On June 14, 2022, Flemish Minister of Finance and Budget, Housing, and Immovable Heritage Matthias Diependaele inaugurated the first subsidy-free wind farm of Belgium. The wind farm consists of three wind turbines with a rotor diameter of 162m, a tip height of up to 230m and a capacity of 6 MW per turbine.
These are the largest wind turbines in Belgium. ArcelorMittal Belgium buys all electricity from the wind farm at a fixed price for twenty years. Our steel company thus assures itself of a guaranteed supply of cheap and renewable energy. Storm can therefore realize the wind farm subsidy-free, without calling on the system of green certificates.
The new wind turbines on our sites are another milestone for ArcelorMittal Belgium in terms of renewable energy. We will use the green electricity generated as an integral part of the production of steel, further reducing our carbon footprint. Moreover, these wind turbines are largely made of steel, a striking example of the importance of steel in our daily life and the way steel contributes to sustainable energy.
Construction of the subsidy-free Storm wind farm was recently completed. The wind turbines will annually supply more than 45,000 MWh of electricity to ArcelorMittal Belgium’s production site in Ghent. This corresponds to the equivalent annual electricity consumption of 13,000 families. The wind farm avoids the emission of 11,225 tons of CO2 each year. Construction of the wind farm was started in the spring of 2021. 431 local residents and employees of ArcelorMittal invested directly in the wind farm via the Storm CV cooperative.
