The French want to build 46 wind turbines with a maximum height of 300 meters above sea level off the coast of Dunkirk. Belgium fears that shipping, safety, sea views and nature will be compromised and has filed an objection.
The French are big on it: they want to build a park with 46 wind turbines ten kilometers from the Dunkirk coastline. At their highest point they rise 240 to 300 meters above sea level. For comparison: the Eiffel Tower (including antenna) is 330 meters high. That park must produce 2.3 TWh of electricity per year. That is one-tenth of what Doel’s nuclear power plants generate annually.
Many Belgians do not like that prospect. That is why the federal government is submitting its objections to the project, according to Minister of the North Sea Paul Van Tigchelt (Open VLD). “The wind farm threatens to affect a number of fundamental Belgian interests, including freedom and safety of shipping, air traffic safety, sea rescue, the marine environment and the sea view of coastal residents,” it said in a press release.
Sea view De Panne, Koksijde and Nieuwpoort
The wind turbines threaten to render two historic shipping routes from the port of Ostend unusable, the minister said. In addition, the windmills will be visible from De Panne, Koksijde and Nieuwpoort. The planned park also has an impact on marine protected areas, as it would be located in the French Natura 2000 area ‘Bancs des Flandres’, and next to the Belgian Natura 2000 area ‘Vlaamse Banken’.
Van Tigchelt’s predecessors, including party member Vincent Van Quickenborne, also registered a protest against the wind turbines. But both the French Council of State and the European Commission stated that Belgium should express these objections during a public consultation organized to obtain the environmental permit. This consultation round starts on Monday and runs until May 18.
The federal government proposes to build the wind farm five kilometers deeper into the sea. “That is preferable,” says Van Tigchelt, “just as we do with the Belgian wind farms. That is why it is important that everyone who may be inconvenienced by the park now participates in the public inquiry.”
The municipality of De Panne and the port of Ostend will also make their objections known.
