So here is our country dependent on the major world producers of gas or oil, as has always been the case. But since new technologies are born every day, we are never safe from a (good) surprise. Members of the REHS (Renewable Energy in the High Seas) collective worked on the issue and signed carte blanche to open the door to new possibilities.
Among the signatories, we find Damien Ernst. He tells us more about what could change the Belgian market. “We started from the principle that the wind potential is quite low in Belgian waters. Even with the major projects underway, we will only reach 15 to 20% of the necessary supply in Belgium. At sea or elsewhere, there is a lack of surface area for the collection of renewable energieshe says. It is therefore on the high seas, in international waters, that possibilities exist.”
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But how ? “There is a revolutionary new technology that could allow Belgium to achieve electricity independencehe says. We are at the embryonic stage, but a movement is creating which aims to collect renewable energy in international waters. To caricature, we can imagine a system similar to fishing. Boats go fishing in international waters to bring fish back to Belgium. In the case that concerns us, we would see floating platforms or boats with wind turbines on them, connected to a battery. Another boat would come and collect the collected energy to bring it back to dry land.”
Of course, it is not tomorrow that the project could be implemented given the international agreements that would be necessary for such a practice. “We are still using a very young technology, but it is the only one that would make it possible to have renewable energy independently in Belgium. This is electricity that you wouldn’t get in another country. It is also cheaper to set up than off-shore wind power since the system is mobile”, insists Damien Ernst.
It is also an opportunity to look at the energy situation in Belgium. “We continue to see wind power and photovoltaics develop here, but we face different problems. For wind power, projects have difficulty getting established because no one wants it at the end of their garden. In addition, there is a lack of space for photovoltaic parks. In total, we will only meet a maximum of 20 to 25% of our needs. This is why you have to be creative.”
And nuclear power? “There is a path to explore with SMR plants which are easier to integrate into the industrial fabric and therefore we could recover the production heat. Thanks to conventional reactors, only 33% of the heat produced during fusion is recovered. The SMR can better utilize this heat and therefore reduce the cost of nuclear power.”, he concludes.
