Development of wind power

skeyes is committed to the development of sustainable energy and contributes to the strengthening of wind farms in Belgium. The company puts its expertise at disposal so that wind turbines can be installed without interfering with air traffic and most importantly, without jeopardising aviation safety.

Aircraft that are positioned incorrectly on the radar screen, aircraft that go undetected, landing systems that are disrupted,… those are just a few examples of a long list of disturbances caused by large constructions such as wind turbines on the technical installations that are essential for air traffic control and air navigation safety.

Disturbances

Our technical installations, which are indispensable for your safety when you fly, transmit and receive electromagnetic waves.

ILS for example (Instrument Landing Systems) are navigational aid systems that line up the aircraft with the runway and provide a best-angle approach configuration. Physical obstacles can absorb or reflect the electromagnetic waves emitted by those installations and can create shadow zones or generate incorrect information.

If the ILS signal for instance is disturbed because it reflects on an object, it may result in sudden abrupt changes in the approach profile, with a potentially fatal outcome for the aircraft’s passengers.

That is why it is indispensable that skeyes has its say in the approval procedure to install wind turbines. The same goes for numerous types of constructions, whether temporary or not, or equipment generating electromagnetic radiation that may disturb the proper functioning of air traffic control equipment.

Facilitate the procedures to stimulate wind energy projects

Safety is all-important, but that does not mean that the development of renewable energy should be neglected. That is why skeyes has reviewed the building permit procedures for wind turbines so that requests can be treated more quickly and remain valid for a longer period of time.

On our website, we have also put a map at disposal that indicates the zones around our aeronautical installations where wind turbines may and may not be constructed. That way, building developers and constructors lose less time and can have a quicker return on their investments in those green energy sources.

In order to guarantee maximum air traffic safety, we formulate an opinion on each building permit request so as to find a balance between the interests of the wind energy and the air traffic sector.

• You will find more details, contact information and request forms on our Wind turbines page

240 requests to establish wind turbines validated in 2017

In 2017 we received 315 new dossiers regarding the establishment of wind turbines. 240 of those have already been granted a favourable opinion. The others are currently being analysed (39), have been refused for safety reasons (26), or have been cancelled by the applicant (10).

skeyes supports the development of wind energy, a booming sector generating the jobs of the future, as the requests submitted in 2017 have increased by 81% compared to 2016.