Tall windmills catch a lot of wind – and that’s a good thing

In future, wind turbines taller than 200 metres will have to be situated at least three times their tip height away from the nearest house. A turbine measuring, for example, 220 metres will therefore have to be located at least 660 metres from the nearest dwelling. Although no official ministerial circular has yet been published, this distance criterion has been put forward as a proposal.

The minister aims to send a signal to ‘the sector’ to look for locations with more space, such as industrial estates. As a company with 15 years’ experience in the field of wind turbine permitting processes, we are seeing particularly mixed signals from the Flemish government. It seems to have been blowing hot and cold of late: with measures that stimulate the sector on the one hand (such as green energy certificates), but hinder it on the other through distance rules such as these. How does this sit with its own target of increasing onshore wind energy to 2.8 gigawatts by 2030, as the sector federation VWEA has rightly pointed out?

This proposal for minimum distances is not unique in Europe, but it does raise questions about its effectiveness. There are many reasons for this. For example, there is a European directive stating that wind energy is of overriding public interest. This is taken into account in legal proceedings and takes precedence over the proposed distance rules. The major problem with this whole procedure, however, is that it costs an enormous amount of money and time. As a result, the minister’s initiative is reduced to little more than a kind of ad hoc delaying tactic.

Climate Minister Melissa Depraetere (Vooruit) believes that Minister Brouns’ measure will lead to fewer permit disputes and thus, in fact, to more wind turbines. We have serious doubts about that assertion. Try finding a spot in densely built-up Flanders where there are no houses within at least six hundred metres. That is virtually impossible.

Moreover, even the construction of small wind turbines has today become an exhausting battle of procedures and is being boycotted by all manner of action committees using every possible means. For example, when we oversee a wind turbine project in Limburg, objections are guaranteed to be lodged by residents of West and East Flanders or Antwerp. Not because they will ever have anything to do with the turbine, even remotely, but purely on principle or for aesthetic reasons. They are against wind energy, or a wind turbine is not ‘pretty’, so it must not be built.

These procedures already take a long time, precisely because there are already very strict rules (stricter than in other regions) regarding noise pollution and shadow flicker. For example, all wind turbines combined are permitted to cast a shadow on the interior of a home for a maximum of eight hours per year. And that rule will apply in full to very tall turbines as well. What’s more: in many cases, the noise pollution from a tall turbine is actually slightly less than that from a shorter one.

Furthermore, the rise of tall wind turbines is unstoppable. Smaller turbines are being phased out because they are far less efficient. To achieve the same output as with tall turbines, you would therefore have to install many more of them. This is precisely the opposite of what people want. This principle has been applied for years: better one large turbine than several smaller ones. It is precisely this principle that the Flemish government is now throwing overboard.

But alongside all these practical objections, there is another decisive argument in favour of tall wind turbines. If we are to meet our sustainability targets within the agreed deadlines, we desperately need these turbines. Hydropower and biomass are not sufficient for this, and building a new nuclear power station will take more than twenty years. We will therefore have to supply our economy with sufficient and affordable energy via wind and solar power.

For many companies, utilising 100% green energy has even become a strategic and commercial trump card. They now want only sustainable energy. And if they cannot find it in Flanders, they will look elsewhere. Not to mention the importance of our energy independence vis-à-vis international superpowers in this turbulent geopolitical context. Why do we not see the same reflex in the energy transition as we do in defence? There, procurement procedures are currently being simplified.

Hence this strong message from the sector. Let us not waste any time and work together with policymakers and society. And let us take well-considered decisions, based on a representative survey of public support in Flanders. What is keeping the various stakeholders awake at night? Where do the opportunities lie? The vocal minority has been listened to… Let us now also give a voice to the quieter majority.