Sharing infrastructure
and limiting urban congestion

Charging points on public lighting poles

After testing and validating the concept in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre and in its own car park, Sibelga carried out a study in 2022 on the possibility of deploying charging points for electric vehicles on public lighting poles. This solution reduces urban congestion and makes the most of public lighting poles.

“Four areas were explored: legal, technical and financial aspects and the distribution of roles and responsibilities,” explains Hugo Templier, Business Expert at Sibelga. “The aim was to propose possible answers to very practical questions such as: Who will own the electrical cabinet? What type of connection will be adopted? Who will pay the costs? “

At the end of the year, the conclusions of this study were presented to Sibelga’s management committee. “We confirmed that the solution is sound, even if it is not applicable everywhere, and the blueprint has been validated. The model will thus be able to be deployed from the 2023 concession,” he concludes.

Sibelga is expanding and sharing its fibre-optic network.

Thanks to its ability to transmit large amounts of data quickly, fibre optics are a key technology to support the energy transition.

Sibelga has its own fibre-optic network. The primary objective of this communication network was to avoid dependence on a telecoms operator in the event of a major breakdown or widespread blackout. The fibre ensures continuity of communication to all the electrical substations connected to it and the control of remotely controllable equipment. “Thus, in the event of a blackout, this network would allow us to gradually restore the supply to the network from Sibelga’s dispatching centre,” comments Christophe Asta, Telecoms Manager at Sibelga.

In 2022, at the instigation of the Brussels Region, Sibelga and five other Brussels public players (STIB, Vivaqua, Brussels Mobility, the Port of Brussels and IRISnet) decided to pool their fibre-optic networks. This operation has enabled the Region to set up a genuine fibre-optic backbone, 964 km long.

“Part of the capacity of this network is made available to public or private third parties who wish to develop services that require optical fibre. The sale of this capacity is operated by a one-stop shop managed by IRISnet for the benefit of the participating operators,” explains Christophe Asta. This principle of sharing is not totally new, as “Sibelga has already been sharing around 70 km of fibre-optic ducts with IRISnet since 2016,” explains Hadrien Nimal, head of Sibelga’s design office. “These shared ducts allow everyone to blow fibre through without having to open new trenches, which removes the inconvenience of a construction site for Brussels customers. “