This story was first published on 25 April 2018, when the conditional order was announced. It was updated on 7 November, following confirmation of the order.
It is set to be the first commercial deployment of MHI Vestas’ V164-9.5MW model, the manufacturer stated.
Installation is scheduled for late 2019, the two companies added.
Parkwind stated that the schedule of the project was "very challenging in light of the timing wanted by the Belgian government".
The developer had reached an agreement with the Belgian government for a strike price of €79/MWh for Northwester 2 provided it was online in time to help the country meet its 2020 target of sourcing 13% of its electricity from renewable sources.
Parkwind added that MHI Vestas’ ability to meet this timeline "played an important role" in choosing the Danish manufacturer as turbine supplier.
MHI Vestas has previously supplied turbines for Parkwind’s 165MW Belwind and Nobelwind projects, and for its 216MW Northwind wind farm.
Northwester 2 is to be among a handful of sites at which the manufacturer’s V164-9.5MW is due to be installed, and with a planned installation date of late 2019, it could be the first commercial deployment of the turbine.
The 9.5MW turbine has been selected for German developer Innogy’s 860MW Triton Knoll site, the 950MW Moray East project, and for 1.5GW of projects in the Taiwan Strait owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
The UK projects are due online in 2021 and 2022 respectively, while a commissioning date has not been announced for CIP's sites.
Two units will also be deployed at the Borssele V demonstration site off the coast of the Netherlands.
MHI Vestas CEO Philippe Kavafyan said: "The first commercial installation of the world’s most powerful available turbine, the V164-9.5MW, will be a Parkwind project, which is significant for our company and a notable milestone for the industry."
The two companies announced a conditional order for the V164-9.5MW at Northwester 2 in April and then confimed the order in November.
Parkwind reached finanical close on the project in October.
Power-to-gas
Elsewhere, Parkwind also announced plans for an industrial-scale renewable energy-to-hydrogen project, alongside green energy producer Eoly and gas transmission system operator (TSO) Fluxys.
The hydrogen could then be stored and transported in existing natural gas infrastructure, and "marketed as carbon-free fuel or feedstock", the group stated. No timeline has been announced for the project.
