The commissioned wind farms (1st concession zone) together have a capacity of 2.3 GW. In addition to this zone, the marine spatial plan 2020–2026 indicates three new zones. Together, the zones are 285 sq km and were named the Princess Elisabeth Zone. Up to 3.5 GW of wind energy will be produced there.
Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway—DNV is supporting Elia Transmission Belgium on the construction tender for a new energy island 45 km offshore Belgium in the North Sea.
It will occupy a seabed footprint in the Princess Elizabeth Zone of up to 25 ha in water depths of about 18 m. It will collect HVAC power electrons (up to 3.5 GW) from offshore wind farms and transform these partly to 220 kV and to DC electricity for export to Belgium and nearby countries such as Denmark and the UK through subsea cables.
Courtesy Elia Group
The Princess Elisabeth Zone will also host the energy island. With this, Elia is taking an important step in developing a European electricity grid at sea and achieving European climate ambitions.
Work on the island is due to be completed in mid-2026, after which Elia will start construction of the electrical infrastructure to connect offshore wind and allow for DC interconnectors.
The new development also will be linked to the future Danish North Sea energy island.
DNV’s Danish office is performing independent assessment of the island’s design, supporting Elia with guidance on improvements required to minimize risk throughout its construction and operation via workshops and assurance reviews.
Elia’s scheme is part of the Triton Link project in which it is collaborating with Energinet (Denmark) on implementation of an undersea connection between their respective artificial offshore energy islands.
These will serve as transmission centers for hundreds of wind turbines and enable the transport and exchange of electricity to the mainland of the two countries.
