Off the coast of the French town of Dunkirk (on the Belgian border), France wants to build 46 wind turbines with a maximum height of 300 metres above sea level. However, Belgium fears that shipping, safety, sea views and nature will be compromised.
The French Government wants to build a park of 46 wind turbines ten kilometres from the Dunkirk coastline. The turbines would rise 240 to 300 metres above sea level – making them nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower at 330 metres. The farm should produce 2.3 Terawatt-hour (TWh) of electricity a year – one-tenth of the amount that Belgium's nuclear power plants in Doel generate annually.
Many Belgians, however, do not like the prospect of the wind turbine park, which is why the Federal Government is lodging its objections to the project, North Sea Minister Paul Van Tigchelt (Open VLD) announced.
"The wind farm threatens to affect a number of fundamental Belgian interests including freedom and safety of navigation, air traffic safety, rescue at sea, the marine environment and the sea view of coastal residents," he said in a press release.
Shipping routes and sea views
Van Tigchelt stressed that the wind turbines threaten to make two historic shipping routes from the port of Ostend unusable. He added that the wind turbines will also be visible from the Belgian coast in De Panne, Koksijde and Nieuwpoort.
The planned farm would also have an impact on marine protected areas, as it would be located in the French Natura 2000 site 'Bancs des Flandres', and next to the Belgian Natura 2000 site 'Vlaamse Banken.'
Van Tigchelt's predecessors, including party colleague Vincent Van Quickenborne, also protested the turbines. However, both the French Council of State and the European Commission stated that Belgium should express these objections during a public consultation organised to obtain the environmental permit – which starts on Monday 8 April and runs until 18 May.
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Belgium's proposal is to build the wind farm five kilometres deeper into the sea. "That is preferable. We also do it this way with the Belgian wind farms," said Van Tigchelt.
"That is why everyone potentially affected by the farm must participate in the public survey. With the Federal Government, we will do everything possible to safeguard the rights of coastal residents, the port of Ostend and other stakeholders."
The municipality of De Panne and the port of Ostend will also object, De Standaard reported.
