Electrabel has cemented plans to expand its renewable energy capacity in Europe through the completion of an agreement with one of the largest wind turbine manufacturers in Germany.
The Belgian utility has committed itself to ordering 250 wind turbines from REpower Systems for projects across Europe. It is the second major agreement that REpower has signed this year for its wind turbine units.
REpower will supply Electrabel with its 2 MW-class MM82 and MM92 turbine units for delivery between 2009 and 2011. Electrabel, a business unit of Suez, recently announced plans to build Belgium’s largest onshore wind farm with a consortium of municipalities.
Electrabel already has more than 5500 MW of renewable electricity generating capacity, of which 655 MW comes from wind farms in Belgium, France, Portugal, the Netherlands and Italy. It has set a target of having 18 per cent renewable capacity by 2009.
REpower recently signed an agreement with RWE Innogy to negotiate on the purchase of up to 1900 MW of wind turbine units. This agreement calls for the delivery of 250 offshore wind turbines of the 5M/6M series plus around 200 onshore 2 MW turbines over a six year period from 2010.
In addition to wind, Electrabel is intending to develop hydropower, biomass, and photovoltaic energy projects in its core markets as well as in Eastern Europe. It is about to start the planning permission process for a 40-50 MW onshore wind farm in Belgium, which is slated to come on-line in 2010.
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