Belgium launches tender for giant wind farm near world’s first artificial energy island

Belgium has launched a tender for a 700 MW offshore wind farm to be built in the area of the world’s first artificial energy island, called Princess Elisabeth Island. The wind farm is due to enter operation by 2028. The foreign news outlet Montel reported.

Belgium announced plans to build an artificial energy island in the North Sea in 2021. The project is intended to help the country increase the installed capacity of offshore wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea to 5.4 to 5.8 GW by 2030.

The recently launched first tender for a 700 MW wind farm is due to be followed by two more tenders in 2026–2028 for farms with capacity of up to 1.4 GW. If all three projects go ahead, the total installed capacity of new wind farms in the area of Princess Elisabeth Island would reach up to 3.5 GW.

The first artificial energy island is not intended solely to transmit power from the planned offshore wind farms nearby to the Belgian coast. The project’s second phase also envisages connections to offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands.

The project, which Belgian transmission system operator Elia calls its flagship, is nevertheless coming under criticism amid concerns over a sharp rise in costs. According to Montel, Febeliec, the Belgian association representing industrial energy consumers, has asked the government to suspend the project.

Elia said last month that the final investment costs are unlikely to be known before next year, as it is awaiting the completion of a tender for subsea cables and a new cost-benefit analysis.