Abstract
The European directive 2001/77/EC on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market, imposes upon each Member State a target figure of the contribution of the production of electricity from renewable energy sources that should be achieved in 2010. For Belgium, this target figure is 6 % of the total energy consumption. In January 2008, the European Commission launched its new Climate Plan, and a new target for Belgium was set at 13 % by 2020. Offshore wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS) are expected to make an important contribution to achieve that goal.
With the Royal Decree of 17 May 2004 a zone in the Belgian part of the North Sea was reserved for the production of electricity. It is located between two major shipping routes: the north and south traffic separation schemes (TSS). The total surface area of this dedicated zone is 263.7 km² (Figure 1).
Prior to installing a wind farm, a developer must obtain (1) a domain concession in the zone reserved for wind energy development and (2) an environmental permit. Without an environmental permit, a project developer is not allowed to build and exploit a wind farm, even if a domain concession was granted.
When a project developer applies for an environmental permit an administrative procedure, mandatory by law, starts. That procedure has several steps, including a public hearing during which the public can express any objections. Later on during the permit procedure, MUMM renders advice on the possible environmental impact of the future project to the Minister responsible for the marine environment. MUMM’s advice includes an environmental impact assessment, based on an environmental impact report that is set up by the project developer. The Minister then grants or denies the environmental permit in a duly motivated decree.
The environmental permit includes a number of terms and conditions intended to mitigate the impact of the project on the marine ecosystem. Furthermore, as required by law, the permit imposes a monitoring programme to assess the effects of the project on the marine environment. The environmental monitoring is a legal obligation and is the responsibility of the federal government. The monitoring has two goals:
- to enable the authorities to mitigate or even halt the activities in case of extreme damage to the marine ecosystem;
- to understand and evaluate the impact of offshore wind farms on the different aspects of the marine environment and consequently support the future policy regarding offshore wind farms.