The federal government wishes to double wind capacity in the North Sea by 2025. New wind farms will emerge after 2020 in a second zone off the Belgian coast. The announcement was made by the Secretary of State for the North Sea, Philippe De Backer (Open Vld), on VRT radio on Friday morning.
A new Plan for Spatial Planning for Marine Areas is due to be approved on Friday by the Cabinet, for which one of the priority points consists in doubling North Sea wind capacity. The Secretary of State added, “In this way we will be able to replace one nuclear power station, as they must all be shut down by 2025.”
Approximately 230 wind turbines are currently located along the coastline at Zeebrugge, to which a further 200 will be added over the next few years. Work will begin after 2020 to build new wind farms near the French border. Together, by 2025, the North Sea wind farms should be able to provide half of the Belgian household energy consumption.
Philippe De Backer is hoping for a “discerning” invitation to tender so that these wind farms can be constructed without government subsidy.
The Brussels Times
