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Europe is coming up with innovative ways to put its declining energy powerhouse into good use. Belgium has kicked off the process of constructing an artificial island in the North Sea that will serve as a regional energy interconnection hub.
Located off the Belgian coast in the North Sea, Princess Elisabeth will serve as an electricity hub that will bundle together the cables leading to wind farms in Belgium’s second offshore wind zone, helping to bring the electricity they generate back to shore.
The tiny island will also act as an intermediate landing point for interconnectors that link Belgium to other European countries. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has already approved a €650 million (around US$705 million) grant to Belgium’s high-voltage grid operator Elia Transmission Belgium to build the island.
TM EDISON, Princess Elisabeth’s main contractor, has kicked off the construction process which it estimates will take 2.5 years to complete. Basically, the company will raise a six-hectare island out of the sea, or the size of twelve football fields. The company will first construct caissons that will form the outer ring of the island.
The 23 armored concrete blocks all measure 58 m long, 28 m high and 28 m width, with a weight of 20,000 tonnes apiece. The building process of the caissons will take place in Flushing, in the UK.
The island will come complete with a small harbor with mooring berths for safe and smooth personnel transfers. The works are planned to finish in 2026.
