Offshore Wind Worldwide 2022 edition - Flipbook - Page 17
Offshore Wind Worldwide 2022
Due to the amendments to the Electricity Act,
the support schemes for the new concession
will be limited to a period of 15 years and, in
addition, the government will no longer set
subsidy levels in advance, but the concession
bidders will have to include the subsidy level
as part of their bid in the competitive tender
procedure, with the aim of reducing the
subsidy to zero in the future.13
For the existing domain concession, the
concession holders received a cable subsidy
which has varied over the last decade.
The wind parks that will be constructed
under the new concessions will in principle14
have to connect to the MOG-II (i.e. the MOG
extension, which aims to develop and build
new offshore grid infrastructure to link new
wind farms of the second offshore wind
phase to the mainland grid; the MOG
relating to the first offshore wind phase has
been operational since 30 September 2019).
It is not clear yet whether there will be any
specific subsidy in this respect (for these
wind parks, the traditional cable subsidy will
definitely not apply but the minimum price
of the produced wind energy will be
17
increased by an amount covering, and
therefore corresponding to, the total cost of
financing the submarine cable (between the
wind park and the MOG) resulting from the
considered tender(s); this amount is,
however, still to be determined by the
CREG15 ); however, compensation
mechanisms will be put in place to ensure
the connection to the grid which should
provide certainty to investors.16
D.Timeframe for the realisation
of the project
The procedure for the tendering of new
concessions of the second offshore wind
phase is yet to be adopted by Royal Decree.17
13 Art. 6/3 of the Electricity Act; “Belgium adopts legal framework on tenders for new offshore electricity production installations”, published
by Allen & Overy on 1 May 2019 (New Belgian framework for offshore wind farm tenders - Allen & Overy (allenovery.com)); “The Way
towards a competitive bidding process for new offshore wind farms in Belgium”, published by Dentons on 16 September 2019.
14 Derogations are, however, still possible. Reference is made in this respect to (i) art. 7, §2, fifth limb of the Electricity Act, (ii) art. 4 of the
Federal Act of 8 May 2014 containing various provisions relating to energy and (iii) “Domain Concessions”, published by the CREG
(Domeinconcessies | CREG : Commissie voor de Regulering van de Elektriciteit en het Gas).
15 Art. 7, §2, fourth limb of the Electricity Act; T. Schoors and F. Goossens, “Steunmechanismen voor offshore hernieuwbare energie in
Belgie” in Jaarboek Energierecht 2019, K. Deketelaere and B. Delvaux (ed.), Intersentia, May 2018, 86; W. Vandorpe, D. Haverbeke en L.
Pellens, “Belgische offshore windproductie – Tendering the way forward, maar hoe exact? Enkele aandachtspunten” in Jaarboek
energierecht 2020, K. Deketelaere en B. Delvaux (ed.), Intersentia, October 2021, 94.
16 (Dentons - The way towards a competitive bidding process for new offshore wind farms in Belgium). T. Schoors en F. Goossens,
“Steunmechanismen voor offshore hernieuwbare energie in België” in Jaarboek energierecht 2019, K. Deketelaere en B. Delvaux (ed.),
Intersentia, May 2018, 72 and 73; W. Vandorpe, D. Haverbeke en L. Pellens, “Belgische offshore windproductie – Tendering the way
forward, maar hoe exact? Enkele aandachtspunten” in Jaarboek energierecht 2020, K. Deketelaere en B. Delvaux (ed.), Intersentia, October
2021, 94; T. Deruyter, “Hernieuwbare energiebronnen” in Energierecht in België en Vlaanderen 2021, F. Vandendriessche (ed.), Intersentia,
January 2021, 367-368.
17 “Belgian offshore wind energy – 5.4-5.8 GW”, published by FPS Economy on 13 January 2022 (Belgian offshore wind energy -5.4-5.8 GW by
2030 | FPS Economy (fgov.be)).