Co-funded by the
European Union
InnoBlog: exciting opportunities to launch a career in Belgium
Having studied the second year of my Master’s in Smart Electrical Networks and Systems at KU Leuven, I gained many insights to the shifting energy landscape in Belgium. If like me, you are looking to make KU Leuven your new home university you might be interested to know about country’s energy landscape and opportunities for young engineers!
Belgium is a small, population-dense country located in the heart of Europe. It has many interconnections with its neighbours such as: the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom – and often experiences transit power flows, influenced by the amount of renewable generation in the European system. System expansion choices and energy policy in Belgium are therefore significantly implicated by these cross-European trends as well as changes in public opinion within the country itself.
Energy sources
Per the International Energy Agency, Belgium consumed 87.8 TWh of electricity in 2019. In efforts to decarbonise, Belgium has significantly reduced its reliance on coal for electricity, having retired all major coal-fired power plants.
Further considering Belgium’s coastal location bordering the North Sea, the country boasts a large installed capacity of wind turbines: as of mid-2021, this amounts to over 2 GW of offshore wind and over 2 GW of onshore wind. In the coming years, over 2 GW of additional offshore capacity are planned and even more onshore.
KU Leuven Information Session
7 October 2021. 16.00 CET. There is no surprise that Belgium has been attracting top engineering talent as the region’s energy scene has been evolving constantly in recent years! Join EIT InnoEnergy Master School student and KU Leuven university representative to find out what it’s like to study at one of the oldest and most renowned institutions in Europe!
