Brussels, 2 February 2022 – SPIE Belgium, the Belgian subsidiary of the SPIE group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, is participating in a sustainable pilot project for ENGIE. Its mission: to make electric driving even greener.
Electric cars remain one of the most environmentally friendly options – of this, there is little doubt in 2022. But they are only truly environmentally friendly if they are powered entirely by renewable energy, such as wind energy. According to a study by the VUB, an electric vehicle emits 15 times less CO2 when its driver uses only green energy. With a view to accelerating this more sustainable offer, the ENGIE and SPIE Belgium groups have joined forces on a wind energy development project.
In this vein, in autumn 2021, SPIE Belgium connected three new wind turbines on the Rodenhuize Ghent electric power station site to the grid for ENGIE and built a pre-fabricated cabin, on difficult terrain, alongside the Elia high-voltage overhead lines. The new wind turbines are part of a unique pilot project in which the high-voltage installation has been equipped with rapid charging stations enabling electric vehicle owners to charge their vehicles in 10 to 20 minutes (from 10% to 80% of maximum capacity).
SPIE Belgium also installed two 175 kW charging stations on the Rodenhuize site in Ghent. These are directly connected to the wind turbines, bypassing the need to use a transport network.
The official opening of the Rodenhuize Ghent site took place on 17 January 2022 and was attended by Zuhal Demir, Flemish Minister of Justice, the Environment, Energy and Tourism.
Kilian Pieters, Project Engineer at SPIE Belgium: “This pilot project was a real challenge for SPIE for several reasons: the difficult working environment due to the overhead high-voltage cables, the strict security measures, the last-minute adjustments and third-party interference, which required our team to be flexible, creative and proactive. We are very proud to have been able to contribute to this promising project. Facilitating access for drivers of electric cars to environmentally friendly solutions is a task that we love to be a part of here at SPIE Belgium!”
Pieter Jagers, Senior Business Developer at Engie Belgium: “Green mobility plays a key role in the energy transition. Making the link to our production of renewable energy was therefore the natural step. We are now going to assess the charging station in order to make any technical and commercial refinements. We are hoping to roll out similar configurations across Belgium in 2022 and thereby contribute to accelerating the greening of Belgium’s vehicle fleet.”
