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 have been achieved in 2010. For Belgium, this target figure was 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 % to achieve 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 (BPNS) was reserved for the production of electricity. It is located between two major shipping routes: the north and south traffic separation schemes (TSS). In 2011, the zone was adjusted on its Northern and Southern side because of the need for a safer shipping traffic in the vicinity of the wind farms. After this adjustment the total surface of the area is 238 km² (Figure 1). The initial surface was 264 km².
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, the Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Models (MUMM) of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences 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 study 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 minimize or 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 a competency 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.