The federal government’s plans to expand the capacity of the wind farms in the North Sea up to 5.8 gigawatts (GW) are met with skepticism from the CREG. In an advice to Minister Van der Straeten, the federal energy watchdog comments on the cost estimates that form the basis of the expansion plans.
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The CREG indicates that the adverse effects may have been underestimated if more wind capacity is packed together on the same surface. When wind turbines are close together, they catch each other’s wind, producing less power and increasing the cost per megawatt hour. The CREG has “doubts about the underestimation” of these effects, the advice states.
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The Brussels consultancy 3E emphasizes that the results of its study underlying the expansion plans are reliable, despite the surprising outcome. The agency specializing in renewable energy used a new calculation model from the Von Karman Institute, which is a world leader in aerodynamics simulations.
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