Electrabel will not receive a permit for the construction of its gas-fired power station in Vilvoorde. This has been decided by the Flemish Minister for the Environment Zuhal Demir. The refusal threatens to thwart federal plans for the nuclear phase-out.
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Flemish Minister for the Environment Zuhal Demir (N-VA) draws a firm line through the federal plans for a nuclear exit. She is refusing to issue a permit to Engie Electrabel for the construction of a new gas-fired power station in Vilvoorde, De Tijd learned. This power station should help provide our country with sufficient electricity when the federal government closes the seven nuclear power stations in 2025. It will receive an estimated 450 million euros in subsidies for this, spread over 15 years.
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Demir cannot grant a permit, because the application does not take her into account nitrogen instruction. For example, the impact of ammonia emissions was poorly mapped out and added together with NOx emissions. The gas-fired power station annually emits 107,000 kilograms of ammonia, which is much more harmful to nature than NOx.
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The conclusion that there is an acceptable impact in terms of nitrogen has not been properly substantiated.
Zuhal Demir
Flemish Minister for the Environment
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Electrabel did promise to further reduce nitrogen emissions, but was unable to prove in the license application how this would happen. ‘The conclusion that there is an acceptable impact in terms of nitrogen has not been properly substantiated’, says Demir.
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Demir has been expressing himself for some time as a fervent opponent of the federal nuclear exit. She does insist that the gas-fired power stations must follow the calibrated Flemish procedures. ‘Projects that comply with our strict environmental conditions can be licensed, others cannot. Nitrogen has played a crucial role in this since the nitrogen arrest. If I were to approve the file anyway, I would endanger the legal certainty of many companies and farmers’, says Demir now.
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Van der Straeten: ‘This creates legal uncertainty’
Federal Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Green) is surprised at the decision of her Flemish colleague Zuhal Demir, because all indicators were green. ‘Vilvoorde’s flexible power plant had twice received favorable advice across the board from its own Flemish administration,’ says Van der Straeten. ‘This creates legal uncertainty for all industrial projects in Flanders.’
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The federal minister also points out that, in addition to the possibility of appeal for the operator Engie Electrabel, solutions are also provided within the CRM operating rules if problems with permits gradually arise. ‘We will look at this in the coming days,’ says Van der Straeten.
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Ghent permit
The decision about Vilvoorde ended up on Demir’s board on appeal. In July the permanent deputation of Flemish Brabant already refused in the first instance to issue a permit, despite several positive recommendations. Previously, Demir also refused a permit for gas-fired power stations in Tessenderlo on Dilsen-Stokkem.
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The smaller Luminus gas-fired power station in Ghent will receive a permit. Demir: ‘I’m not a fan of a gas-fired power station in Ghent, but an application that meets the environmental conditions simply gets a permit. As I’ve always said, each file is judged on its own content.’
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With the refusal for Vilvoorde, Demir goes directly against an advice from the Regional Environmental Licensing Commission. The main advisory committee ruled last week that Demir must grant a permit ‘for an indefinite period’. Demir points out that there was a negative advice from the municipality of Grimbergen, while the municipality of Machelen lodged an objection.
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Profession
There is a good chance that Electrabel will appeal the decision. The question is whether it can start building in time to have the gas-fired power station ready by the end of 2025.
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There is a good chance that Electrabel will appeal the decision. The company has 45 days to lodge an objection against Demir’s decision with the Council for Permit Disputes (RvVb). The question then is whether Electrabel can start building in time to have the gas-fired power station ready by the end of 2025. It takes an average of 15 months for the Council for Permit Disputes to reach a decision, while Electrabel assumes that the construction of the power plant will take another 2.5 to 3 years.
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Spokesperson Hellen Smeets declined to comment on whether Electrabel will appeal. ‘We have only just heard of the decision through the press and are very surprised since there was a positive advice from the environmental permit committee,’ she says. ‘We will now first make a detailed legal analysis.’
