The Regional Environmental Permit Commission (Gewestelijke OmgevingsVergunningsCommissie, GOVC) has issued favorable opinions – although conditional – for the permits for the Ventilus high-voltage line. It is the final step before the decision by Flemish Environment Minister Jo Brouns (CD&V).
Ventilus is the high-voltage line that Elia, Belgium’s high-voltage grid operator, plans to lay through West Flanders to reinforce the grid and bring electricity generated by offshore wind turbines ashore.
Strategic importance
The project is of strategic importance because it is crucial to Belgium’s energy transition and reduces the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. It is important to the industry in West Flanders and is part of a broader European energy infrastructure.
Without Ventilus, a bottleneck would arise: wind energy could not be fully utilized or would struggle to reach industry and households. However, the project is controversial because citizens fear health damage from electromagnetic radiation and a ruined landscape.
Numerous objections
The objections against Ventilus were numerous: 2,514 were submitted during the first public inquiry, followed by another 506 in the second phase, after Elia made some adjustments to the applications. Only seven of more than 3,000 objections are ‘partially well-founded’.
One of the objections also points to the Flemish government’s promised electromagnetic radiation monitoring network. That network does not yet exist, and the results of the pilot project, in which sensors measure electromagnetic radiation at an existing high-voltage connection, have not yet been published. Meanwhile, Brouns promised that 60 extra measuring points will be added this year and that the monitoring will be in place in time to follow up on matters.
54 conditions
The GOVC imposes 54 conditions on Brouns, mainly regarding fauna and flora, ranging from protection measures for bats to a ban on noise on construction sites on Sundays and public holidays. Of the 54 conditions, only one concerns health, yet it is the very theme that led to much concern and protest.
But just like the Flemish government, the GOVC does not accept the claims regarding an increased risk of childhood leukemia due to exposure to magnetic fields. According to scientific advice, the connection between them is purely statistical, not causal.
The deadline to grant a permit for the construction of the Ventilus connection, intended to connect offshore wind farms to the mainland, expires on April 27th. By then, Minister Brouns must have ruled on the five environmental permit applications submitted by grid operator Elia in order to break ground.
