Clarifications following the meeting with Revolht on 29 October 2021

On 29 October, the Boucle du Hainaut project team and experts from Elia met with a delegation from the Revolht citizens group.

The purpose of this meeting was to enable the latter to present their suggested alternative to the Boucle du Hainaut project as proposed by Elia.
By way of reminder, the Boucle du Hainaut project consists of the construction of a new 380 kV alternating current overhead electricity line with a transmission capacity of 6 GW between the Avelgem and Courcelles substations.

This major electricity transmission infrastructure will make it possible to ensure competitive and affordable access to electricity (to keep the electricity bills of Hainaut, Walloon and Belgian consumers under control); to increase the accommodation capacity for renewable energy (to achieve the climate targets set by Wallonia and Belgium); to support the economic attractiveness of Wallonia and, more specifically, Hainaut; as well as to enhance the reliability of the electricity supply.
Revolht’s proposal, for its part, consists of constructing various underground direct current connections with a lower transmission capacity, in order to route production from the North Sea to different parts of the country.

It should be noted that Revolht has not proposed a complete technical solution, but an alternative based on principles that still need to be analysed and the feasibility of which has not yet been demonstrated.
As announced in their press release of 2 November last, the meeting between the parties was held in a calm and constructive atmosphere.
However, Elia wishes to clarify its position with regard to certain conclusions contained in the press release and which do not correspond to what was actually discussed.

Indeed, at no time did Elia mention the possibility of submitting this alternative to an independent expert with a view to carrying out an additional study.
The only commitment made by Elia was to examine Revolht’s proposal and to come back to them in the next few days. Once this review is complete, Elia will communicate its results.

Finally, the study commissioned by the Minister in charge of the project, Willy Borsus, from the Canadian expert Ms Bekolo, will also include an analysis of the different possible technologies, including direct current.