New CEO Engie Belgium aims for 4 billion investments by 2030

The energy group Engie is ready to invest up to 4 billion euros in our country. In addition to extending two nuclear reactors, there are plans for new wind and battery parks and the company hopes for an offshore wind concession and a huge hydrogen factory.

Engineer Vincent Verbeke, who has been the new CEO of Engie Belgium since the beginning of this year, wants to help accelerate the energy transition in our country. With the new strategic plan Energize2030, which was presented to employees today, Engie mainly wants to invest in new green production resources and flexible assets and defend its market share of 40-45 percent. The capital costs of all decided and possible projects until 2030 amount to 4 billion euros, Verbeke said at a press briefing.

Verbeke, the new boss for the more than 7,500 employees of the French energy giant Engie in Belgium, is aiming for a major leap forward in green energy. Engie’s subsidiary Electrabel is the largest electricity producer in our country, but has to take precedence in onshore wind energy from Luminus. Verbeke aims to catch up by doubling to 1,000 megawatts (MW). In solar energy, the ambition is to triple to 300 MW.

Building many wind turbines on land is especially a major challenge due to the difficult permit process that sometimes takes more than seven years. “It takes longer to get a permit than to put a man on the moon,” Verbeke notes. ‘My message to politicians: simplify the rules and make Belgium attractive again.’

Engie also wants a greater role in offshore wind, where the giant only plays a marginal role in our country with only a limited share in the Seamade project. Through Ocean Winds, a joint venture with the Portuguese EDP, Verbeke is aiming for a concession in the new Princess Elisabeth Zone that the government wants to open to wind farms. ‘Being present in offshore wind in Belgium is super important,’ says Verbeke. All in all, he aims for 2,000 to 2,500 megawatts of green production capacity. ‘That’s almost a threefold increase.’

The energy transition with more variable production from solar and wind farms means that flexible installations are needed to have sufficient power for families and companies at all times. Engie’s most important project is the construction of a new gas power plant in Flémalle (875 MW), which, according to Verbeke, is the most efficient in the world with an efficiency of 63 percent. “Other gas-fired power stations are not on the agenda at the moment, but if demand increases and the need is great, we will look into that.”

Engie is building a battery park (200 MW) in Vilvoorde. There may be additional battery parks in Kalllo (100MW) and Drogenbos (80MW) and an expansion of the capacity of the Coo pumped station. In total, Engie aims for 5,000 to 6,000 MW of flexible activities.

This also includes 1,000 MW of flexibility that the group wants to achieve for its customers, of which 200-300 MW for companies and the rest for households. They can help smooth out peaks in electricity production and consumption at home batteries or by smartly controlling large power consumers. ‘Together they actually form one big battery,’ says Verbeke.

It is not yet clear how this flexibility should work in practice for families. Verbeke refers to the ‘financial reward of good behavior’ through, for example, dynamic rates. The charging stations, of which Engie wants to have 7,000 by 2030, will also play a role in this. He does note that grid operators must provide the necessary infrastructure and that digital meters must be used more quickly, especially in Brussels and Wallonia.

But we won’t get there by just making electricity greener, says Verbeke. ‘There is also a need for the greening of natural gas through, for example, biomethane and e-methane’. Verbeke admits that the production of biomethane or green hydrogen in Belgium itself will remain limited, but that the country does have options for other low-CO₂ energy.

He refers to the 1.5 billion euro project in collaboration with the Norwegian Equinor to produce blue hydrogen in the port of Ghent. Natural gas will be converted into hydrogen and the CO₂ will be transported via a pipeline to be stored in Norwegian gas fields.

To realize this iconic monster project, many steps still need to be taken, both technologically and through the construction of infrastructure and government support is needed. ‘Belgium can become an energy hub for the transport of hydrogen and CO₂. It is well located in the heart of European industry. Our project can make a major contribution to this,’ says Verbeke.

Verbeke does not want to say much about political discussions about the future of nuclear energy in our country, partly because the Doel and Tihange nuclear power stations fall under the new director Cedric Osterrieth in the new organization. ‘We are going to implement the contract with the government to extend two units for ten years. We take responsibility for this, no more and no less. That is already a complex challenge in a short time.’