Today, in addition to its activities in the field of energy strategy and project management, WattElse is launching its third energy production and storage project. This is located on the territory of the City of Beauraing and currently has 6 wind turbines. The preliminary information meeting took place in Dion, this Thursday, September 15 at 7 p.m.
(Interview and article Matélé about this topic here)
An innovative project
The Dion project is located on the territory of the City of Beauraing, between the villages of Dion, Winenne and Javingue. This plateau listed as an agricultural zone on the sector map has the most interesting wind potential.
It respects the distances to the habitat as well as all the other criteria imposed in the regulations. The wind farm will be able to produce up to 80 GWh/year, which would allow a reduction of 33% of the current global CO2 emissions of the Municipality of Beauraing.
In addition to the fact that it integrates all the current technological developments in wind power, the project plans to combine the energy production of 6 wind turbines with an on-site energy storage system which will, for example, be made up of batteries Lithium-Ion or electrolyzers useful for the production of hydrogen. This multi-technology project should make it possible to inject energy into the network at the most convenient time for the community and, on the other hand, to allow the production of hydrogen for use on a local scale.
A multi-technology project and a desire to change mentalities
At a time when the energy crisis is hitting Europe hard, the company WattElse wishes to make a modest contribution to the building by proposing a project that makes sense and meets current challenges: more local energy production and renewable energy, increased reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and improvement of network services to compensate for the intermittency of renewable energy via storage.
Through this project, WattElse also intends to change mentalities. As such, Mathieu Van Gehuchten, Director of WattElse observes that “We consumers are all used to fossil fuels whose production and supply chains were almost invisible. Conversely, new renewable production projects raise real questions in terms of heritage development and urban planning at the regional level. These renewable projects are nevertheless part of the solution with a view to moving towards energy independence and the decarbonization of our territory”.
A project in progress
At this stage, the Dion wind power project is submitted to EIA, a stage during which many opinions are collected and analyzed, including those of local residents. The EIA lasts more than a year and will make it possible to characterize the area at the environmental, landscape acoustic or even urban level.
In each of its projects, WattElse undertakes to make every effort to participate in Wallonia’s economic development and promote dialogue with local populations.
