Ventilus Work Begins as Residents Flee Radiation Fears

Construction on the Ventilus high-voltage power line through West Flanders formally began Monday, as grid operator Elia started preparatory works despite years of local protest and legal challenges that remain unresolved. Some residents living near the route have already moved away, citing fears of electromagnetic radiation and falling property values.

Ventilus is an 82-kilometre connection, partly overhead and partly underground, designed to carry green power from North Sea wind farms from Zeebrugge through West Flanders to Avelgem and the interior. According to VRT NWS, Flemish Environment Minister Jo Brouns (CD&V) approved the environmental permit at the end of April, clearing the way for works to start.

Relocating as a Precaution

Dairy farmer Andy Tommeleyn no longer lives on his farm near the planned route. He moved with his family to the centre of Lichtervelde, adding lengthy commutes between home and his dairy operation.

“We really wanted to build a new house on our farm, but the idea that the Ventilus line would come gnawed at us,” Tommeleyn said. “So we decided to buy a house elsewhere that doesn’t lie under the power line’s route.”

He cited two concerns: the immediate loss of property value and the health risk to his two children. “We simply didn’t dare take the risk,” he said. “Health can’t be bought.”

A man from Zwevezele, near Wingene, who asked to remain anonymous, said he consulted experts and doctors before deciding to move. “They gave us clear advice to move and not to play with our children’s health,” he said. “I’m actually too old to build again, but my family’s health comes before everything.”

No Way Out for Some

Not everyone can leave. Francky Snaet runs an agricultural business along the E403 in Lichtervelde. “Ventilus’s cables will run over my business’s home,” he said. “There will also be two pylons: one in front and one behind my farmstead.”

Snaet said he cannot sell while no final compensation has been agreed. “Elia doesn’t want to pay anyone until the works are delivered,” he said. “It could take another five years before the works are completed.”

He described Elia’s offer as minimal and take-it-or-leave-it, calling the start of works “a black day.” “This is not a way of negotiating; this is simply putting a knife to the throat,” he said, vowing to continue the legal fight.

Elia set aside a compensation package of 70 to 100 million euros, according to P-Magazine. About 120 households within 100 metres of an overhead section may sell their homes at market value, assessed by an independent appraiser. Those who stay can claim compensation for loss of value, while businesses, farmers and municipalities also receive payments.

Crucially, most compensation activates only as construction progresses or upon completion — an arrangement Elia says was agreed with energy regulators to avoid burdening energy bills before the project is certain. Home sales are not expected until around 2029.

What the Science Says

Opposition centres on possible health risks from electromagnetic radiation. In a detailed analysis, VRT NWS reported that two magnetic-field values matter: 100 microtesla for short exposure and 0.4 microtesla for long-term exposure.

A zone exceeding 0.4 microtesla has been mapped around the route, 20 to 170 metres wide depending on location. Some 861 buildings will fall inside it, about 168 of them newly added by Ventilus, including two childcare facilities.

Decades of research show a small correlation between high-voltage lines and childhood leukaemia — roughly double the occurrence at 0.3 to 0.4 microtesla of long-term exposure. However, causality has not been established, and extrapolated to Belgium the figure amounts to about one to two extra cases per year. For adults, most studies found no clear link to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS or MS.

Professor and radiation expert Dirk Adang of UHasselt, who also sits on the Superior Health Council, concluded that the two thresholds should never be exceeded. “It is fairly rare that politics follows science so quickly,” he said.

Legal Challenges Pending

Opponents point out that legal procedures against the permit remain pending at both the Council of State and the Council for Permit Disputes. According to Made in West-Vlaanderen, 26 municipal councils and mayors advised negatively, around 3,000 objections were filed, and 25 procedures remain at the Council of State with 40 more at the permit-disputes council.

“That is not just local discontent; that is an entire province indicating that things really cannot continue this way,” 26 citizen platforms wrote in a joint open letter.

The platforms also raised environmental concerns, arguing that dewatering would pump and discharge nearly 18 million cubic metres of groundwater, and that official studies found contaminants such as PFAS, arsenic and nickel along parts of the route. They said no guarantee of purification exists before discharge, and that an exception from legal norms is being sought, which they argue conflicts with the EU Water Framework Directive.

“We ask that for a project of this scale, the best solution be sought — not the fastest or the cheapest,” the letter stated.

Elia acknowledges the pending procedures but notes they do not have suspensive effect. “We have a permit for the works,” spokesperson Lotte Van der Stockt said. “Legal procedures take time. But we don’t want to wait for them, given Ventilus’s societal importance. We must already build today the energy of tomorrow.”

Why Ventilus Matters

The project is central to Belgium’s shift away from fossil fuels. It is designed to bring offshore wind power ashore, strengthen the grid and improve electricity exchange with neighbouring countries. About 21 kilometres of the route will be overhead — the most contested element.

Elia signalled in May that works would begin in early September, a timetable KW.be reported, with all residents due to receive an information letter. Commissioning is planned for late 2029 or early 2030, with total investment around 1.6 billion euros.

What’s Next

The start of works marks a new phase in a dispute that has simmered for years. With appeals still unresolved and compensation not expected to flow until construction advances, residents who remain along the route face an uncertain wait.

Tommeleyn said the project’s opponents will not give up while matters remain unsettled. “As long as everything isn’t final, we certainly won’t give up,” he said. For Elia and the Flemish government, the challenge will be delivering a strategically vital line while addressing the health, environmental and legal questions that a substantial part of West Flanders says remain unanswered.