Wind power

Find out more about our wind farms!

We build our wind turbines in partnership within the companies Wind4Flanders* , Wind4Wallonia** and Greensky*** with a clear focus on those living in the surrounding areas. They are partial shareholders via CoGreen.

We are also active in offshore wind energy. 

ENGIE contributed to the development and realization of the SeaMade wind farm in the North Sea as part of the Ocean Winds project team. Its subsidiary Electrabel was already involved at the start of the project and is now also taking on the operation of the park.

With Ocean Winds, ENGIE Electrabel wants to continue to play a pioneering role in Belgium's energy transition, in which offshore wind energy has a very important place. Our ambition is to have 1,000 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, including in consortia such as this one.

ENGIE also installs wind turbines for its customers so that they can increase the sustainability of their processes via the local production of green energy.

To realise our targets, we aim to:

• expand our facilities by 40 MW per year.
• optimise the fleet: we are gradually replacing our small, older turbines with more efficient examples, as we did at Hoogstraten and Wondelgem in 2021.

 
Interesting facts

• It takes around 3-4 years from the consultation phase to the commissioning of a wind farm.
• A well-placed turbine on land with a capacity of 3 MW can produce around 7,000 MWh of electricity in a year. This equates to the annual consumption of almost 2,000 families.
• The average lifespan of a wind turbine is 20 years.

Turning wind energy into electricity

In order to produce electricity with a wind turbine, the wind has to blow (the turbine only starts to turn with a wind speed of 3 m/s and works at maximum capacity with a speed of 12 m/s). But it can’t be too windy! When the wind gets to 25 m/s or above, the wind turbines shut down for safety reasons. The energy production from wind turbines constantly fluctuates. ENGIE uses special software which analyses meteorological data in order to predict production by the turbines as accurately as possible. On the basis of this information, we can engage other energy sources or power stations, if required.

How does it work?

Wind turbine on land (onshore):

•    Currently offering a capacity of 3.5 to 5.6 MW
•    Supplies its full capacity over an equivalent of 2,000 to 2,200 hours (approx. 25% of the time)

Wind turbine at sea (offshore):

• Because there’s more room at sea, larger and more powerful wind turbines can be built. The offshore industry is moving towards wind turbines of up to 12 MW, fitted with rotors with a wing-span of up to 200 m.

• At sea, the wind blows harder and more regularly. Wind turbines offer an average of 4,000 hours at full capacity.

•    The nacelle turns the rotor and the sails automatically into the wind direction.
•    A sail on an onshore wind turbine can be up to 75 m long. The sails on offshore wind turbines can measure up to 100 m.
•    The nacelle can be reached via the hollow mast. At the foot of the mast, there is the transformer which increases the voltage of the generated power.
•    Once the wind starts to move the sails, the gearbox converts the rotor’s low revolution speed into the high revolution speed of the generator.
•    The generator converts this kinetic energy into electricity.
 
Did you know? At a distance of 500 metres, the noise from a wind turbine doesn’t exceed that of a library.

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_{*Wind4Flanders is a collaboration between Zefier, IKA and I.B.E.G. It is a 50/50 partnership whereby Electrabel takes on the operational activities.
**Wind4Wallonia is a collaboration between Electrabel and 5 interurban organisations (IBW, IDEFIN, IEG, SOFILUX and IPFH which combines IDEA, IDETA and IGRETEC). In essence, it is a 50/50 partnership whereby Electrabel takes on the operational activities.}

_{*** Greensky cvba is a partnership between Electrabel, Infrabel, Sint-Truiden and the Brussels Intercommunal Electricity Company (IBGE).}