its 3.3-MW turbines for the project.
