Belgium protects nature area as much as possible when building windmills

There are already almost 400 wind turbines at sea, but the Princess Elisabeth zone will also be developed for De Panne in the next 10 years. Minister of the North Sea Vincent Van Quickenborne already wants to know what the impact will be on the marine environment. “In Ghent, the effects of electromagnetic fields are being investigated. So when the cables are laid, they want to know what the impact is on nature, on the fauna and flora, including on the dogfish and on the octopuses that live there. That way it will be determined how and where the cables can and may be laid.”

In a specialized lab, researchers measure the effects of radiation from cables on the development of egg capsules of fish that live in the nature reserve. Robin Brabant, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences: “We will look very specifically at shark and squid eggs and at very young stages of the European lobster. These are actually the species that we expect to return.”

25 nature studies

Once a wind farm has been built, a new ecological system is created. Especially since there is no longer fishing in the area. It is also full of cables. Little is known about the impact of radiation. Robin Brabant, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences: “We are conducting a total of 25 of these nature studies. Once everything is clear, we will grant the wind farm in concession to candidate companies.”

Our country is a frontrunner in the construction of large offshore wind farms and wants to maximize the energy yield in the future. The future turbines will be up to 300 meters high.