The planned energy island off the Belgian coast is likely to cost at least €7 billion, instead of the initial estimate of €2 billion. The island is intended to connect new offshore wind farms to land and eventually be connected to an international wind farm network.
Climate & Environment
Estimated cost of North Sea energy island spirals to €7bn
Sally Tipper
Published:
The Princess Elisabeth Island was to be the showpiece of federal energy policy, built by Belgian dredging giants Deme and De Nul. The intention is for it to be a hub for cables from new wind farms in the North Sea.
In the longer term, cables from other wind farms would be connected to it, possibly extending as far as Denmark. Drops in the wind in one country could be compensated by wind farms elsewhere.
However, the necessary cables and high-voltage substations are much more expensive than expected. Denmark is already shelving its own plans for a similar energy island because of the cost, and the undersea cable that would connect the Danish wind farms to the Princess Elisabeth site is on hold.
High-voltage grid operator Elia confirmed that there has been a “significant increase” in the cost, as Europe’s growing climate ambitions are driving up the price of equipment.
The original cost was estimated at €2.2 billion, but even before this summer that was raised to €3.6 billion. It could now be more than €7 billion. Energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten has asked the energy watchdog CREG to intervene.
Investments in new high-voltage grids are charged to companies and households and appear on energy bills as “transmission/transport”. That figure will rise from 1 January, CREG announced last year. For large companies, that means an extra €1 million a year, while the average household will be billed an extra €82 a year.
If Elia’s investment costs rise, households and consumers also face having to pay more. CREG is therefore monitoring the matter closely. The island is already being built and tenders for the electrical installations are ongoing, and the final cost should be known by the end of the year.
Febeliec, the federation of large industrial power consumers, is asking for those tenders to be postponed.