Posted on 06/02/2025 1:08:32 PM PDT by grundle
A Dutch weather forecaster has accused Belgium of inadvertently stealing wind from its neighbours’ wind turbines in the North Sea.
Wind farms in Belgium are reportedly taking up to 3 % of wind energy from Dutch installations, according to Remco Verzijlbergh, CEO of Dutch weather forecasting service Whiffle.
In an interview with Belgian broadcaster VRT, Verzijlbergh said: “A wind turbine is designed to extract wind from the air. If you measure behind a wind turbine, the wind blows less hard. Behind a wind farm with many wind turbines together, you really see lower wind speeds.”
Verzijlbergh explained that Belgian wind farms have an advantage over Dutch ones. “They are located southwest of the Dutch parks and the wind often comes from the southwest, so you often steal some of our wind,” he said.
He believes better coordination is needed to ensure no country is disadvantaged in this area. “First of all, within a country itself, but we will also have to do it internationally. The North Sea is slowly being built with wind farms, so there will be more and more of that wind theft,” said Verzijlbergh.
“Coordination is needed so that it is not handled unwisely or that no ‘race to the water’ is organised, where whoever builds first also gets the most favourable wind.”
The use of wind farms is crucial for countries aiming to become carbon neutral. By 2030, Belgium wants to build six gigawatts of wind turbines in the North Sea to meet its targets.
Guarantee Brussels will not give a straight answer, only a Belgian waffle.
Do the Dutch still rely on windmills to keep the water out? The Dutch might have bigger issues to worry about if their wind is being stolen.
Sounds like a clear cut case of anthropomorphic “climate change” to me.
Where is the outrage???
The belgians argued the Dutch were stealing their ovens...
I am very *skeptical* of this gentleman’s assertion that wind turbines in one country reduce wind force in a neighboring country. I mean, come on, wind is a powerful natural force. The wind turbines in Belgium are like a drop in a bucket in the scheme of things.
I think the Belgium should gather as many people as they can. Turn their backs and fart in the general direction of the Dutch to make up for the lost wind.
I fart in your general direction.
I hope there is a lot of outrage on both sides. A good war between Belgium and the Netherlands would clear the air on a lot of issues.
No problem; the Dutch just needs to use a portion of the electricity from the windmills to run giant fans to add extra windspeed.
It sounds like the Dutch would request the help of your wind.
A donation to the EU.
If the North Sea becomes more developed with wind turbine farms won’t that affect the geo nature of the North Sea waves/wind wise?
No fake ideological studies needed, that’s indisputably anthropomorphic.
Nothing is free.
My money would be on the Dutch ..
Shame. The food is so much better in Belgium.
Raise the sea level and flood the Netherlands.
No, it is very true. About 25 years ago, a colleague of mine calculated the ambient air temperature drop in Europe if you removed energy from the wind with massive adoption of wind power. It was surprisingly large, a couple of degrees. There is no free lunch.
Wind energy companies conduct large studies to find the best wind sites. Wind turbines are placed far apart from each other to avoid the “wind shadow” effect where the output of a downwind turbine is reduced by the upstream machine. They optimize spacing (more land) with output. They would prefer to cram as many as they can into a land parcel, but they have to be spaced out to optimize output and costs.
They never really thought this wind power thing out. In order for the wind to turn the turbine, it has to give up some of it’s energy, add thousands of them and you really are effecting the climate by slowing down the wind.
I’ve heard of passing wind (and have engaged in that on occasion) but stealing wind is a new one to me.
Well the ‘study’ indicates 3%. That could certainly be significant. Sailing in the lee of another sailboat is undeniably different than in clear air.
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