Storm builds Belgium's first subsidy-free wind farm at the ArcelorMittal site in Ghent.

Storm is building the largest wind turbines in Belgium at the ArcelorMittal site in the Port of Ghent. The site was opened this morning by Flemish Minister Zuhal Demir. ArcelorMittal in Ghent will purchase all the electricity generated by the wind turbines for twenty years at a fixed tariff. The wind farm does not rely on the green certificate system, making it the first subsidy-free wind farm in Belgium.

This morning, Zuhal Demir, Flemish Minister of Justice and Enforcement, Environment, Energy and Tourism, opened the construction site of the new Storm wind farm at the premises of the steel company ArcelorMittal in the Port of Ghent. Three wind turbines with a rotor diameter of 162 metres, a tip height of up to 230 metres and a capacity of 6 MW per turbine, will be erected there by the end of this year. They are the largest wind turbines in Belgium.

ArcelorMittal in Ghent will purchase all the electricity generated by the wind farm for twenty years at a fixed tariff. This guarantees the steel company a cheap and renewable energy supply. As a result, Storm can develop the wind farm subsidy-free, without having to rely on the green certificate system.

Wind energy has become the cheapest way to generate electricity. One MWh of electricity generated by a new wind turbine costs less than one MWh of electricity generated by, for example, a new gas plant, coal plant, biomass plant or nuclear plant.

The faster we can roll out wind turbines, the lower electricity bills will be for our families and the stronger the competitive position of our companies. Therefore, Storm is pleased and proud that today, we can start constructing the largest wind turbines in Belgium, which will provide ArcelorMittal’s steel plant with cheap energy for twenty years.

The subsidy-free Storm wind farm will supply more than 45,000 MWh of electricity annually to ArcelorMittal's production site in Ghent. This corresponds to the equivalent annual electricity consumption of 13,000 families. The wind farm saves 11,225 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. It is scheduled to be commissioned in the spring of 2022.

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