Project brief

  • 380kV AC line/cable
  • Length: 47km (12km new overhead line, 10km underground cable, 25km upgrade of existing 220kV line)
  • TSO: Elia
  • NGO involved via BESTGRID: BBL, Germanwatch
  • Expected start of operation: end of 2017

BESTGRID activities

The environmental NGO BBL and Elia have retrospectively evaluated the stakeholder engagement and communication activities that Elia conducted between 2010 and 2015. Interviews and workshops with stakeholders that were engaged in these activities were held by BBL. In the end, recommendations could be drawn for the improvement of future grid development projects of Elia. 

Lessons learned

  • The 10-year network development plan is unknown to stakeholders.
  • Communication with stakeholders should be a continuous action and should avoid phases where nothing seems to happen.
  • Stakeholders see the grid project as part of a package that also includes all other projects in the surroundings. This should be taken into account by e.g. joint fact finding and a website which centralises all projects in a region. 

More information

  • For more information about the project as such, consult Elia's website 
  • The environmental NGO BBL has published an analysis of Elia's stakeholder engagement process and planning and permitting procedures in the Stevin project, which can be found here. It is also available in French and Dutch. 

Video clip

Please note that Elia has been involved in another pilot project from Waterloo to Braine-l'Alleud. Due to a change on the demand side, this project has been stopped and Elia continued its BESTGRID activities in the Stevin project. For more information about the Waterloo-Braine-l'Alleud work, please take a look here.