The TM Edison consortium, including DEME and Jan De Nul Group has started offshore installation on the Princess Elisabeth Energy Island, 45 km off the coast of Belgium. The artificial energy island is a first of its kind and will be a key link for the new offshore wind projects to be awarded and built in the Belgian Princess Elisabeth Zone in the coming years.

The island will be built with concrete caisson blocks, submerged on site, with the first two of a total of 23 concrete caissons are now being shipped and installed. Each caisson weighs approximately 22,000 tons. In a later phase, the interior will be filled with sand to build high-voltage infrastructure that will connect new offshore wind farms. The work is being carried out on behalf of grid operator Elia Transmission Belgium (Elia) by TM Edison. Princess Elisabeth Island will play a vital role in connecting future offshore wind farms in the Belgian North Sea. In the long term, it also opens the door to integrating Belgium into a unified European offshore electricity grid.

Construction of the island and the execution of existing high voltage alternating current (HVAC) contracts are progressing without interruption. Two of the three planned offshore wind farms—accounting for 60% of the new Princess Elisabeth Wind Zone—are set to be completed.

However, a significant increase in the cost of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) infrastructure has delayed final contract decisions for the island. The Princess Elisabeth Zone is expected to host up to a total of 3.5 GW, implying cable contracts for 1.4 GW of offshore wind projects are yet to be signed. The round to award the first of the sites, for 700 MW, is currently ongoing, and expected concluded by the end of the year.

Image Credit: Elia Group