Minister Demir refused the permit because the nitrogen emissions from the gas-fired power plant are too high for the Flemish standards. “The gas-fired power station would emit 107,000 kilograms of ammonia per year. There is also nowhere in the file to find why those emissions cannot be reduced,” she said at the time of the refusal.
Engie/Electrabel, which operates the renovated gas-fired power station in Vilvoorde, will now apply for a new permit. That is what CEO Thierry Saegeman said in “The seventh day” on One. “We have listened carefully to the minister. We understand that she has not taken into account the commitment we have taken to reduce nitrogen and ammonia emissions in the final version. The figures quoted in the permit application are We are now going to record that commitment in our file.”
Saegeman expects that Engie/Electrabel will be able to submit the new file very quickly, “a matter of weeks”. In the first instance, the application will go to the permanent deputation of the province. They can refuse or approve the new application. If an appeal is lodged against that decision, the file will be placed on the board of the Flemish government.
They are procedures that can take a while, but how much time is there really? The nuclear power plants will close by 2025, by then those alternatives should be available. “There is still time,” says Saegeman.
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