Demir wants a decision in Ventilus file today: “If we don’t decide now, we never will” | Ventilus

Read everything about Ventilus in our file.

With the Ventilus project, grid operator Elia wants to lay one of the heaviest high-voltage lines in the European Union right through West Flanders. The high-voltage connection is intended to transfer energy from the offshore wind farms to the interior. Residents of West Flanders, united in various citizen platforms, however, resist an above-ground connection. Some entrepreneurs and local authorities along the E403, along which the new connection would be built, also prefer an underground route.

Little progress is being made in the difficult file and a decision on the project has already been postponed several times. According to Demir, there should finally be a denouement today. “All the puzzle pieces are ready and all proposals have been made,” it sounds. “If we don’t decide now, we’ll never decide. Then it goes to the Greek calendars with all the consequences that entails for grid reinforcement, energy supplies and blackouts,” said the minister.

According to Demir, the study by Ventilus intendant Guy Vloebergh clearly shows that an overhead connection is the only option. “That is also what was stated in the start note that was approved in 2019,” she emphasizes. “But I’m not going to let anyone live under a mast that gives you cancer,” the minister responds to the health concerns of local residents.