Belgian Energy Island Nears Green Light

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Belgium could green light the construction of an island designed to store energy from offshore windfarms in the coming months according to the government.

"We are currently in talks with other authorities and hope to give the go-ahead for the project in early 2015," a spokeswoman for the energy ministry told Reuters.

The project will be watched closely by the energy sector as it will offer a solution to one of the main issues facing windfarms: how to store energy created and use it when needed.

The plan is to create a three kilometer island shaped like a giant horseshoe with a large, deep reservoir in the middle. Located around five kilometres from the Belgian town of De Haan, the project will use pumped hydro technology common to the hydropower sector.

The island will use the pumped-hydro technology to store any excess energy produced by the offshore windfarms, during off-peak hours. During off-peak times, power from the turbines would pump water up 15 metres to a reservoir. To generate electricity during peak times, the water will be released to turn a generator. This stored energy can then be released when needed or when the wind is not blowing.

The island will take an estimated five years to construct, with the project being overseen by public utility Electrabel SA (Brussels), a subsidiary of GDF Suez SA (EPA:GSZ) (Paris), and Belgian dredging business, DEME.

It will also help Belgium to wean itself off nuclear power, which in recent years accounted for more than 50% of the country's electricity. Belgium has seven nuclear reactors located in two power plants, Doel and Tihange, which when fully operational generate a total of more than 5.7 GW. However, thanks to ongoing faults and shutdowns, less than 3 GW is available and the government is planning to cope with winter blackouts across large parts of the country. For additional information, see August 20, 2014, article - Belgium May Face Frequent Power Cuts as Major Nuclear Units to Stay Offline.

Belgium had almost 1,651-megawatts (MW) of wind energy capacity at the end of 2013. It wants to boost its wind energy to more than 3,000 MW in the coming decade, with over 2,000 MW coming from offshore windfarms.

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