The operation of EWATe, a government instrument set up to accelerate the energy transition in Wallonia, has been suspended. This is reported by the business newspaper L’Echo.

As a result, several new projects, including battery parks and solar installations, representing investments of €600 to €800 million, have been put on hold for the time being.

The reason for the suspension is that the Walloon government aims to centralize and restructure public funding in the energy sector to coordinate investments and strategies more efficiently.

Reshuffle

The reshuffle in the Walloon energy transition comes at the request of the Walloon Minister of Energy, Cécile Neven (MR). The minister has instructed the drawing up of a comprehensive inventory of all public actors active in the non-regulated energy sector, excluding network management.

At the same time, the boards of directors of the intermunicipal companies, recently reshuffled to correspond to the new regional majority, are reconsidering their involvement in EWATe.

EWATe stands for Walloon Company for the Acceleration of Energy Transition and was founded in 1923. The intention was for EWATe to act as an umbrella partner, both technically and financially, for local and regional players contributing to the decarbonization of Wallonia.

7 projects on hold

Due to these restructuring plans, and pending the implementation of the new framework, seven projects for battery parks and photovoltaic power plants (accounting for 674 MW) that were under development have been suspended. As a result, initiatives worth between 600 and 800 million euros are on hold.

Due to the suspension, the Walloon government risks losing several European subsidies. EU subsidies are often time-bound, which means that this delay could result in Wallonia incurring financial losses. Another logical consequence is that Wallonia may not achieve its energy transition targets on schedule.

Lagging behind Flanders

Wallonia currently has four major battery parks, two of which are under development: Ville-sur-Haine (the only one currently operational), La Louvière (D-STOR), Navagne (Lixhe), and Aubagne (Estor-Lux II).

The first two have a capacity of 50 MW and storage capacities of 200 MWh and 140 MWh, respectively. Navagne, Wallonia’s largest battery park under construction, has a capacity of 150 MW and 600 MWh of storage. Aubagne has a capacity of 100 MW and 270 MWh of storage.

Flanders has more and larger battery parks, with a planned or operational capacity of approximately 1.375 MWh, certainly an underestimation, and approximately 5,275 MWh of storage.

In terms of solar installations, Wallonia has approximately 1,400 MWP of solar panels on roofs and ground-mounted parks, compared to approximately 7,000 MWP in Flanders, placing it among the European leaders in terms of the number of solar panels per capita.