On 4 April 2019, the Belgian Parliament adopted a law which establishes the general principles of the competitive bidding procedure (concurrerende inschrijvingsprocedure) for the realisation of new renewable energy projects in the North Sea, such as it is also the case in the neighbouring countries and in accordance with the European state aid rules.
By choosing a competitive bidding procedure as a basis for the granting of domain concessions in the North Sea, the following four objectives were established to be realized by 2030 (cf. explanatory memorandum : https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/54/3581/54K3581001.pdf ):
- additional renewable energy capacity (at least 1,75 GW);
- a maximum of energy delivered to the grid (in GWh);
- a minimum (direct or indirect) cost for the consumer; and
- supporting services to the energy grid (balancing, storage, etc.).
This measure (among many others, such as the Clean energy for all Europeans Package that will have to be implemented in Belgian legislation) helps Belgium to meet its binding obligations under the Paris Agreement (12 December 2015).
