Maatheide Lommel EIA

Environmental Impact Assessment for Wind Turbines by Sweco Belgium

Sweco Belgium formulated and developed the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for this project. The special aspect of this report is that it brings the various initiatives regarding wind turbines into focus in an integrated way. Sweco Belgium also conducted extensive site observations to ascertain the potential effects on bird and bat existence. The EIA has meanwhile been approved.

Importance of Nature and Bird Conservation Areas

Owing to the nature and location, this is a particularly important nature and bird conservation area, which makes it challenging to integrate wind turbines. The project area and the surroundings are characterized by numerous open spaces and woods. The project area itself is determined by the presence of deep reclamation lakes and the Maatheide industrial area with a raised (brushwood) site and a fragmented number of deciduous and coniferous bushes and heather. The latter are mostly situated within future reclamations. In the broader surroundings of the project, these natural features are more concentrated. To the east and west of the project area, the Flemish Ecological Network area, Habitats Directive Area, and Birds Directive Area prevail.

Generalisation of Existing Concrete Initiatives

Given that the EIA examines the overall environmental impact of wind turbines in this area, regardless of whom the initiator is, abstraction is made of the existing concrete initiatives. These are generalised to three theoretical site locations. Around this, there is always a zone marked out with a radius of 200 m, within which the exact site location may fluctuate. In this way, the EIA covers every possible initiative for the siting of wind turbines on this part of the industrial estate.