Description
SeaMade is a combination of two offshore wind projects, formerly known as Mermaid (235 MW) and SeaStar (252 MW), making it Belguim’s largest offshore wind farm with a total capacity of 487 MW. SeaMade is Belgium’s eighth offshore wind project and was constructed during the Covid-19 pandemic. SeaMade is located 40-50 km off the coast of Ostend, Belgium and is connected to Belgium’s offshore switchyard, the Elia modular offshore grid (MOG) platform. SeaMade is managed by Otary and was developed as a joint venture between Otary, Eneco, and Ocean Winds.
Watch a short video about SeaMade here.
Location
SeaMade is located in the Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone in the Belgian North Sea. The 235 MW Mermaid site is located next to the Northwester II wind farm, 54 km off the coast of Belgium at a water depth of 40 m. The 252 MW SeaStar site is located between the Nobelwind and Northwind wind farms, 40 km away from shore at a depth of 38 m. The Otary logistical hub in the port of Ostend supports the operations and maintenance of the wind farm and the nearest port is Oostende. The two-cable system of MOG makes land fall at Zeebrugge.
Project Timeline
- October 2021: Official inauguration by the Belgian Prime Minister
- December 2020: Start of commercial operation
- November 2020: Last turbine installed
- July 2020: First turbine began producing power
- 20 June 2020: First turbine installed
- September 2019: Offshore construction started
- December 2018: Project reached financial close
- November 2018: Environmental and Social Impact Assessments completed
- May 2015: Original concession split into 2 farms but remained combined through ownership
- June 2012: Mermaid granted domain concession
Licensing Information
A series of permits and concessions related to marine environmental activities were obtained from relevant authorities between 2010 and 2018. Key milestones include the issuance of domain concessions for SeaStar and Mermaid by the State Secretary for Energy in 2012, following the withdrawal of a previous concession for SeaStar in 2011. Environmental permits for SeaStar and Mermaid were granted by the Minister responsible for the marine environment between 2014 and 2015, with a permit transfer from Mermaid to SeaStar NV finalized in July 2018. Additionally, bottom survey permits were approved for both entities in 2012 and 2013.
Key Environmental Issues
Much of the monitoring is coordinated by the Operational Directorate Natural Environment of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (OD Nature), in collaboration with the Research Institute for Nature and Forest, the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Ghent University, and the Department of Information Technology at Ghent University, which oversees ecological monitoring for all Belgian offshore wind farms collectively. While dedicated environmental monitoring at SeaMade itself has been limited, the wind farm is located adjacent to C-Power (Thornton Bank) and Belwind, two sites with more extensive long-term monitoring data. As a result, much of what is known about the ecological dynamics around SeaMade is informed by studies conducted at these neighboring sites of the wind farm zone.
Environmental Papers and Reports
- Cetacean passive acoustic network in the Belgian part of the North sea (Calonge et al. 2024)
- Environmental Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms in the Belgian Part of the North Sea: Progressive Insights in Changing Species Distribution Patterns Informing Marine Management (Degraer et al. 2023)
- Environmental Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms in the Belgian Part of the North Sea: Attraction, avoidance and habitat use at various spatial scales (Degraer et al. 2021)
- Environmental Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms in the Belgian Part of the North Sea: Empirical Evidence Inspiring Priority Monitoring, Research and Management (Degraer et al. 2020)
- Environmental and Social Data Sheet: Mermaid and Seastar Offshore Wind Farm (European Investment Bank 2018)
- Windpark Mermaid Milieueffectenrapport (International Marine and Dredging Consultants 2014)
- Windpark SeaStar Milieueffectenrapport (International Marine and Dredging Consultants 2013)
- Offshore Wind Farms in the Belgian Part of the North Sea: Heading for an Understanding of Environmental Impacts (Degraer et al. 2012)