skeyes and Belgian Defence support wind energy by expanding permitted sites for wind turbines

skeyes and the Belgian Armed Forces continue to invest to expand the number of sites where wind turbines can be built. They therefore drew up a joint roadmap with Belgian Defence to minimise barriers to the rollout of renewable energy.

This roadmap was notified to the federal government on Friday 26 April. The roadmap will now be submitted to the members of the sector federations. In doing so, skeyes and Belgian Defence are contributing to the federal government’s call for the promotion of renewable energy in the field of energy transition with a view to reaching a capacity of 1.5 GW.

Together with the industry, skeyes and Belgian Defence are seeking to expand the number of sites where wind turbines can be placed in relation to air navigation systems without compromising air traffic safety. In each wind energy project permit application, Belgian Defence and skeyes are consulted and provide an opinion with regard to the protection of their own installations, flight procedures or weapon systems, thereby examining the potential impact of a project on aviation aspects, communication systems, RADAR, civil aviation beacons, flight procedures, Drop Zones (DZ) and the presence of possible NATO pipelines.

The installation of wind turbines significantly affects radar equipment used for air traffic control at skeyes and in military operations. To always ensure operational efficiency and aviation safety for all airspace users, additional ​ investments in supplementary infrastructure are necessary, which are partly funded by the federal government. This is an integral part of the wind turbine plan.

skeyes and Belgian Defence have consulted the wind energy sector to find out their key needs. The relaxations now proposed by both skeyes and Belgian Defence have a positive impact as regards the sector federations’ requests.