Luminus will construct the first wind turbine of Hauts-Sarts at NRB

 

 

With a maximum capacity of 2.99 MW, the wind turbine of NRB will generate 7,322 MWh each year. NRB will consume 90% of the energy generated. The remaining 10% will be injected into the grid.  The wind turbine’s installation will save 3,097 tonnes of CO2 per year. 

This wind turbine will be the first to be installed at the Hauts-Sarts business park, the largest in Wallonia. The permit was obtained in August 2019. The soil tests have been carried out and by the end of this year, the cables will have been laid and the infrastructural works will have started. The foundation work will be started in April 2021, and the wind turbine will be installed in June 2021.  It will be of the Enercon E115 type and will have a total height of 180 metres. 

 “The installation of this wind turbine is an important step in our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, which have started several years ago”, confirms Pascal Laffineur, Chief Executive Officer of NRB.  “Six years ago we already installed 940 solar panels on the roofs of our buildings in Herstal. We cool our data centres by means of "free cooling”, a technology that makes use of cool outdoor air. Furthermore, server virtualisation and the increasing use of cloud services (shared, private or public) lead to a significant decrease in the number of physical servers and therefore also in energy needs. In addition, the warm air of the data centres is used to ventilate and heat our offices. Being among the leading IT service providers of the country, we are very proud to welcome the first wind turbine of this size in Wallonia, which will cover 40% of our electricity needs. This is a major step towards a “green IT” offer.” 

 

 

Not only is this wind turbine the very first to be installed at the Hauts-Sarts business park, it's also the first concrete result of S.A. Demainvest, the public-private partnership (PPP) between Luminus and Sogepa (Société publique wallonne de Gestion et de Participations). The ambition of this public limited company under Belgian law, owned by Sogepa for 49% and by Luminus for 51%, is to finance the development, construction and operation of projects in the field of energy efficiency, electricity supply and energy and heat production for enterprises. 

 

Philippe Buelen, President of S.A. Demainvest, emphasises in this respect that « the wind turbine that will be installed in the Hauts-Sarts business park will also supply green energy to three enterprises that are part of the portfolio of SOGEPA, i.e. BRITTE-MUSTAD, ICARUS and PROXY SERVICES SPRL, which account for 410 jobs and will jointly generate 13,450,751 euros of added value.  In short, at a time when global warming has become a reality and enterprises not always have the financial means to invest in the energy transition, Demainvest has a variety of solutions to assist them and thus guarantee their competitiveness. Luminus provides the expertise and tools needed to realise the different projects and will be responsible for the operational activities."

 

 

Occupying a leading position in the fields of onshore wind energy and hydropower, Luminus is a major player and stakeholder and contributes to the energy transition of the industrial sector by offering its customers innovating solutions as regards energy efficiency and by making major investments in renewable energy. 

 

Luminus has been investing in wind power since 2001 and its wind farm is constantly growing. On 30 June 2020, the company has a total of 217 wind  turbines, accounting for an installed wind power capacity of 521 MW.  Its ambition is to increase this capacity to 850 MW by 2024.  Luminus also constructs wind turbines on the car parks or in the storage areas of its customers in industrial estates. The customers practically do not lose any space and consume the 100% renewable energy generated directly on their premises. 

Grégoire Dallemagne, CEO of EDF Luminus:  “This project at RNB perfectly reflects our ambition to help our customers reduce their carbon footprint. By allowing the installation of this wind turbine on their premises, NRB will be able to reduce its ecological footprint by producing the green power it needs. We are grateful to NRB for its trust in us and are proud to assist this company in its energy transition."