The site
Bligh Bank is located 46 kilometres off the coast of Zeebrugge, Belgium. The sea in this area is 20 to 35 metres deep, making it an ideal location for an offshore wind farm. 2 x 55 turbines will be  connected to two sea-based substations by means of 70 kilometres of submarine cables. These two sea-based high-voltage substations are in turn connected to the Belgian high-voltage electricity network on the mainland via two submarine cables with a length of 50 kilometres each.

Bligh Bank is located both outside the shipping lanes and outside the 12-mile zone (territorial waters). This maritime region is also referred to as the Belgian Economic Zone (BEZ). The total wind farm will have a capacity of 330 MW and will produce 1.1 TWh of electricity on an annual basis - sufficient to supply sustainable energy to 350,000 households.

The most state-of-the-art technology available will be used for this project, with the V90 being the lightest of wind turbines. Dredging and maritime contracting company Van Oord will be responsible for installation and will design the foundations of the turbines.

Contribution Evelop
Evelop established Belwind N.V. to initiate and develop the project. After reaching financial close, Colruyt Group, Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen (PMW), DHAM NV, SHV Holdings, Rabo Project Equity and Meewind invested in the construction of Belwind Phase I.

Status
July 27th 2009 financial close has been reached for Belwind Phase I. Construction of Phase I (55 turbines of 3 MW) started in September 2009 and will take an estimated 18 months to complete.

Partnerships
A contract has been agreed with Vestas to deliver and install 55 V90, 3 MW, wind turbines; Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors will manage the offshore works. The Belgian conglomerate Seawind (Pauwels Trafo, Fabricom-GTI Suez, DEME and Iemants Staalbouw/Smulders) developed a new concept for the transformation and transportation of the generated power to the shore. Advisors Profin and Marsh created a unique insurance package with Delta Lloyd. Electrabel will purchase the power generated by the project.