Thorntonbank Wind Farm
{{Short description|Belgian offshore wind farm in the North Sea}}
{{Infobox power station
| name = Thorntonbank Wind Farm
| image = Windmills D1-D4 (Thornton Bank).jpg
| image_caption = Wind turbines D4 (nearest) to D1 on the Thornton Bank
| location = 28 km north off the Belgian coast
| cost = € 1.3 billion
}}
The Thorntonbank Wind Farm (also known as C-Power) is an offshore wind farm. It is the first offshore wind farm in Belgium.
Electricity production started in early 2009, with a capacity of 30 MW.
The capacity was increased to a total of 214 MW in 2012 and 325 MW in 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.c-power.be/index.php/general-info/project-details |title=Project Details |publisher=C-Power |website=c-power.be |access-date=2020-08-07}}
Phases
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|frame-lat=51.5520
|frame-long=2.9520
|zoom=11
|text=Wind farm layout
|from1=Wind turbines Thorntonbank Phase 1.map
|from2=Wind turbines Thorntonbank Phase 2.map
|from3=Wind turbines Thorntonbank Phase 3.map
|type4=point|id4=Q123053606|marker-size4=small|marker-color4=880000|title4=Thorntonbank Offshore Substation
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= First phase =
The first phase was built by C-Power, at a cost of €153 million.[http://www.4coffshore.com/windfarms/thornton-bank-phase-i-belgium-be01.html Thorntonbank (Belgium) offshore wind farm] 4C . Retrieved: 27 October 2010. It was commissioned in June 2009.[http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/14232/repower-turbines-to-thornton-bank-offshore-wind-farm-expansion/ REpower turbines to Thornton Bank offshore wind farm expansion] Renewable Energy Focus, 26 November 2010. Accessed: 13 October 2011.[http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/07/thornton-bank-offshore-project-officially-commissioned Thornton Bank Offshore Project Officially Commissioned] Renewable Energy World, 2 July 2009. Accessed: 13 October 2011.
The first phase of what will ultimately be a 325 MW wind farm was completed in September 2008. The six REpower 5 MW turbines, which were installed on concrete gravity foundations, were linked to the Belgian power grid, giving a total rated capacity of 30 MW for the first stage.{{cite web | title = Renewable Energy World Article | url = http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/07/thornton-bank-offshore-project-officially-commissioned | accessdate = 2009-08-03}} The full story of the design, engineering, construction and installation of the Thorntonbank Wind Farm (first phase) is told in an illustrated book that was published in November 2010.Jan Strubbe, "Reuzen in de Wind - Het windmolenpark op de Thorntonbank", Tielt (Belgium), 2009, {{ISBN|978-90-209-8349-4}}{{cite web |url=http://www.c-power.be/presentation |title=Presentation - c-power |accessdate=2013-09-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054137/http://www.c-power.be/presentation |archivedate=2013-09-21 }} C-Power phase I
= Second and third phase =
In these phases, a total of 48 additional wind turbines of 6.15MWp were installed.{{cite web|title=REpower: C-Power's offshore wind farm Thornton Bank II installed|url=http://www.repower.de/fileadmin/press_release/2012_07_27_Thornton_Bank_II_installed.pdf|publisher=REpower|accessdate=6 November 2012|date=2012-07-27}}
Phase 2, completed in October 2012, comprises the installation of 30 of the 48 wind turbines. These wind turbines have been installed on steel jacket foundations designed by OWEC Tower AS and assembled at the Smulders shipyard in Hoboken, Antwerp.{{cite web|title=OWEC Tower: Supplying foundations for 48 turbines and one OTS|url=http://www.owectower.no/references/thornton-bank/|publisher=OWEC Tower|accessdate=16 July 2013|date=2013-05-20}}
In the third and last phase, completed in September 2013, the remaining 18 wind turbines were installed, bringing the total capacity to around 325 MW.[http://www.repower.de/press/press-releases/detail-press/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=8109&cHash=071ef77c45bd3f13dc55372ca3c95111 Phase 2 complete] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730111220/http://www.repower.de/press/press-releases/detail-press/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=8109&cHash=071ef77c45bd3f13dc55372ca3c95111 |date=2012-07-30 }}
Environmental assessment
Research was by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO[http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/39505.pdf INBO]) and the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO [http://www.mumm.ac.be/Downloads/mumm_report_mon_win2010.pdf ILVO])
Financing
Thorntonbank was only the second offshore wind farm to be project financed.{{cite web | title = C-Power Financing Article Article | url = http://www.c-power.be/applet_mernu_nl/welkom/artikels/080306-ProjectFinance.pdf | accessdate = 2009-08-03 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20081114053755/http://www.c-power.be/applet_mernu_nl/welkom/artikels/080306-ProjectFinance.pdf | archivedate = 2008-11-14 }}
Gallery
File:Windmill D1 (Thornton Bank).jpg|Wind turbine D1
File:Windmills D1-D6 (Thornton Bank) - final construction phase.jpg|Wind turbines D1 to D6
File:Windmill bases (Oostende - from southwest).jpg|Wind turbine bases under construction
File:Windmill bases (Oostende - from northwest).jpg|Wind turbine bases under construction
File:Offshore windpark Thorntonbank.jpg|As seen from the Belgian coast, demonstrating the curvature of the Earth; the more distant windmills look to be underwater
See also
{{Portal|Renewable energy|Belgium|Weather}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Thornton Bank wind farm}}
- {{Official website|http://www.c-power.be/applet_mernu_en/index01_en.htm }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020}}
- [http://www.rwe.com/web/cms/en/248922/rwe-innogy/sites/wind-offshore/in-operation/thornton-bank/ Thornton Bank], RWE Innogy
- {{YouTube|MZwIDTgp50o|Video of the wind turbine foundations under construction}}
- [http://www.lorc.dk/Knowledge/Offshore-renewables-map/Offshore-site-datasheet/Thornton-Bank-1-Offshore-Wind-Farm/000030 LORC Knowledge - Datasheet for Thornton Bank 1]
{{Wind power}}
Category:Offshore wind farms in the North Sea
Category:Wind farms in Belgium