The overhead high-voltage line was announced in 2019 and has since met with much opposition, including from a political angle. The mayors of the cities and municipalities involved where Ventilus will soon be running would rather not see it happen. Mayor Frank Casteleyn (CD&V) is also present at the protest in Jabbeke today.
PREFER ON DC AND UNDERGROUND
Those present at the protest understand that Ventilus cannot be stopped, but hope for a better alternative. Instead of an above-ground grid, they advocate an underground electricity grid to limit magnetic radiation in the area. In addition, they also prefer to see an electricity grid based on direct current rather than alternating current, but that does not really seem possible for Ventilus. Alternating current is more self-correcting and therefore more reliable in case of disturbances, while with direct current the electric current remains constant and goes in one direction, it sounds.
MORE THAN JUST VENTILUS
The protest is not only against Ventilus, but also against the nitrogen agreement and buying up the agricultural land to turn it into a nature reserve. The farmers are concerned that farming will become impossible in the future. They would have liked to have conveyed that message to Minister of Environment and Energy Zuhal Demir (NVA), but the minister sent her cat to the protest.