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Offshore wind turbines produced record amounts of electricity last year  local

Offshore wind turbines produced record amounts of electricity last year local

Wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea produced nearly 8 terawatt-hours of energy last year, a record. This corresponds to the electricity needs of 2.3 million households. In total, offshore wind turbines accounted for 10.2 percent of the country's total electricity demand, according to reports by the sector's umbrella organization, the Belgian Offshore Platform.

With this share in energy supply, Belgium is among the top five in Europe. Only Denmark (25%) and the United Kingdom (15%) generated more electricity from offshore wind turbines in 2022. The Netherlands (7 percent) and Germany (5 percent) complete the top five in Europe. In December, a record amount of electricity was generated off the Belgian coast (1,075 GWh).

The sector's umbrella organization looks with satisfaction to 2023, the third year in which the full production capacity of Belgian wind turbines will be used at sea. Windmills rotate about 95 percent of the time. The aim is to expand the wind energy area in the future.

Total electricity consumption fell to 78.4 terawatt-hours last year, the lowest level since the end of the last century.