The Belgian government could reduce emissions and create jobs by hiking its 2030 ambition for offshore wind to 6GW, according to a new study by industry association Belgian Offshore Platform (BOP).
Belgium is currently the fifth largest offshore wind market with 2.2GW of capacity installed with a target of 4.4GW by 2030 but current plans will see development suspended for the next five years.
A new zone allocated in the country’s 2020 marine spatial plan is expected to be leased in the coming years and will deliver a further 2.2GW in three 700MW tranches due to come online in 2026, 2028 and 2029.
New research from BOP has however explored a more ambitions 6GW deployment scenario, which the industry group believes will eliminate between 10 and 28 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from the country’s energy sector by 2030 compared to the planned 4.4GW.
Higher rates of deployment this decade would replace fossil generation on the grid and cut annual emissions by between 2.2 and 6.1 million tonnes of CO2-equivelent annually throughout the 2030s.
In the 6GW scenario eplored by BOP, three tranches of 700MW would be installed annually between 20204 and 2026 with an extra 400MW built each year between 2027 and 2029.
BOP found the more ambitious target would contribute between €1 and €1.5bn to Belgian GDP by 2030 and found the additional projects would add 10,000 jobs to the economy over the same period.
A stronger domestic market would help the country tap into large, envisaged export market later this decade.
“International deployment will create more jobs in Belgium than previously expected as of 2027,” the report’s authors wrote.
“To capture these opportunities, it is essential to maintain the technological and industrial top position of the Belgian companies across the value chain.”