A Critical Assessment of the Belgian Energy Policy Using Economic Development Models

Details

Supervisors

Agrell, Per Joakim

Faculty

Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales, politiques et de communication

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences économiques, orientation générale, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

In 2019, Belgium submitted its National Energy and Climate Plan for the years 2021-2030 which was designed to follow the guidelines imposed by a European Green Deal aspiring to totally reform the European economy and its energy sector. In Belgium, several studies have already used modelization tools to assess of the consequences of the National Plan on national equilibriums. The purpose of this empirical thesis is to complete the existing analysis of the Belgian strategy using the I-JEDI, an economic development model, to estimate the local consequences of the construction of renewable projects expected in the Belgian Plan. Doing so, the I-JEDI estimated that the construction of the Belgian renewable projects for the years 2021-2030 would cost 30,6 billion euros and would generate 110500 full-time equivalents, as well as 12 billion euros in added-value in the local economy. Moreover, when compared to two other theoretical strategies, the model showed that the electricity mix of the Belgian Plan was the most efficient to limit the costs and convert the expenses into local economic spillovers. Finally, the model also showed that, more than the electricity mix, it is the development of a local production that is the most important to convert the costs of renewable projects into economic assets for the Belgian economy.