Hogan Lovell OffshoreBook 2023 230809 OnlinePDF - Flipbook - Page 21
Offshore Wind Worldwide 2023
5.5 Onshore grid congestions,
prioritisation of renewable energy
resources and compensation
mechanisms
The TSO is under a statutory obligation to
improve its grid to comply with the best
available technology and to ensure the
receipt, transmission, and distribution of
power from renewable energies, unless the
required measures are commercially unreasonable. In general, feed-in from renewable
energy sources is prioritised by law over
feed-in from other sources. This also applies
in case of feed-in management measures.
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6. REAL ESTATE
6.1 Rights over land to be secured
The Belgian part of the North Sea covers
about 0.5% of the total area of the North
Sea and includes the territorial sea up to
12nm offshore and the EEZ which extends
offshore up to about 45nm. Within the EEZ,
Belgium can enforce certain rights; for example, in connection with the
exploitation of mineral resources or the
generation of energy, but it also has the obligation to take care of the environment.
The zone that can be used for offshore wind
production is regulated by and
determined in the Maritime Spatial Plan
(MSP).
The rights over the land of these zones are
granted to offshore wind developers by
Ministerial Decree in the form of domain
concessions.37
For the first offshore wind phase, these
zones were determined by the MSP,
enacted in the Royal Decree of 20 March
201438 and domain concessions over these
zones have been given to offshore wind
developers.
For the second offshore wind phase, these
zones are determined in the MSP, enacted
in the Royal Decree of 22 May 2019.39 It is
expected that domain concessions over
these zones will not be tendered before the
37 Art. 11 of the Royal Decree of 20 December 2000.
38 Royal Decree of 20 March 2014 establishing the maritime spatial plan.
39 Royal Decree of 22 May 2019 establishing the maritime spatial plan for the period 2020 to 2026 in the Belgian maritime areas.
