A look at Belgium 2030: The National Energy and Climate Plan

At the end of 2019, Belgium submitted to the European Commission the final version of the National Energy and Climate Plan for 2021-2030. Besides energy and climate, mobility, science policy, finance, defence, agriculture, both at the federal and regional levels, are involved. Together they focus on the transition to a low-carbon society and offer funding today to achieve that ambition. 

What are the strategic goals of the plan? 

The plan outlines how the country will contribute to the long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets under the Paris Agreement. The aim is to transition to a more sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy system for the Belgium of tomorrow. 

• Ensuring secure and affordable energy: seeking a common point between environmental-, economic- and social efficiency;
• Putting the citizen at the centre of the energy system: enabling, encouraging and offering residents and businesses affordable choices that will be most effective and efficient to achieve the objectives;
• Guaranteeing the involvement of the initiatives from all levels of government.

FI Group is committed to sustainability and aiding in the transition towards a low-carbon society. Taking into account the goals of the plan, the next five energy dimensions in the industry are prone to change and evolve by 2030:

1. Decarbonisation: the reduction of carbon through greenhouse gas emission reductions and renewable energy 
2. Energy efficiency: reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services  
3. Energy security: to create an energy mix based on flexible capacity, load shifting, storage and renewable energy 
4. Energy market: improving the energy transmission infrastructure, increasing flexibility by matching supply and demand, and addressing energy poverty 
5. Research and innovation: increase the innovation in and by companies in order to boost their competitiveness 

The six biggest sectors

The hurdles of the industries

Belgium has an open economy and lies at the heart of a zone of intense economic activity. Its economy is largely composed of the next six markets:  

• Energy (read more about Flemish energy-saving projects here)
• Transport (read more about the fate of this sector here)
• Industry 
• Waste  
• Housing  
• Agriculture  

Each of these sectors is a source of greenhouse gasses, with three major markets being Belgium’s biggest stumbling blocks: emissions related to energy consumption, transport, and industrial processes. 

Grants for innovation and energy-saving

The investment in green and sustainable measures over the last 30 years has affected the emissions and led to a fall in all of the six major sectors. In Belgium, emissions of all greenhouse gases decreased due to: 

• Investments in fuel switching and energy efficiency 
• Carbon leakage 
• The closure of the metal industry 
• A switch from solid to gaseous fuels  
• The development of biomass fuels 

Emanations caused by road transport have been constantly increasing since 1990. This is due to the ever-increasing number of cars and traffic. However, traffic growth has slowed down considerably in recent years. 

Additionally, Belgium has grants available to companies wanting to take innovative and energy-saving measures (both on a federal, regional and local level). Companies that invest in rational energy use or green energy can receive support and advice on subsidies and premiums such as:

• The Flemish Agency for Innovation and Enterprise (VLAIO)
• The Walloon Agency pour l’Enterprise et l’Innovation (AEI) and the Agency de la Recherche et des Technologies (SPW Recherche)
• The Brussels-Capital Agency Innoviris

Each grant has its own conditions for application: FI Group takes on the challenge to pinpoint them with the best fit for your project; understand the methods of application, deadlines and have the needed project knowledge; invest in developing your project case with the necessary technical and administrative preparation.

All to have the premier knowledge before making a decision about a suited investment(s).

Energy Pact: Safe, sustainable, and affordable 

The inter-federal energy pact sets out a common ambition for the energy transition and is recognised by the three regional governments and the federal government as an important ambition for further evolution. 

The great challenge of the national policy is to be able to secure the needs in an efficient, resilient, and transparent way. This is why Belgium strives towards a triple optimum to achieve by 2050: 

• Environmental efficiency: the low-carbon society, the reduction of environmental impact ( such as waste) and the control of emissions of other pollutants; 
• Economic efficiency: the potential to create new local activities, the impact of this strategy on the production costs of companies and their competitiveness;
• Social efficiency: controlling the fare of this transition in order to share the costs and benefits fairly between current and future generations, ensuring that all citizens are supported during this change.

FI Group has 20 years of experience and wants to accompany you on the new NextGenerationEU path. Our experts are at your disposal to analyse how your project fits into NextGenerationEU and to take the next steps together with you. Contact us.

Yvette Poumpalova