This morning, Prime Minister Michel inaugurated the sixth Belgian offshore wind farm at sea. Ten years after the first 6 wind turbines of pioneer C-Power appeared off our coast, Belgium's offshore capacity has become one of the largest in the world.
Almost 300 turbines have been installed, accounting for more than 1,186 megawatts of power. Together they already produce considerably more power than our smallest nuclear reactor, almost 5% of all power produced in our country.
With this 1,186 MW, Belgium is among the top 5 in the world. The British are number 1, Germany number 2, followed at some distance by a peloton with China, Denmark and ... Belgium. In recent years we have even caught up with the Dutch, who are in 6th place just after Belgium.
Belgian offshore wind capital will only grow in the coming years. The sixth wind farm, Norther, of which Prime Minister Michel has now officially started the first turbines, is currently under construction. Another 370 MW will be added. This will result in a lot of CO2 savings. Wind turbines are currently the best energy technology to combat global warming.
The parks are growing
Three more parks will be built by 2020. Belgian offshore turbines will then be able to supply all the electricity from one large nuclear reactor. These nine parks are located on our East coast, roughly before Zeebrugge and Knokke, between 20 and 50 kilometres from the sea.
But that's not all. In the meantime, the Michel government has drawn up a new zone off the West coast, which will have an additional 1800 MW. Then we will have a 4000 MW park, which will generate electricity for two large nuclear reactors, Doel 3 and Tihange 2.
Subsidies are falling
The subsidies are also moving in the right direction. Whereas the first 9 parks originally needed 16 to 17 billion euros in support, the Michel government managed to get 5 billion. There are still 12 billion subsidies, so.
The first 9 parks will probably need 12 billion euros of support, the latter may need 0 euros.
But the expectation is that the parks on the West Coast will be a lot lower. These parks will be auctioned off: the project developer who builds the cheapest (and therefore asks for the least subsidies) will receive the concession. The system has already been applied in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Concessions have already been granted there that no longer require a cent of support: 0 euros. That is a downright spectacular drop.
The space is shrinking
But with the new zone on the West Coast, the space for extra wind turbines in the Belgian part of the North Sea is almost exhausted: we just don't have any more space. Our territorial waters are intersected by sea routes and submarine cables. There are also areas allocated to sea fishing, in addition to sectors reserved for sand extraction or as nature reserves.
So there is no longer room for new wind farms, but you can make the wind turbines bigger, more powerful and more efficient. It is true that the size and capacity of the wind turbines have increased spectacularly in recent years. And they will continue to do so, so that even more power can be generated with fewer wind turbines.
However, there is another obstacle that could slow down the growth of wind farms: on the West coast there are not enough high-voltage connections to transport the power from the new farms to the interior. High-voltage grid manager Elia has to lay a brand new line across West Flanders and Hainaut. The permits for this new line alone can last for years. It is therefore a matter of urgency.
But it is possible. Elia also had to lay a smaller new line on the east coast. Although this caused a delay in the construction of the first wind farms, everyone expects that the nine farms will be ready by 2020. In any case, the end of growth in the offshore sector is not yet in sight.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator