16 mei 2022
08:14
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According to intendant Guy Vloebergh, if the Ventilus high-voltage line is to bring offshore wind energy to land as well as to reinforce the energy grid, it will be impossible to bring the cables underground.
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Is the Ventilus high-voltage line, which is to connect the offshore wind farms in West Flanders with the rest of the country, best built above ground or underground? For the Flemish government, the demand has become the latest headache in which nature and the economy must be reconciled.
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In West Flanders, there is fierce resistance to the above-ground pylons, especially among CD&V mayors. They ask that the power line be underground, to avoid any health problems and a disturbance of the landscape. According to Elia, this option would become 5 billion euros more expensive, an amount that the grid operator must recoup through levies in the electricity bill.
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To untangle the knot, the Flemish government appointed an intendant, spatial planner Guy Vloebergh. The first echoes of his report suggested that he was merely listing the pros and cons, without taking the plunge himself.
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robust net
On Radio 1 he went a step further on Monday morning. He still said that the Flemish government must decide and showed understanding for the concerns of local residents, but said that for ‘a robust electricity network, an overhead power line is the only option’.
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According to Elia, it is practically impossible to provide alternating voltage underground. This is necessary to change the direction of the flow, necessary to avoid breakdowns.
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Green energy priority
There’s the sting. If Ventilus wants to achieve all its objectives – bringing wind energy generated at sea ashore and strengthening the grid – only alternating current is possible. But if Ventilus only serves to bring the green energy ashore, the cables can technically be perfectly underground.
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Both Flemish Minister for the Environment Zuhal Demir (N-VA) and Minister of Economy Hilde Crevits (CD&V) make it clear that the latter objective is a priority. However, this does not mean that an underground pipeline is also their preference.
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Elia will then have to look at how it can strengthen the existing network in the country. That way, new pylons would not appear anywhere for the time being. But Vloebergh does not rule out problems in that scenario either. ‘It will always be in an area that is more densely populated, has more obstacles and is longer than the 22 kilometers between Zedelgem and Lendelede,’ Vloebergh told De Tijd.
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Moreover, a backup must still be sought for the Stevin line, which runs between Zeebrugge and Zomergem. ‘If there is a problem on that line, the electricity must be able to go away. Ventilus was the line that completed the network and prevents the energy network from going down in the event of a breakdown. That remains the Achilles’ heel’, says Vloebergh.
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Hybrid
One option is to put part of the route underground, while the plans for an overhead line will be preserved in other places. According to the intendant, an underground pipeline can be up to 12 kilometers long due to technical problems. ‘We would have preferred more underground, but have had it checked by all authorities and foreign experts. The route along the E403, where the buildings are very thin, would then have to be above ground’, he says.
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Also in the underground scenario people will not be satisfied. If we have to build a corridor of 40 to 50 meters wide, you will always come across agriculture, nature or gardens.
Guy Vloebergh
Intendant Ventilus line
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The fact that legal proceedings are threatening in the above-ground scenario does not bother him. ‘Even in the underground scenario, people will not be satisfied. If we have to build a corridor of 40 to 50 meters wide, you will always come across agriculture, nature or gardens. That will make little difference in terms of resistance’, says Vloebergh.
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Cost price
The big question mark remains what the additional cost of the underground scenario is. Demir believes that Elia provides too little transparency about the estimate of 5 billion euros. The intendant does not clarify this in his report. ‘Elia’s estimate does not cover all scenarios, such as the reinforcement of the grid elsewhere in the interior when Ventilus goes underground,’ says Vloebergh. ‘But money is not an issue. If the project would meet all the objectives underground, although it would cost much more, the decision would have been made quickly.’
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