Business park Izegem
The industrial zone in Izegem, where the Skyline Park is located, will be built above ground. The piece of land on the other side of the Rijksweg will be built underground, so that the De Mol district will be spared.
“Between the Roeselare-Leie canal and the N36, there is not enough free (undeveloped) space (above ground and underground) to realize an underground 380 kV connection. You also cannot drill into the ground in every place. drilling of this caliber is not realistic, unlike in sandy soils,” says Minister Demir.
The Flemish government is also setting the maximum radiation standards today. They are 100 microtesla. “That is stricter than what Europe prescribes, namely 200 micro tesla,” says Demir.
Compensation
Some 80 families are located near the new high-voltage line and another 110 are close to existing lines that are being upgraded. It concerns about 147 kilometers of high-voltage lines that will disappear in phases.
Local residents of the above-ground Ventilus route will be able to count on compensation, which would be a maximum of 25 percent of the home value. The details about this are not yet known. However, people who wish to do so will be able to sell their homes. Those who do not want to receive compensation.
Those who live below an existing line, which will be reinforced later, will also receive compensation.
Existing high voltage underground
Consideration will be given to bringing existing above-ground 150 kV lines underground, such as between Ostend and Bruges, Bruges Blue Tower and Bruges Waggelwater and a part in Rumbeke.
The government plans to start work next year. However, a whole procedure will follow first, in which various parties can still appeal. It is expected that this will actually happen, by citizen platforms or companies along the route.
“Mixed feelings”
“Am I super happy? No, you can’t blame me. I would have liked us to be able to realize everything underground,” says minister Hilde Crevits (CD&V), who lives in Torhout herself. “But I also want to get power on land and the technology is not yet ready to run that completely underground.”
“I do understand the local authorities where there will be an impact,” says Crevits. “It will be very drastic if work is carried out in those municipalities.”
“Technical Choice”
“The decision we are making today is a technical one,” says Bart Somers. “Sometimes it happens that a decision has to be made based on the public interest, which is not easy. But we hope that we can make the support base as strong as possible, because it is an important step in the field of energy transition. The closer the line can connect to the E403, the better.”