Cable Install Contracts Awarded to Connect Artificial Energy Island off Belgium

Belgian electricity transmission system operator Elia Transmission Belgium (ETB) has awarded the contracts for the high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) parts of the future Princess Elisabeth Island in the Belgian North Sea.

Located 45 km from the Belgian coast, the artificial energy island is a world first and will become the cornerstone of a European high-voltage grid at sea. It will be an electricity hub that bundles both the cables of the second offshore wind zone in Belgium (the Princess Elisabeth Zone) with future cable connections to other European North Sea countries such as the U.K. and Denmark.

The contracts relate to the installation of 330 km of HVAC cables and the installation of HVAC substations on the island. This HVAC equipment will form the connection point for receiving an initial part (2.1 GW) of the electricity generated by wind farms in the Princess Elisabeth Zone and bringing it to the mainland.

The HVAC cable contracts have been awarded to two consortia: one comprising Belgian group DEME and Greek company Hellenic Cables (165 km), and a second made up of Belgian firm Jan De Nul and Korean corporation LS Cable & System (165 km). The contract for HVAC substations has been awarded to the HIS consortium consisting of Belgian company Iemants (Smulders) and Dutch firms HSM Offshore Energy and IV-Offshore & Energy. 

DEME said it will deploy one of its cable installation vessels, as well as several trailing suction hopper dredgers and jack-up vessels on the project, with the transport and installation campaign planned for 2027.

Jan De Nul said it will deploy its cable-laying vessels Connector and Willem de Vlamingh, offshore support vessel Adhémar de Saint-Venant and trailing suction hopper dredgers for its work slated to take place in 2028.

Hellenic Cables will manufacture cables at its factory in Greece, and LS Cable & System will produce cables at its plant in South Korea.

Both DEME and Jan De Nul, as part of the Belgian consortium TM EDISON, secured the contract from Elia to construct the island in early 2023. The first caissons for the energy island are scheduled to be immersed this year.

(Photo: DEME)