Belgium’s Federal Government has announced that work on the second phase of the Princess Elisabeth North Sea energy island project has been cancelled. The Federal Energy Minister Mathieu Bihet (Francophone liberal) says that not going ahead with phase 2 should save 3 billion euro.
The Princess Elisabeth Island is an artificial island being built off the coast of West Flanders, 45 km west of Ostend. It is to bring energy from future wind farms in the North Sea to land.
Construction work got under way last year, but there remained much uncertainty about the future of the project. This uncertainty heightened when it emerged that the estimated cost had risen from 2.12 billion euro in 2021 to between 7 and 8 billion euro now. The sharp rise in the price forecast for the project is mainly due to the expensive direct-current infrastructure that was to be built in the project’s second phase.
A saving of 3 billion euro
The Federal Energy Minister Mathieu Bihet (Francophone liberal) says that cancelling the project will save 3 billion euro. Mr Bihet adds that the government is opting for “sound management for a secure energy future, without run-away costs for consumers,” he added. Construction of the island itself and of alternating-current infrastructure will continue.
Connection to the UK energy grid
Cancelling the direct-current infrastructure means that a planned third wind farm in the Princess Elisabeth area of the North Sea will now not be able to go ahead. Also, a new connection to the UK power grid that would run via the island will not be able to be built for the time being. This does however not necessarily mean that a new high-voltage cable with the UK will not be constructed in the future.